In preparation of our upcoming public release, we’re inviting beta testers to contribute themes they’ve written to our directory. It will feature themes previously packaged with our release clients, in addition to any created by the community. We’re following the practices of other successful open source projects by making this an open process, which is a great opportunity to dive into the theme-writing process and give back.
How can you get started? The easiest way is to edit the CSS of a simpler theme, like Thanks, Roy or Minimalist. Changes to themes don’t need to be drastic – sometimes the simplest themes are the best ones. You’ve changed just a few colors and the styling? We’d love to see those themes too. Once you’re comfortable using the functions inside those themes, you can build your own. Another choice that’s a step in-between tweaking a pre-existing Omeka theme and building your own, is to hack a layout of an open-source CMS. I chose to take the popular WordPress theme Kubrick and make it Omeka compatible. You can do the same!
All themes are released under GPL, and attributed to you in the directory. This is a great way to get your name out there, and contribute to the community. If you’d like submit a design, contact Omeka Support (omeka.support@gmail.com), or post any questions about theme-writing on the Forums.