xTailwind2 is a new Tailwind CSS and DaisyUI-powered theme for XOOPS 2.5.11+, created to deliver a more polished and modern front-end experience. Instead of feeling like a generic utility-based skin, it focuses on stronger visual hierarchy, cleaner content presentation, and a more intentional overall atmosphere.

The theme introduces a floating glass-style navigation bar, a more editorial homepage hero, quieter side rails, and a refined central content canvas that helps articles and module content stand out. It also includes six curated palettes, with both light and dark moods, so the site can shift personality without losing consistency.

Under the hood, xTailwind2 keeps the flexibility of Tailwind CSS while tightening the design system around XOOPS itself. Blocks, typography, tables, links, and other raw XOOPS output are styled to feel more cohesive, and the theme switcher remembers the visitor’s preferred light and dark palette choices for a smoother experience.

If you want a XOOPS theme that feels lighter, more contemporary, and more design-driven than a standard framework port, xTailwind2 is a strong step forward.

Download: https://github.com/mambax7/xtailwind2

Happy Theming!

We're excited to introduce xTailwind, a new theme for XOOPS 2.5.11+ that brings the modern utility-first approach of Tailwind CSS to the XOOPS ecosystem. Paired with DaisyUI's elegant component library, xTailwind gives site administrators and developers a fresh alternative to Bootstrap-based themes — without sacrificing any of the features you expect.

Why Tailwind?

Tailwind CSS has reshaped how modern websites are built. Instead of pre-styled components you override and fight against, Tailwind provides small utility classes you compose to build exactly what you want. The result is less CSS, more control, and designs that don't all look the same.

DaisyUI sits on top of Tailwind to bring back the convenience of semantic component classes — btn, card, navbar, modal, dropdown — along with a built-in theming system. It's the best of both worlds: utility-first flexibility when you need it, ready-made components when you don't.

34 Themes, One Click Away

xTailwind ships with DaisyUI's full collection of 34 pre-built themes: light, dark, cupcake, corporate, cyberpunk, synthwave, dracula, forest, sunset, nord, and many more. Users can switch between them live from the navbar, with no page reload.

The switcher is accompanied by a clean Light/Dark toggle button with a translatable text label. Both preferences are saved to the visitor's browser and persist across sessions. A tiny inline script applies the saved theme before the page paints, so there's never a flash of the wrong colors.

Drop-In Simplicity for Site Admins

We know most XOOPS site administrators aren't JavaScript developers, and we respect that. xTailwind is a true drop-in theme: download it, copy it into your themes/ directory, activate it in XOOPS admin, and you're done. The compiled CSS ships with the theme. No Node.js. No npm. No build step.

Developers who want to customize styles, add components, or bundle a new DaisyUI theme can still do all of that — the source files are right there in the repo, and rebuilding takes one command. But that's an opt-in path, not a requirement.

Built for the Modern Web

Behind the scenes, xTailwind embraces everything that makes modern web development pleasant:

- Alpine.js for declarative interactivity — dropdowns, mobile navigation, toasts, and modals all work without a single custom JavaScript file. Shared from xoops_lib/Frameworks/alpine/ so multiple Tailwind themes can use the same copy.
- XoopsFormRendererTailwind — a brand-new form renderer contributed to XOOPS core that outputs native DaisyUI form components. Every XOOPS form (user registration, admin preferences, module settings) renders with proper Tailwind styling, matching whichever DaisyUI theme is active.
- Native RTL support via Tailwind's logical properties (ms-/me-, text-start/text-end) and the XOOPS _TEXT_DIRECTION constant. Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian sites get correct mirroring automatically.
- WCAG AA contrast baked into every DaisyUI theme's color palette.
- Self-hosted with no external CDN dependencies, following the same principle as xSwatch5.

A New Architecture, Not a Replacement

xTailwind doesn't replace xSwatch5 — it joins it. Site owners who love Bootstrap and the Bootswatch variant collection can continue using xSwatch5 v2.0 (also recently released). Site owners who want to explore a utility-first workflow or prefer DaisyUI's aesthetic can pick xTailwind. Both are supported, both are actively maintained, and both share XOOPS's commitment to stability.

For developers building custom themes, xTailwind also serves as a reference implementation. A complete TUTORIAL.md walks through how to create your own Tailwind theme from scratch, plus a class-by-class guide for porting existing Bootstrap themes to Tailwind + DaisyUI.

