What happened to Rocket Theme
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- wombat
- Rocketeer
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Hi,
I don't post much, and most of what I post is ignored, but I have to ask WHAT HAPPENED TO ROCKET THEME????
Most people that look for templates are looking for something simple. When I started with Joomla I was able to make my own Templates, but could not really add the nice "Extras" like dropdown menus,search, etc.. These were however available as Joomla Components/Modules. I initially purchased a subscription here at RT so that I could help others find out where the problems were they were having on their sites with different components. I was glad that I did, because there were many Templates that I liked and it helped me with my own project. Over time however, RT has moved away with providing templates that someone who is "new" can use. They keep getting more complicated and the user needs to know more.
I have been around long enough that I can do most things neccessary, but newer users cannot. I understand that RT is moving forward, but please try and keep things simple enough so that anyone who purchases a subscription can actually use it. Furthermore, I keep renewing my subscription for Joomla, and now I find out there is a new CMS from RT. I have to ask, will GAV take up so much of your time that other areas might suffer? Should I keep renewing my Joomla Subscription or let it drop? When I subscribed it was promised one Template every month, now only (maybe) every six weeks. In addition I have to be able to do more, coding, css, etc.. This has been going on for a long time, each month it gets more sophisticated and more needs to be learned. Particles and Atoms and whatever else you have, why not call them what they are? Components/MOdules/boxes. Good it is still not a big problem, but it takes a lot more time to set up every single page. I know, I do not need to renew my sunscription if I do not want to, but why not keep it simple?
GAV is really nice for people who can code, but difficult for those that can't. Why should I be interested in it when I want it simple? Why should I be interested in RT when it keeps getting more complicated?
I am not someone who can program a site, but I am (or was) rather good with css., this leads to my next question; WHY DO YOU GUYS ALWAYS USE AN "!important" TO MAKE THINGS WORK!!!! Anyone who has an idea from css can do this withouth using "!important! in their css files, why do you "Profis" have to keep using it everywhere?
Once again, I have not posted much here at RT, but some of these questions have been asked by me before and ignored. I am not expecting an answer, just hope that some others will see this and start to wonder what the hell happened to RT.
Norman - aka wombat
PS. I really do not expect an answer from RT, but if you want to know how to get rid of the unneccessary "!important"s, let me know, it will make everyones life easier
- Last Edit: 7 years 4 months ago by wombat.
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- Damir
- Preeminent Rocketeer
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Here is the info about the release dates and why they where changed
www.rockettheme.com/blog/team/218-rocket...-focus-on-innovation
I have to ask, will GAV take up so much of your time that other areas might suffer?No other areas will not suffer, because different Team is working on Grav and different Team is working on the RocketTheme Templates ...
I really do not expect an answer from RT, but if you want to know how to get rid of the unneccessary "!important"s, let me know, it will make everyones life easierYou don't need to use "!important"s in the code to override it you just need to override it in the right manner and right order also i would recommend you add that code in the custom.scss file and it will work without the "!important"s...
To add custom style sheet to Gantry 5 Framework please follow these instructions:
docs.gantry.org/gantry5/tutorials/adding-a-custom-style-sheet
or if you want to add them in the Page Settings:
docs.gantry.org/gantry5/configure/page-settings#custom-css-js
Particles and Atoms and whatever else you have, why not call them what they are? Components/MOdules/boxes.Because they are not that, they are Particles and Atoms very different thing then Modules Components, if you read the Gantry 5 Docs you would see that...
docs.gantry.org/gantry5/particles/particles
GAV is really nice for people who can code, but difficult for those that can't. Why should I be interested in it when I want it simple? Why should I be interested in RT when it keeps getting more complicated?I answered this here:
www.rockettheme.com/forum/grav-general-q...ions/265891-why-grav
Let me know if you have any questions and i will be glad to help you to better understand how stuff work... also please read the docs and see the videos and you will be much brighter about the platform after that, i know i have ...
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- wombat
- Rocketeer
- Posts: 53
- Thanks: 15
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Hi Damir,
You don't need to use "!important"s in the code to override it you just need to override it in the right manner and right order also i would recommend you add that code in the custom.scss file and it will work without the "!important"s...
You seem to have misunderstood me here. Question was actually "Why does RT use so many "!importants" in the css/scss files?" Using Protean as an example, if I do a search for !important in the files I get over 1000 hits. Granted, these are in all files, but searching only the template files I still come up with almost 300 hits. The only way to override these is to add !important to my custum .css/.scss files.
