Comments for Putting the Universal Template Set to Work

Putting the Universal Template Set to Work

2008-06-05T00:16:08Z

One of the primary design goals for the Universal Template Set released in Movable Type 4.1, was to create a template set that was not only compelling on its own, but also something that could be easily configured and modified to create new, interesting and beautiful web sites. This blog is powered by the Universal Template Set and even uses a photo I took myself of the Seattle Public Library.

Every now and again I stumble upon a web site using the Universal Template Set and amazed at how not only how easily users can make their own, but also by its clear design flexibility:

Are you using the Universal Template Set for your blog? Let me know and I will add you to the gallery!

Comment from lezardbreton.myopenid.com on 2008-06-04

2008-06-05T05:56:22Z

If I understood correctly, Universal Template Set is only for MT professional and not MTOS? Am I correct?

Comment from Byrne on 2008-06-05

2008-06-05T16:14:27Z

For the time being, that is correct. Without making any promises, that is something I hope to change though... :)

Comment from Sara on 2008-06-05

2008-06-06T04:03:02Z

I'm using it in its mostly basic fashion. Had all the intentions of making it my own, but then life happened in a bad way and I have barely touched MT for a while.

Comment from lezardbreton.myopenid.com on 2008-06-06

2008-06-06T20:33:42Z

This would be a great thing Byrne.

Comment from lezardbreton.myopenid.com on 2008-06-06

2008-06-06T20:34:36Z

By the way, the "reply" function doesn't seem to work (Firefox 3).

Comment from inthedistance.myopenid.com on 2008-07-29

2008-07-30T02:21:33Z

Hi Byrne,

Nice to be able to leave a comment for someone who actually has a say in how a product evolves.

I'm looking at migrating to MT4.2 from the past 2 years of using Joomla for my personal site. The UTS (or an equivalent) would be amazing in MTOS for those of us who need to start an entire site, not just a blog. The one-click install with sample content population (like in your screencast) is such a huge help for learning how to get rolling -- Joomla's installation features an "Install Sample Content" button for this very reason. I don't even want the UTS itself -- I have a newly mocked up template for Joomla that I'd like to port over, but having a full, working example would be golden.

Anyway, as a student, dropping a hundred for a template is pretty steep. Templating from scratch isn't fun, either (I'm not a coder, just a tinkerer), but it would be cool if MT had a feature to launch a whole site, rather than just a blog.

Thanks for reading.

Comment from Byrne on 2008-08-02

2008-08-03T05:30:44Z

@inthedistance - I hear you. I am not sure what the plan is for UTS regarding open source, but I know exactly what you mean. We do endeavor to make it more free though, so I would play close attention to movabletype.org and other outlets for news and updates.

You should check out the latest post on mt.org in which we mention the Mid-Century Template Set. That is a very nice set. Still a blog, but hidden inside is horizontal nav which is nice. Creating a homepage using it should be easy as pie.

Comment from Jamie Bullock on 2008-08-12

2008-08-12T10:38:15Z

The Mid-Century template is really nice, and I've got it working under the latest 4.2 beta. How do I access the 'hidden' horizontal nav you mention?

Comment from Jamie Bullock on 2008-08-13

2008-08-13T16:00:58Z

Hi,

You mentiona horizontal nav hidden inside the Mid-Century TS. How can this be accessed?

Thanks.

Comment from Jim Ramsey on 2008-08-14

2008-08-14T20:56:54Z

Go to the Templates page and edit the "Banner Header" template module. At the very end of this file you'll see a div with the id "nav" that's wrapped by tags. Simply remove the opening and closing tags and add any additional items you want in the navigation. Republish your site and you're all set.

Those instructions are also posted on my blog.

Comment from Jim Ramsey on 2008-08-14

2008-08-14T21:22:33Z

Sorry, that last comment was about Mid-Century Template Set in response to Jamie's question.