Share a Library, Not the Libraries

One of the nicer architectural decisions in xTailwind: Alpine.js lives in XOOPS core's xoops_lib/Frameworks/alpine/ directory, right alongside jQuery and Chart.js. If you build additional Tailwind themes down the road, they all share the same 45 KB Alpine.js runtime. One download for site administrators, one place to update, no duplication across themes.

Status and Availability

xTailwind is currently released as a proof of concept — the core theme, navigation, block system, theme switcher, and form renderer are all working. Module-specific template overrides (newbb, publisher, wggallery, etc.) are the next phase of development, and community contributions are very welcome.

Grab it from the repo, drop it into your XOOPS installation, and let us know what themes you bundle, what components you build, and what you'd like to see next. The future of XOOPS theming is wide open, and we'd love for you to help shape it.

Happy theming.

Download: https://github.com/mambax7/xtailwind

We're thrilled to announce the release of xSwatch5 v2.0, a complete refresh of the beloved xSwatch theme family for XOOPS. This release brings your site into the modern web with Bootstrap 5.3.8, and adds some features we think you'll genuinely enjoy using every day.

Pick Your Look, Live

The headline feature is the brand-new Theme Switcher right in your navbar. With a single click, your visitors can instantly switch between any of the 21 bundled Bootswatch variants — Cerulean, Cosmo, Slate, Darkly, Lux, Minty, and more. No page reload, no admin panel, no fuss. Their choice is remembered across visits.

Even better: the switcher builds its list automatically from the theme's CSS folders. Drop a new variant directory in, and it appears in the dropdown. No configuration, no code changes, no cache to clear.

Light Mode, Dark Mode, Your Call

Right next to the theme picker lives a Dark/Light toggle button with a clear label so users always know what they'll get. It uses Bootstrap 5's native Color Modes API, which means each Bootswatch variant now includes both light and dark styles in a single CSS file. That's half the CSS payload compared to the old dual-stylesheet approach.

On first visit, the theme respects the visitor's OS preference. Once they make a choice, it sticks — saved to browser storage with no cookies, no tracking, no HTTP overhead. A tiny script runs before the page paints, so there's never a flash of the wrong theme.

Right-to-Left, Out of the Box

For the global XOOPS community, v2.0 ships with automatic RTL support. The theme reads the _TEXT_DIRECTION constant from your language pack and Bootstrap 5's logical properties handle the rest — spacing, alignment, dropdowns, and layouts all mirror correctly for Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and other RTL languages.

The Foundation: Modern, Accessible, Clean

Under the hood, every template has been rebuilt for Bootstrap 5.3.8. That meant touching dozens of files across the main theme and module overrides for 13 popular XOOPS modules — newbb, publisher, wggallery, xoopsfaq, and more. Along the way we:

- Dropped jQuery dependency from Bootstrap (XOOPS core still uses it, but the theme itself is vanilla JS)
- Tightened WCAG AA contrast across every color combination in every variant
- Fixed absolute image paths so subdirectory installs work correctly
- Cleaned up dead code, duplicate selectors, and BS3 leftovers
- Switched to the current form renderer (XoopsFormRendererBootstrap5)

Compatibility

xSwatch5 v2.0 works on XOOPS 2.5.11 and later. The theme runs cleanly on 2.5.11 with RTL auto-detection becoming active on 2.5.12+. PHP 8.2 or newer required.

A Family Legacy

This release stands on the shoulders of years of community work. The xSwatch story began in 2016 with Richard Griffith's (Geekwright) original theme, evolved through Bootstrap 3 and 4, and got its first Bootstrap 5 migration from Alain01 in 2023. v2.0 builds on all of that — keeping what worked, polishing what didn't, and adding the live theme switching that users have been asking for.

Get It Now

https://github.com/mambax7/xswatch5

Drop it into your XOOPS themes/ directory, select it in the admin panel, and you're done. We'd love to hear what you think — and if you build a new Bootswatch variant, remember: it just takes a folder drop to get it into the switcher.

Happy theming.

I love this innovation spirit!

Nicely done!

Xtaggen - Universal Content Tag Generator




The Xtaggen module generates smart tags for XOOPS-based websites. It scans all modules installed on the system and produces ready-to-use tags for each module, which can be used within the desired theme's .tpl files. This eliminates the need for standard module blocks, enabling more flexible and cleaner theme integration.

