I have installed XOOPS, and have been very impressed with how easy it is to work with. It is very professional looking and wow does it save time!

However, being new to XOOPS and not knowing the capabilities, it appears that all the sites I've seen are rather cookie cutter spin-offs. I understand that you can modify the look and feel somewhat through templates and CSS, but where are the living examples?

Someone pointed out in another forum topic that Geek Web Talk is a XOOPS site. Not certain of that, I am asking this:

Can XOOPS be made to look NOT like a XOOPS site? It would be very valuable for me to learn how to customize XOOPS to that end.

Are there tutorials or docs? The ones I saw here in the documentation didn't really address this.

Any and all help is truly appreciated.

kjm

Here Is A Link To A News Article. It Has Links To Some Interesting XooPS Sites.
XOOPS : Launch of the XOOPS Portfolio Project

and uh.. i dont have any theme customization links.

It depends on what you're trying to do with your site. That example you gave is definitely Xoops....... but it's a fairly plain example IMHO, using a standard theme. I'm sure there's plenty of better examples out there..... I just can't think of any at the moment.

You are correct, a lot of the customisation is done through modifying the theme, also by editing the templates for individual modules to change how they look. You could check http://www.warpigw2.com for XOOPS tutorials. Not sure exactly what he has there though.

I think XOOPS is one of the most customizable CMS's out there actually...

first learn about changing the theme / css files, to see what that does, and then learn about changing the template files to change how the blocks and modules are laid out...

you can easily make an XOOPS site which doesn't look like a three-column cms at all.

Wow... Where to begin?

The suggestions above are excellent, so let me see if I can add a little as well.

First, if you want to see some live examples of "out-of-the-blocks" designs, I would have to recommend the following sites...

http://xoopsfactory.com/
http://www.bassmanthemes.com/modules/news/
http://xoops-tips.com/
http://www.core74.org/modules/tinyd5/
http://www.xoopsdesign.com/modules/news/
http://www.wolfpackclan.com/wolfactory/
http://astonthemes.com/modules/news/

*Listed in no particular order

I would highly recommend taking a look at the XOOPS site of the month awards on XOOPS Factory. Some of the best examples of what can be done with XOOPS can be found there.

Secondly, keep in mind that the XOOPS theme engine is so flexible that you can convert virtually any layout into a XOOPS theme. Where you will run into limitations is with modules. Personally, it's worth it in the end to dig in and customize module templates, and if I can't find a module that will work with the design I want to use, XOOPS is flexible enough to allow me to statically code whatever I want into my site. It's just a matter of knowing that it can be done.

Finally, if you really want to make your head spin, check out the Smarty templates debug output and you will be presented with a wealth of variables you can use to customize the layout of your site based on numerious conditions. If you know any PHP at all, you'll be a kid in a candy store with the default XOOPS Smarty variables.

I have to admit, I'm more than a little biased. However, if XOOPS wasn't as flexible and easy to use as it is, I would have moved on years ago. There's a reason you see so many long term members around here with low post counts... XOOPS just works! And if you take the time to play around with the system and learn its capabilities, you'll quickly discover that XOOPS will do just about anything you could want to do if you are willing to dig in and learn how to do it.

Phew... Sorry, didn't mean to go off on a rant. Hope that helps.

Best Regards,

James

How about this pony? Ever seen one like it?
http://xoopstuner.com/xtnrlab/index.php?xoops_theme_select=xtnrPortable

JMorris' coffee-infusion is too wide open (again), but nevertheless he's right!

3 more great examples can be found at http://www.cusix.dk/cases

Mmmmm... Coffee

I need coffee

However, yes - JM is right.. there's many excellent looking sites .. some of the designers we've recently seen have made my head spin with some of the novel designs

However,

IMHO it would be the best PR for XOOPS if xoops.org were also a little bit more 'design'(whatever that may be) and a little less 'default'.
I know there are some threads in the forums about this issue, but if we want to score higher next year in the Open Source CMS Award, I think the design of this site should be a subject of thought.

So far for my 2cts.

EDIT:
It should be relatively easy to make a small showcase with screenshots on the frontpage of xoops?

Greetz,