CUNY Academic Commons

I'd make it available just to this person's site. If we get another request for it, we can open it up to everyone.

Boone Gorges wrote:

Seems OK to me, though we're generally a bit cautious about adding new themes for general use. Matt, Paige, any objections?

Seems okay to me too. Although I wonder if it makes a difference if they plan to use the free version vs. the pro plan. Do you see problems should they use one over the other? The May update seems to be for the pro plan only (unless I'm reading it wrong).

Sounds good to me.

I assume we're not considering the Pro version, as we don't generally buy licenses for our users.

Marilyn, please let the user know that we can install the theme, but let her know that we'll need to know the URLs of the site(s) where it should be made available. We'll make the necessary changes after the release on the 1st.

Boone Gorges wrote:

Sounds good to me.

I assume we're not considering the Pro version, as we don't generally buy licenses for our users.

Marilyn, please let the user know that we can install the theme, but let her know that we'll need to know the URLs of the site(s) where it should be made available. We'll make the necessary changes after the release on the 1st.

Marilyn, when you check in with her, maybe you can mention that this theme (free version) hasn't been updated since Dec. 2016. And there have been some documented problems with mobile responsiveness (from user reviews I found) I doubt it will deter her but I think she should know as some additional features she may have been looking at may be unavailable in the free version.

The sites they'd like it on are http://nlftest.commons.gc.cuny.edu/ and http://newlaborforum.cuny.edu/. I'll let her know about the lack of updates, but I doubt it will deter her. She's hoping to get the ball rolling on installing this theme ASAP.

For my own sake, I'd like to play around with it on https://historyprogram.commons.gc.cuny.edu. Can it be installed there as well? Thanks!

Not so fast! She now writes:

"It looks like it has not been updated since May.

From your point of view, would it be a better option to use ColorMag?: https://themegrill.com/themes/colormag/?

Also, if we chose to opt for the Pro version, how would we cover that expense?"

re the last question, they'd have to buy it, and commit to send us updates. we should point her to the new language on the dev blog on the "Proprietary/”premium” plugins and themes" section: https://dev.commons.gc.cuny.edu/hosting-partner-handbook/

I did as you suggested, Matt. Her reply - "For now, would it be possible to have the free ColorNews theme AND the free ColorMag theme installed for both sites? I would like to work with both of them and test which is a better option for this. I think we will hold off on purchasing a Pro version, but I will send in a separate request if that changes."

We generally shy away from installing tools just for people to test - it generally creates frustration on both ends, since it's more work for me, and slow turnaround times for the user. Testing is best done in a separate WP installation.

We can make exceptions when the team sees fit - Matt, can you chime in?

I think we should say what Boone said, but tell her that we will install both if she has nowhere else to experiment and really can't make a decision without our uploading. One thing that is influencing me here, in saying that we'd be willing to do it, is our new release schedule, which means that we won't be updating as often.

If we do upload, we should have some mechanism where she tells us which one she's decided on so we can remove the other one afterwards.

I will pass all this on. Should I also suggest that she join Redmine?

She writes : "I would like both, and I will certainly let you know which one we've decided to use. Would that work?"

OK. It'll be part of the release on the 1st.

I've now asked. Will let you know when she replies.

No reply. Will ask again in January.

Thank you!

She replies:

"Yes, I have had a chance to play with them. We are going with ColorMag it seems, but I would like to still have access to ColorNews if that is alright. The site design is not yet finalized and we may still need this option if ColorMag doesn't have all the appearance specs that we require. Please let me know if that is okay, thank you!"