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Theming Drupal
Well it's final, at least for now. I have chosen the theme to dress the window here at ianmcgregor.com. It was quite a lengthy process given the large number of themes available for the Drupal CMS.Not that this means that the themes are of quality though. When choosing a theme as a basis for a Drupal site expect to spend some time over at drupal.org, there's so many themes there that it would be impossible to assess the merits of every single one. Here are some techniques I used to find a quality Drupal template.
filter the options
Drupal.org lets you filter by version compatability (D4, D5, D6 or D7) and also sort by various criteria. I found the most successful technique was to sort by date created that way you can be guaranteed to find the newest templates out there.
check these places
One of the most comprehensive and user friendly lists of Drupal themes is on tripwiremagazine.com. Theres several lists featuring the best Drupal themes out there.
If you are not sure what to do when presented with so much choice, then check out this article on web design ffor a comprehensive overview of what works and what doesn't that can put you head straight if you are trying to weed out the good stuff.
the shortlist
Here is the list of themes that definitly show that Drupal has some quality designs...
This is is a fantasic, clean theme. Very close to making it as my final choice for the site.
Pros: Super clean lines
Cons: Strange suckerfish implementation
Clean and crisp, if I was looking at a larger site, then this would be on the top of my list.
Pros: Fill this theme with content
Cons: A bit monotone for a personal site
This is a nice theme the leaf is nice, but it would be the first thing I'd change. Definitely potential, you could drop any image in there for a nice 'fresh' theme.
Pros: Great typograpy styles
Cons: The tree would need some work
I like what Rocket Theme do for Joomla. This port of one of their free templates is really nice.
Pros: Choice of fixed or fluid
Cons: The background colors
This smooth dark theme is quoted as a corporate theme... I'd be also using this theme on art/photography sites.
Pros: Excellent "mission statement" style
Cons: Dark
and the winner is...
I almost overlooked this one until I installed it and found that it used the color chooser feature to create custom variations, this is such a bonus with this theme. Unfortunately the default colors look like a hairstlye site, but since you can change them makes this the theme of choice.
Pros: Color changer module built in. Separate typography stylesheet
Cons: Default style couls put you off a great theme
conclusion
So there you have it... in my opinion, the best GPL themes out there for the Drupal CMS. If you want to get off the ground running, these themes will give you a great start and even inspire you to personalise a theme for your own projects.
* coming up...
+ A couple of cracking themes that turned up too late...
+ Some tips to help you start taking your theme and give it your own individual stamp.
