Theming in Action: Dressing Up Garland

Now, just for the sake of practice, let's take what's been covered in this chapter and apply it to the tailoring an existing theme. We'll start with a default theme and apply the various options available in the system in an effort to create a uniquely tailored theme.

For purposes of the following example, our hypothetical client is Fluid Carbon, a fan site for Italian sports cars. This is a hobbyist's site, so the owner has a very limited budget and doesn't want to pay for custom design work or custom component development; the budget restrictions basically force us to work with Drupal straight out of the box.

Here are the client's requirements…

Look & Feel

• Fluid 3 column layout

• Color scheme to match existing client I.D.

• Must use client's logo in header

• Wants clean look—not too much clutter

• Vertical main nav, in the right column

Functionality

• Blog for site editor (only one blog)

• Forums (only one needed)

• Ability to display third party RSS feed content

• Polls...