Documentation

https://turkish.erenyumak.com/modules/xtaggen/xtaggen_en.html

Video:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DE6xVa3cm/

Very soon

Kevin,

Few screenshots of features already implemented in XOOPS 4.0 and XMF 2.0, and tested in the xmfBlog module.

As I've mentioned earlier, XOOPS 4.0 is NOT some imaginary dream, but a real framework, already working, and backed with tons of PHPUnit tests. Of course, there will tons of opportunities to improve it, and that's where the community comes in, especially experienced people like yourself.

Tags, Taxonomy, Image editing





Parent-Child Tree View





Reporting Export





Import/Export





Activity Audit Log





Cloning






Versioning








Comments






Taxonomies & Tags






Hierarchical Taxonomies






Tags in the Frontend






Tags & Taxonomy in the Frontend

Kevin,
Quote:
It's a valid point, but nothing to worry about!

XOOPS 4.0 is already up and running on a test site, and you can see two modules developed with it already:

xmfBlog: https://aispark.us/modules/xmfblog/

xmfPortal: https://aispark.us/modules/xmfportal/

Many of the XMF 2.0 features, that have been created to make life for developers easier, have been already implemented in these module:

• Versioning
• Taxonomy
• Image manipulation
• Cloning
• Activity Audit
• Few others…

I'm still cleaning up the code, but in couple of weeks I'll be releasing everything as a Pre-Alpha, so everybody can check it out, test it, and provide feedback and improvement suggestions.

The key point is XOOPS 4.0 is NOT some imaginary dream, but a real framework, already working.

So please be patient for few more weeks

Is this a discussion about creating a vision and a roadmap for the future, or discussion about a roadmap that has already been decided upon?

Because right now, it feels a lot like the latter and I am quite certain that that is not where we need to stand right now. A few days ago, there wasn't even a mention of XOOPS 4 and right now there is a roadmap ahead for the next few things:
- XMF 2.0
- XOOPS Business Objects (XBO)
- XOOPS Theme Framework
- XOOPS Modern Admin Theme
- XOOPS Widgets System
- XOOPS Pagebuilder
- XOOPS Smarty 4 Plugin Library
- cssHolmes

Next to that, a decision has already made about module compatibility, there are marketing posts up for things like the Smarty 4 Plugin Library (that feel like they are AI generated) and a post about XOOPS 4.0 being announced while no consensus about XOOPS 4.0 was reached at all.

The videos that are added are also not a good medium to convince people - the reality is that few people will want to view multiple AI-voiced videos, slides and on average less than 10 people have seen each video.

Before we go to concrete lengths and decide on specific things to implement and how, we need to first check and align in what the vision of all of us is going to be for the future.
That means that no decisions should be made yet about what is going to be included in the next version of XOOPS, but rather, that we align and try to propose what things are that need to be realized in the future.

In all honesty, with how broad and expansive the changes that are already outlined in your first post, mean that there is a very high chance of this version of XOOPS 4.0 to never release or remain in development hell for a long time.

A lot of the changes impact a lot of XOOPS, but instead of adding to XOOPS, we also need to be able to question what is already there: XOOPS has a lot of areas that need touching up and polishing.

I'm also not opposed with XOOPS 4 introducing breaking changes for modules - XOOPS is not a museum and the reality probably is that only a few modules are seeing active use. It's better to focus on quality modules rather than quantity, as times have also changed.

In order to have a healthy discussion about the future, we need to start with a blank canvas for the vision and road map - not put us in front of a road map that was decided without consensus.

I'll try to post some suggestions and visions for the future later this week.

Kevin

There is also a Tutorial available, if you would like to learn more:

https://github.com/mambax7/smartyextensions/blob/master/docs/TUTORIAL.md

If you find any errors or bugs, please submit an issue on GitHub: https://github.com/mambax7/smartyextensions/issues

The vision for XOOPS 4.0 is improving and evolving, based on the feedback we're receiving.

Based on suggestions from MekDrop (Thank you!), I converted the XOOPS Smarty Plugins into XOOPS Smarty Extensions

Code: https://github.com/mambax7/smartyextensions

The XOOPS Smarty Extensions is a library that will be use via Composer, simplifying deployment.

Check out the video to see the advantages that it will bring to XOOPS development.