New theme for MT

I'm pleased to announce that the new design you see on this site is also available as a Movable Type 4.2 theme! You can download MT 4.2 and the Mid-Century Template Set from movabletype.org.

My goal was to create a simple, elegant blog design with an emphasis on the content and build into it some cool features like the little sidebar photo gallery and ajax commenting.

If you've updated your blog to use this theme or if you have any questions, please comment on this entry.

Comments

[toni.hambilton.myopenid.com]

Hi Jim,

I'm using your theme but have modified it slightly so it doesn't look like the rest. I love how detailed the css is, though had to add something for pages and extended entries. Had a problem with the comment form not working too, but have fixed it. I'm intrigued that it's not finished, and am looking forward to any updates you have in mind.

http://mt4.juneeonline.com/babble-on/

Thanks for sharing

Toni

[Faizal Heesyam]

somehow it didnt work for me, i keep getting error everytime i want to republish the site, such as "tag MTCommentParentID unrecognized", another cookie session tag in the javascript unrecognized..etc

i know the tag exist, but i dont know why my mt shows that error. im using mt4.13 pro-pack.. now i have to switch back to classic template.. :(

[Jim Ramsey]

Hi Faizal. I'm sorry you were having trouble. This theme is built for use with MT 4.2, which means it includes some things that aren't included with MT 4.1. If I have time I'll try to make a version that's compatible with your version.

[Jeff]

Nice theme! I think I had to change a couple of lines/tags to get it to work for me, but otherwise, it looks great.

[PAULO]

like faizal, i would also LOVE it if you could make the theme backwards compatible... it's a beautifully simple and clean theme. Thanks!

[Vladimir Z]

Very nice and clean theme! In general I think that insufficient number of nice themes is the main weakness of MT4 now.

[Sara]

In Byrnes announcement of the theme he indicated that it should be considered a beta version.

I know you guys have been busy getting 4.2 out the door, but when can we expect getting a finished version. I really like this theme and can see myself using it for a couple of projects I'm thinking about.

[Jim Ramsey]

Hi Sara, I've made a few changes based on using it on this blog and I'm doing some documentation. I'm hoping that a final version can be released in the next few days.

[Sara]

Thanks a lot Jim. I'll def be looking forward to it.

[ufo.pip.verisignlabs.com]

Will it be possible to use it in a community blog?
Is there a way to add userpics (avatars) in comments?

Thanks in advance and for your great work

[Jim Ramsey]

You'd have to modify to use if for a community blog or to add userpics in the comments. I've been blogging about different ways to change it, so maybe I'll try to address these things in the next few days.

[ufo.pip.verisignlabs.com]

I'd be great. Thanks again

[ufo.pip.verisignlabs.com]

I think I found a problem. I'm using windows 1252 charset and everything -works fine, except in comments via page form, as you can see there

http://www.giuda.it/archives/200808/death-tour.html

I found that in "comments" template a line sets charset as utf-8 and not as $mt:PublishCharset$.

I changed it but this hasn't solved the encoding problem.
Any ideas?

ps: This problem appeared after 4.2 upgrade.

[ufo.pip.verisignlabs.com]

main index and entry template build pages that don't validate

[ufo.pip.verisignlabs.com]

This charset problem (non utf-8) appears if you write a comment with IE and you press "submit".

This problem doesn't occour if

- you press "preview" and then "submit" with IE
- you use Firefox

Hope to hear you soon :-)

[Faizal Heesyam]

finally i can use it after upgrading to the new mt pro.. sweeeeet!

[Faizal Heesyam]

mt is too flexible and i would say way beyond our control, with the flexibility we can almost do everything with it, more than a cms. thats why it's hard to find a nice predesigned template, coz the number of ideas is infinite! :)

how about some team work out on a nice design, and other team transform the deisgn into mt template, hows that sound? im sux in designing, so i might join the coding team. we have a huge community right, sure we can organize an activity for the members..

[annie]

I'm stalled on final installation with a comment problem. If you comment and click submit, you get an error saying no text was entered (both firefox and ie do this). If you preview first, comment goes thrrough fine. Any clues as to what I should be looking for?

Thanks for the gorgeous style, will be using it repeatedly once I resolve this last snag.

[annie]

An update: solved the problem I had with comments returning the "no text" error. I found that I had a different charset in the html header than is in the comment java script.

Now, system works fine in IE, but in Firefox, once you click "submit" the page flashes briefly, then says it's loading, but never stops. If you go to another open FF browser, the comment is there, but the original browser keeps "loading".

Any hints for this one? We are so close...

Thanks again.

[blacknight]

I really love the way you've improved the comment form - the default way of displaying it in MT always struck me as horrific :)

[JK]

sorry for the newb question. I copied the theme file into the appropriate folders on my server but am uncertain how to apply the theme to my site. should it be avail in stylecatcher?

thanks!

JK

[Jim Ramsey]

Hi JK. To use this template set on an existing site you'll need to refresh your templates. NOTE: This will wipe out any customizations you might have made on your existing templates, so be warned.

To refresh your templates go to Design > Templates and look for the "Refresh Blog Templates" link in the lower right corner. Click that link and choose "Apply new template set" and select Mid-Century from the list. You can backup your existing templates if you wish. Republish your site and you should be good to go.

[Jim Ramsey]

Hi annie -- I'm not sure why that would happen. Is the site in a publicly accessible place? It'd be easier to troubleshoot if I could see what was happening myself. Feel free to send me the link at jramseydesign (at) gmail.com

[Michael Wincott]

Your theme is brilliant Jim! I've tinkered with bits and pieces to suit my blog - but it's just what I was waiting for. Thank you.

[Faizal Heesyam]

am i the only one who experienced this?

everytime after comment, the ajax work in background, then in the area where the comment supposed to appear, it loads the whole websites+new comment instead of loading the comment only.. now it makes the whole page like a nested page.

i believe this is the ajax problem... any idea guys?