Release Dates for new Themes has been changed to every 4 - 6 weeks. IT has been longer than that now since the release of Versla. Instead of a new Template for Joomla/WordPress, the GAV has been released. I had asked if other areas would suffer because of GAV and this was the answer;
No other areas will not suffer, because different Team is working on Grav and different Team is working on the RocketTheme Templates ...
It seems that this is not true. There has been no new Template released this month because of the GAV release. I am not complaining about GAV, but why should it interest me when I am a member of the Joomla Template Club? But enough of that, there is another thread where this has been discussed.
As to Particles;
Particles are basically like WordPress widgets or Joomla modules. They are blocks of content that are configured on the back end. You can use modules/widgets exactly as you always did, but what makes particles especially useful is their simplicity and the fact that they live independently of the CMS.
Lets say that they actually are simple and I am only confused because they are new to me. With a Joomla Template I install a module and assign it a module position. I can also choose which pages it is shown on and who can see it.
With RT and Gantry I first have to create a particle to use as a module position and then assign the module to that particle. I can also create particles that act as modules and there are also some particles already included that are set to do different things (Events etc.) It seems to me that more steps are needed when I want to install a joomla module, at least when I start using particles.
I am not saying that it is bad, a lot more possibilities are available, but it is not so simple. Someone who is new to Websites/Joomla could have a very hard time getting a site up and running with RT Themes. No one forces me to renew my subscription, so if I didn't like what is offered I wouldn't have renewed it.
Norman
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- oceano
- Elite Rocketeer
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Grav is the future. More fast, no DB ecc ecc. Also is a RT CMS ecc ecc.
But, no 3rd party comp. at the moment and all us we always must use joomla for 1 year at least.
BTW is really too much for non dev. We use RT for our personal website, I like have better and different but really, i learn use gantry 4, then gantry 5 and after few mont we have grav.
Ok no problem we will learn but 2 things, we are joomla addicted at the moment and grav is not easy and we have to buy another subscription.
So most of us just wait the last theme of joomla, we don't buy a subscription of grav because is useless at the moment ( you don't have real component for joomla most are just lite version, look roksprochet like Minitek Wall for example) we can't implement sh404 or similar ecc ecc.
So, i really don't want learn other code also for grav only for try it( as you need for implement GPM (Grav Package Manager)) and I don't want spend money for try and lean somethings new that I can't in real use.
Give a free copy of a last theme to us that for many years we follow you and we will try it but don't ask me , at the moment, to forget one more theme for joomla, that we wait for more than one month, and buy one more subscription for something I cannot use.
PS: this is my site airterminal.one, i learn whit you and I ask for long time e real theme for the news ( not just a simple copy of WP theme like Ambrosia and Audacity) as many others but never had one.
Buon Natale
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- David Goode
- Preeminent Rocketeer
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Hello all,
From my perspective as a web developer I can see that Joomla and Grav are both suited to different audiences but with an overlap.
Joomla is primarily for sites where content will change regularly or you need user interaction via 3rd party extensions such as Community Builder, Shopping Carts etc.
Grav is aimed at sites where there is a lesser need for content change or the administrator has a better knowledge of the code. Even then there are plugins for Grav to make life a bit easier.
I have used other templates and some of them have been so basic they are very easy to use but literally cannot be customised as everything is hard coded.
I personally found the move from Gantry 4 to Gantry 5 very hard. I could not get my head around the simple fact that there was often more than one way to achieve a specific end goal. This created frustration for me and made it hard to embrace Gantry 5. Now I have made time and I look back and wonder how I ever managed with Gantry 4 by comparison.
We will never please all of our members all of the time but we do appreciate the feedback as it helps us to understand where the members are in relation to our changes. So thank you for your input and we wish you all Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year.
Please search forums before posting. Please make sure your post includes the version of the CMS you are using and a link to the problem. Annotations on screenshots can also be helpful to explain problems/goals. Please use the "secure" tab for confidential information
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- wombat
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Hi,
We seem to keep coming back to GAV although this thread should be more about Template releases and their ease of use. With RokSprocket, I also had my problems at first. There were just too many possibilities to use it that it sometimes got confusing. After playing with it for a while it got easier and easier, and I learned to apprieciate what it could really do, it just took getting used to do a lot of different things with one extension, instead of doing different things with 4 or 5 separate extensions.
Problem is that we keep hearing about a 4-6 week goal with no deadlines so that quality Features to the Templates can be added. Comparing the Antares Template from January with the last template release - Versla - there are not really any big changes. There are some different Particles included, but that is about it. The only change to the Gantry Core Features is the Styles Panel has been added, for the Template features the only difference is that the Horizontal Menu is NOT(?) in the Features list for Versla.
