New Skin for Roundcube, LiteCube

[adambarrell]

It's a good time to get suggestions as we're still developing and it's easier to change things at this stage. We'll add your 2 suggestions to the design cmuser.

As far as plugins go which ones are the most used or necessary and would affect the layout?

Hi cyberdan, could you put me down for beta testing please. A lot of the ispconfig community use the mailuser interface plugin which allows password changes per user etc. so it would be nice to see that compatible with your skin for sure.

[ABerglund]

As far as plugins go which ones are the most used or necessary and would affect the layout?

Plugins that I've seen that are in fairly common use and known to cause skin problems include:

compose_addressbook
context_menu
help
password
vacation

Another one that we use, but is probably not in wide use is syscp_password which adds a password strength meter to the password change page. It can be found at:

http://www.roundcubeforum.net/7-third-party-contributions/46-api-based-plugins/6557-password-plugin-strength-meter.html

Any plugin that adds a tab to the Settings page (such as password and vacation) is likely to be an issue. Additionally, several plugins come with their own skins folder inside the plug (such as compose_addressbook, context_menu, help and vacation) - any of those are potential problems as well.

To ensure maximum compatibility, I think you may want to consider testing any plugin that ships inside the RC tarball, plus many (or all) of those in the following popular plugin repositories:

RoundCube Plugins & Patches
Roundcube Plugins | Underwater World
Downloads - myroundcube - Project Hosting on Google Code

Many of those plugins will be fine as is (lots only do backend stuff, no UI impact), but skin/plugin conflicts are very common, and are a large reason that many RC installs (like my org's) have remained skin-less. The skins may look and work great on an out-of-the-box install, but if they get messed up because of plugin incompatibilities it's not worth the time to de-bug. I can say that my organization has so far decided not to consider skins at all just for this reason. We certainly would not be interested in paying for a skin package unless tested plugin compatibility was part of the package.

[cmuser]

It's a good time to get suggestions as we're still developing and it's easier to change things at this stage. We'll add your 2 suggestions to the design cmuser.

As far as plugins go which ones are the most used or necessary and would affect the layout?

That's great, thank you!
Are you able to add me to your Beta testing too? testuser[/at/]live/com/au

I also have another suggestion regarding the Compose screen (although I haven't seen yours yet). Currently on RC the "attachement" function is off to the far left and adding an attachment is not obvious (just via a "+" sign right at the bottom left of the page - so there is seperation of the controls). It is not in the context of the message composition area of the page. My suggestion is to place the add attachment function in the same plane/flow of the user's work space and have it just below the subject, (being a user input function carried out during message composition). A simple 'Attachments' text link with a supporting intuitive 'paper clip' icon would be most appropriate and obvious.

I hope you will consider this suggestion in your design!
Can't wait to see your final product!

[cyberdan]

Thanks for the plugin suggestions. I can understand the upgrade/skin breaking problems very well. I've been working with Squirrelmail skins (NutsMail)for many years and SM has no templating system. For every upgrade we almost have to reskin everything so we're looking at it the same way for RC upgrades.

I agree with cmuser about the attachment placement. I'm attaching a screenshot of the compose screen, see what you think.

[cmuser]

I agree with cmuser about the attachment placement. I'm attaching a screenshot of the compose screen, see what you think.

Thanks for the screenshot cyberdan - it looks excellent! Nice clean layout.
I've however made some notes and suggestions for your review. Let me know your thoughts.
I've attached my markup/modified screen.

[cyberdan]

Thanks for the screenshot cyberdan - it looks excellent! Nice clean layout.
I've however made some notes and suggestions for your review. Let me know your thoughts.
I've attached my markup/modified screen.

Good points cmuser. The RC text changes are easily done from the language file. Regarding the left navigation, we're trying as much as possible to use the default layout that removes the left navigation when inside other pages. It makes it easier to upgrade to future releases. I'm not sure about removing the "E-Mail" tab as that is also part of the default RC. We could maybe change the icon so it doesn't look so similar to send mail or possibly change the text to say "inbox" instead?

Good point on the text fields. We'll make them more like text boxes.

[cmuser]

Regarding the left navigation, we're trying as much as possible to use the default layout that removes the left navigation when inside other pages. It makes it easier to upgrade to future releases. I'm not sure about removing the "E-Mail" tab as that is also part of the default RC. We could maybe change the icon so it doesn't look so similar to send mail or possibly change the text to say "inbox" instead?

Good point on the text fields. We'll make them more like text boxes.

Hi cyberdan - good to hear you found the feedback helpful. Certainly looking forward to seeing the skin. I agree with changing the "E-Mail" to Inbox, but just note that you also have a "Back to Inbox" link on the left - so see how you go with it.

Point taken about the left navigation and future upgrades, we certainly don't want to be hacking away, but hopefully RC will see the importance of keeping site navigation fixed.

Feel free to post other pages if you're interested in feedback.
Keep up the fantastic effort!!!

[andros69]

This is the first skin that has me excited. For once, it seems like someone is trying to fix the usability issues with the default skin and not just "color" the existing one.

Good work! I'd be curious to see how it ends up.

[andros69]

This is the first skin that has me excited. For once, it seems like someone is trying to fix the usability issues with the default skin and not just "color" the existing one.

Good work! I'd be curious to see how it ends up.

[@dmin]

I'd love to test, jesse at jessejoe dot com

[cyberdan]

Just an update on the release dates. I've had to extend our ETA from the end of August to a later date (still to be seen) as we've moved offices which has slowed things a bit. We will probably release each page as we work on the next page so we can get as much input for the final product.

[pospichalales]

Hello,
please send me beta version to ales(at)pospichalales.info
Thank you.

[Dougy]

Here's a screenshot of the new upcoming roundcube skin we will be releasing soon. It's called LiteCube, designed for Roundcube 0.4-stable. It's a clean, simple and easy to use GUI. You can view screenshots and get updates here: Roundcubeskins.net

It will be free for personal use and we will be offering support and upgrade packages for those that need it.

This will be a supported and maintained by NutsMail. We have different designs in production which "LiteCube" is our first release.

We're shooting to have it ready by the end of August. If you're interested in Beta testing the skin just leave a reply here or PM me.

I hope you enjoy it.

Please notify me.. me [at] douglashaber.com as soon as its ready.

[pospichalales]

Is there anyone who can send me this best theme for RoundCube?
My e-mail address is ales[at]pospichalales.info

Thank you.

[cyberdan]

For all those following this skin, here's a screenshot of the address book. Your input and suggestions are welcome.