Designing for WebGUI - A Noob's Perspective

To begin with, I would like to note that this is not a tutorial or guide on how to bring your design into WebGUI.  That's already been done.  Instead, I would like to share my perspective as a new designer with the masses, hopefully encouraging those who are also new to WebGUI and might have some reservations or hesitations.

The first time I took a design and brought it into WebGUI, I couldn't help but think “Wow, that was easy!”  It was a refreshing sentiment, as the task had seemed daunting.  I had imagined that I would have to struggle with my code to get it to comply with WebGUI, but it actually fit in beautifully, requiring only a few minor additions.

I think my favorite thing about designing in WebGUI is the flexibility that translates into some serious power.  It has a wide variety of macros that you can integrate into your HTML to perform a myriad of tasks, from generating dynamic div tags and classes, to integrating specialized functionality.  However, if you are new to WebGUI, you can create your entire style and have a fully functional site with a minimal amount of alteration.  This can be accomplished by simply adding two template variables and a macro for creating the login boxes to your style template.  I find it comforting to know that if I can get my HTML and CSS working on my local machine, I can get it into WebGUI quickly and efficiently. 

I have found, however, that when I have to stylize an existing template, that's when I run into my least favorite thing about WebGUI.  There is some inconsistency from template to template when it comes to div tag names, classes, header sizes, and so forth.    Many of the templates also include inline styles, which are difficult to track down.  Fortunately, my least favorite thing about WebGUI is already in the process of being resolved!  A small team, including a variety of community contributors and a few of the Plain Black staff, has begun work on standardization of the templates to make designing to existing assets vastly easier. 

Hopefully a more designer-friendly WebGUI will translate into more available site themes.  I personally would love to see a lot more templates and styles go up in the Bazaar.  I know that for someone who is not very code-oriented, it can sometimes feel like there isn't much you have to contribute to WebGUI.  If you are a designer, contributing your styles to the Bazaar is a great way to get involved.  I encourage all of you designers out there to take the plunge and convert some of your styles into WebGUI templates.  It won't take nearly as long as you might think, it won't be nearly as painful as you might think, and it's a great addition to the WebGUI community.