I got a little bummed over the issues with my new attempt at some vb graphics, so I decided to try and mimic the mac look onto a forum. Right now I am just doing a mock up and have not actually worked on a vb style for it, but I think I may do it.

I tried really, really hard to get the looks right, and none of the graphics are the real thing, even the brushed metal background.

Hmmm, I can't attach a file. I tried a pdf, and got this
Warning: move_uploaded_file(admincp/tmp/80bda82eb178a91fa482d61f1f2bf471): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /includes/class_upload.php on line 427

Warning: move_uploaded_file(): Unable to move '/tmp/phpj5p7GJ' to 'admincp/tmp/80bda82eb178a91fa482d61f1f2bf471' in /includes/class_upload.php on line 427

Fatal error: Unable to proceed with save while $errors array is not empty in class vb_datamanager_attachment_database in /includes/class_dm.php on line 748

Then I tried a png and got this error.

Warning: move_uploaded_file(admincp/tmp/323e1adbeabd82988c447a52fcf1110b): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /includes/class_upload.php on line 427

Warning: move_uploaded_file(): Unable to move '/tmp/phpPefBFR' to 'admincp/tmp/323e1adbeabd82988c447a52fcf1110b' in /includes/class_upload.php on line 427

Warning: getimagesize(): Unable to access admincp/tmp/323e1adbeabd82988c447a52fcf1110b in /includes/class_image.php on line 1513

Warning: getimagesize(admincp/tmp/323e1adbeabd82988c447a52fcf1110b): failed to open stream: Success in /includes/class_image.php on line 1513
Oh, and the png attempt gave me a vB error. "preview.png:
This is not a valid image file."

Have you added .png or .pdf as a valid extention to be uploaded? And is the directory writable for the uploader?

Well, I usually use pngs because of the way it translates gradients. So if anything changed, it would probably be a result of the new beta?

Yay! Whatever the problem was, it's gone now. And I'm gonna start cracking tonight or tomorrow on making this a vb style. ;)

A word of (paranoia) warning, a few years ago, some people developed a OS X Aqua style for some open source window manager, aparently, they got a cease & desist (sp?) letter from apple's lawyers. so you have been warned ;)

Hmm, well I'll try it out, and if asked (read: told) to stop, I will.

only problem with that is if the user can't edit a post, the edit button will be missing and the buttons will look stupid :P put the edit button in the middle of the funny row thingy :P

Yeah, but that would kind of make it unusual for a vB forum. Could one not just put the whole button row in a conditional and say if allowed to edit then show button bar X, but if not then show button bar Y.

I plan on only having the appropriate buttons in line, and oddly enough, a blank button where nothing would show up, though from my experience, even guests who cannot post still see "quote" button. So we'll see.

Anyway, what I will do is place a left-end and a right-end graphic on each end of the buttons that appear in posts/pms, and then each button with conditionals and a divider graphic with it. ;) I am pretty sure the quote button is always there, so I will work around that, or work it out. Never fear! Neeto is here, and I SHALL get it working. What you see there is just a layered graphics file showing some concepts I have going on in my head. :D If you notice, it has a quote AND a reply, even though quote appears in threads, and reply appears in private messages.

One thing I would like to request, but it may be waaaaaay too much hassle.

If you are logged-in and have permission to post in forum X then you get all the necessary buttons. But if you don't have permission to post, or are a guest then you just see a button or link saying you need to register to post (or similar).

I can do that, and would love to do it. Where did you have in mind that this wording would go?

One idea I had is to have none of the buttons show up, but a "Register to Post" button would in it's place, with a link to the register page. The thing is, the quote button ALWAYS seems to show up. Well, it's a quote/reply button. Anyway, lemme get some screenshots of what I have done so far.

Edit>>

I just had an idea! But this would not work for everyone. What about a conditional to check to see if someone is a guest for the large "Reply" and "New Thread" buttons, and if a guest, make it a larger "Register to Post" button. Inside the threads, do a similar thing, so guests would automatically see a smaller "Register to Post" button in place of "Quote".

The problem with this method is that some people allow guests to post. But it's the best I am thinking of right now. Lemme know if you have a better idea out there, anyone. ;)

Ok, here we go. Some previews.

This is of course before applying the theoretical idea of the register button/text in place of the usual post interface buttons for those lacking permission.

looking good :P

Yeah. It rocks!

Can't wait for the first demo verison.

I hope to have an initial release of it out before the end of the week. I have done a logo (with a variant black version instead of blue), and also initiated the idea for a register button in place of post/reply buttons for guests. If a better method for the conditional comes up, I'll be glad to use it.

The Verdana font looks somewhat out of place. Any idea if there's a common system font that looks reasonably like what Apple uses?

The Verdana shows up everywhere on my ibook....

The Verdana shows up everywhere on my ibook.... Have you tried Apple Gothic? It is similar to Verdana but a little more Apple.

You could use that for any images as it doesn't matter if people don't have the font on their system. And then perhaps Verdana for the post text etc. as that is similar and very common.

Though I know what you mean about the title. It is good, but not totally there. How about something like Zapfino?

Hmm, I have no cursive at all on my computer. I could use it if you would like, but I don't see it anywhere in Tiger.

The system font OSX uses is Lucida Grande. Get it here (http://public.planetmirror.com/pub/jonmega/iceman/osx_fonts.zip). I'd use this as CSS/HTML font substitution list: Lucida Grande, Lucida Sans Unicode, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif. For any fancy text, use Apple Garamond, included in the zip I linked above.

Lucida Grande. That was the one I was thinking of but it wasn't in my system font folder. I have pulled this apart as I do a lot of print work and need an external app (like Suitecase) to embed the fonts into PDFs. So my system font folder isn't stock.

And a very good idea about the CSS font set-up. And I love Apple Garamond too. :-)

Will do. I'll get it set up and hopefully have an update oh...later this week sometime. Thanks for the help, guys.

That looks very neat neeto, I'd tap it.

Sorry, development has been slow after the initial bit. :| I have made some template improvements though, and I will hopefully work on the graphics some more once I am done with some much needed graphical work for the band.

Thanks for looking, Tokebuzz. It's appreciated.

Any updates on this? Though, I guess that we are now so near to 3.5.0 going gold that you will probably wait to see if they make any further template changes before releasing this.