Following quickly on the heels of Cutline and 2813, I am happy to announce the availability of the popular Hemingway theme for Movable Type 4 users. For this theme however I can take no credit - I am merely a hosting facility for the CSS handy work done by my friend and co-worker Bryan Tighe.
Installation is simple and quick. See for yourself. Then, when you are done, join the Hemingway Showcase!
A couple of days ago I released Cutline for Movable Type 4. Now I am getting around to re-releasing 2813 for Movable Type 4.
It is a simple theme for simple sites and blogs. It is not done yet, so if you are interested in helping test it out, I would be grateful. Installing it easy too - you don't even need to download anything. Just point Movable Type at this blog and you are done.
Or check out the live demo.
About twice a month for the last year I have been getting requests to update my port of the Cutline theme to Movable Type 4.x. Today I am happy to announce that I have a first draft of the updated theme now available for MT4. Installing it is actually simple: there is nothing to download. Just copy and paste a URL into Movable Type and you are done. Seriously.
I have created a live demo of the theme for people to check out. I intend to publish there more information about the theme as well as any other information that may prove helpful to users. If you need help, please don't hesitate to leave a comment.
Aaron Bailey just launched a beautiful new site devoted to all of the amazing blogs powered by Movable Type. It is called Movable Love and will serve not only as an index of blogs powered by MT, but will specifically showcase and highlight those sites that stand out from the rest as beautifully designed sites powered by MT.
I for one can't wait to see this directory take shape. I know I have already submitted my favorite web sites that I know are powered by Movable Type... have you?
Here is just a sampling of some of my personal favorites that I have already submitted:
What blogs are you going to submit?
See also and not to be confused with: Lovable Type.
In today's Movable Type hackathon I chose to focus on a Movable Type plugin of mine that has been neglected quite far too much since the release of MT4: the Photo Gallery plugin. I held off primarily because I knew that the template set feature in Movable Type 4.1 was going to make the user experience for the Photo Gallery plugin totally worth the wait.
What I have hacked together so far is far from perfect, but it serves as an excellent and fully functional preview of what is in store for this plugin in the coming weeks. Please, install it, use it and let me know what you think.
The rest should be, I hope, self explanatory. If it is not, then that is a bug.
This is not an official release. It is a preview and chance for me to hear some feedback from users.
In case you were wondering, here is an overview of some of the enhancements found in Photo Gallery 2.0:
But remember, I am not done yet. So expect the following soon...
What has always drawn me to Movable Type is its flexibility. Most of the time we, that is Six Apart: my employer and creator of Movable Type, talk and think about MT's flexibility in terms of the web sites it is capable of producing and the vast array of plugins one can build on top of the platform.
But there is another axis of customization that is rarely exploited that is perhaps one of the most remarkable ways in which one can bend and twist Movable Type to one's will: the ability to completely re-skin the core user/administrative interface of the application. The first time this feature was fully utilized was when we released the iPhone interface for Movable Type. The fact that it took Brad Choate less then 8 hours1 to actually port the entire interface to a completely different look and feel is amazing to me.
Of course, one might chalk his efficiency up to fact that he also happens to be Movable Type's lead engineer, and arguably the single most experienced and knowledgeable Movable Type hacker on the planet --- thereby making this feat less compelling.
Enter Mark Carey.
Today Mark released the second plugin capable of re-skinning Movable Type. This plugin however provides a user interface to Movable Type that is virtually identical to that of WordPress.
To quote Mark, "Yes, the above image is Movable Type, not Wordpress. ;)"
From what he tells me, it only took him about 10-12 hours to achieve.
Remarkable.
For the engineers out there: think for a moment back when you last embarked on a redesign of a product you worked on. How long did it take you? I am willing to bet that no matter how long it took, it took longer then you thought it would.
It is just amazing to me to think that someone can turn around a total redesign of the Movable Type application in such a short period of time.
But what does this mean for Movable Type users? I guess it depends on who you ask, as there are some MT users that cannot imagine using anything but MT4's new look and feel. On the other hand, I have spoken with some users, WordPress converts in particular, for which MT4's user interface was a very drastic change for them.
For those users, and other users thinking about making the switch from WordPress to Movable Type, this plugin allows them to experience MT via a more familiar user interface. Users can then transition to MT's default design when they feel more comfortable doing so.
I just like the fact that Movable Type really is whatever you want it to be. It doesn't seek to constrain you to a single way of doing things. It is not encumbered by NIH mentality and seek to embrace the best the web has to offer, from OpenID to Pingback. Movable Type, in its form, function and design seeks to free you from constraints and make anything possible.
God, I really do love this product.
1 This does not account for the time to actually design the user interface, and come up with the HTML and CSS coding standard to use.