I know that this comparison is not really fair and that some of these features need to be regularly updated as Joomla and Gantry change and that there also other aspects which we do not see or realize. But this simple comparison does not show much that is new.
Another question that has gone unanswered is why does Rocket Theme use so many "!important"s in their files, but I guess I will probably never get an answer for that one.
As far as keeping it simple, okay, I can use Particles to get a site set up and looking like I want, but why should I use them when it involves more work? Use the Events List Particle as an example. Each Event has to be added to the Particle manually. If it should be linked to an article with a descriprtion for the event, this has to be done in joomla as an article then the link added to the particle. There is no overview of all Events unless you do this with the joomla articles, there is no Calender showing events unless we set this up extra, evertime new events are added these need to be added to the particle (and maybe the old ones removed, I have not checked that). With a free Joomla Calendar Component, this is all only added through the component. Most of these also have modules to show the next events, these get the information from the component so that all the information is added once and everything else happens automatically depending on what has been set in the parameters. If more is needed, then there are also paid Calendar/Event Components that might do more. (My opinion is that these components usually do not look very good, but they can be changed using the css files)
Once again, this comparison is probably not really fair, it is just an example of what I am trying to point out. I've also just started playing around with them since I have not really done much in the last year and a half as far as websites go, so I might also be mistaken with some of what I have said. In that case, I apologise.
I am NOT saying that the particles are something bad, on the contrary, they can also be very useful, especially for Content that does not change very often. Using the Particles the Content also fits in better on the pages.
As I mentioned before, no one forces me to renew my subscription, but I do so anyway because I still like what I see.
Norman - Last Edit: 7 years 4 months ago by wombat.
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- David Goode
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Hi Norman,
I only referred to Grav as you had included it in your posts
I think that the biggest problem I had was recognising that I could set template layouts to use particles directly on a page by page basis or simply create a module position and assign the modules I needed.
But then it got confusing because I could select all my common, user-friendly modules or add a particle as a module. In turn that could be any particle. Again, for me, confusion crept in and I got frustrated instead of seeing the benefits.
Even so, at the time, I would have to make changes to every layout. Then the team finally got inheritance working so now I could literally edit just one layout, base outline. Perhaps also the home layout at a push. Now particles are like modules for me.
I still find that I use just as many specialist extensions as previously because some of them have been designed with a specific use in mind, especially events calendars and ecommerce. The only difference now is that I can create bespoke positions if I need them. There is no restriction on positions as there used to be with Gantry 4.
With reference to the !important suffix. We do try to minimise our use of it but unfortunately we are finding more and more clashes with extensions where code is simply non-specific. A lot of these are required in order for the template to retain the colours we designed it to have. Bootstrap can be a common offender of disrespecting other code so we have had to use !important in places. As a result you too need to use !important in your custom code as we did in order to get the effects to remain rather than be overridden.
Hope this helps
Please search forums before posting. Please make sure your post includes the version of the CMS you are using and a link to the problem. Annotations on screenshots can also be helpful to explain problems/goals. Please use the "secure" tab for confidential information
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- wombat
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I only referred to Grav as you had included it in your posts
Yeah, guess I should have left that out.
With reference to the !important suffix. We do try to minimise our use of it but unfortunately we are finding more and more clashes with extensions where code is simply non-specific. A lot of these are required in order for the template to retain the colours we designed it to have. Bootstrap can be a common offender of disrespecting other code so we have had to use !important in places
Okay, I know the story. Component Developers blame it on the Template, Template developers blame it the components.
BUT... When I do a clean install of Joomla, with or without using the Rocket Launcher, and remove all the "!importants" everything still looks fine. That is how it should be. If I install something else and something gets screwed up, then it is definitely whatever I installed that is causing it. That is also what needs to be changed. The way it is now, with the "!important"s in the Template files, very often the files for components/modules need to be edited, adding "!important"s so that things show correctly, that is not how it should be. Although I have not looked at each class that uses an "!important" in the RT Templates, most of what I saw were for the text color, but there a few other classes as well. The installed extensions screw up the template, and the template screws up the extensions, it just keeps going round and round. In this case I could say that whether a Template developer, or an extension developer, if you can't figure out how to do something without using "!important"s, then don't do it, BUT....
yes, I agree, Bootstrap can also make life difficult.
Norman
btw, has anyone ever installed gantry5 and an RT Template without using the launcher or installing sample data? That took some getting used to
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- Damir
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btw, has anyone ever installed gantry5 and an RT Template without using the launcher or installing sample data? That took some getting used to
Yeah me I always do that when i start the project ... and you learn in the proccess 
- Last Edit: 7 years 4 months ago by Damir.
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