Some questions about customizing Vanilla theme

[Jelena]

Hi,
I started creating new theme based on Vanilla but it will be changed a lot. So here are the questions:

• Where can I define avatar size for profile page, but not with changing css but the real picture size (cause changing css will only stretch the picture)?
• How can i display "post content" in topics list? For example if there is a photo in the first post (not whole thread) I want to display that photo here http://screencast.com/t/7rrQQQSuc7s .
• Is there a way to separate first post from others on post page? I want to move their positions, like on facebook for example. First post will be main post and others for example to be listed on it's right side as comments. I couldn't understand how to do that cause it seems like they all have the same code. Also how to remove this from other posts except first http://screencast.com/t/i89I9Ib2?
• I don't need categories, I will use only tags. So, how to display topics on homepage? Is there any way that I can do that without using categories at all or I need to create one category where all topics will be added (but I don't want to user see that category anywhere on the site, for example http://screencast.com/t/6dIByIF5W )?

[Xiph]

@Jelena said:

Is there a way to separate first post from others on post page? I want to move their positions, like on facebook for example. First post will be main post and others for example to be listed on it's right side as comments. I couldn't understand how to do that cause it seems like they all have the same code.

You can either just address the first post separately with a more specific css selector (i.e. .topic .posts > li.post-row[data-index="0"]), or if you'd like to go one step further you can check for @first while looping through the posts array in the topic.tpl template.

[trevor]

@Jelena said:

Hi,
I started creating new theme based on Vanilla but it will be changed a lot. So here are the questions:

• Where can I define avatar size for profile page, but not with changing css but the real picture size (cause changing css will only stretch the picture)?

The avatar sizes are hardcoded in the application itself. You can refer here to change the dimensions from the original 128x128 to whatever you'd like here:

https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/blob/76ad2b8fb28a02a1a8c9cbbc1fac3c8c104fa876/src/controllers/accounts.js#L402

• How can i display "post content" in topics list? For example if there is a photo in the first post (not whole thread) I want to display that photo here http://screencast.com/t/7rrQQQSuc7s .

Funny you ask because I've been bugging @barisusakli to allow for excerpts (or post snippets). I believe its there but its not implemented as there is no template variable yet, but I could be wrong. Can someone confirm this?

Is there a way to separate first post from others on post page? I want to move their positions, like on facebook for example. First post will be main post and others for example to be listed on it's right side as comments. I couldn't understand how to do that cause it seems like they all have the same code. Also how to remove this from other posts except first http://screencast.com/t/i89I9Ib2?

This sounds like something I was getting ready to do, however, I could not yet figure out how to allow for both infinite scrolling and pagination on the right side as well as keep that first post intact without ajaxifying it allowing it to be static and the rest dynamic - if you know what I mean. @psychobunny @julian (or any one else) if you have any ideas throw them this way because this could be interesting.

EDIT: By the way, I tried using @first - this variable is not needed here I don't think. Um, then I gave up and ran out of ideas because I'm sure its deeper than what I initially thought on how to implement this "comment" sidebar section.

I don't need categories, I will use only tags. So, how to display topics on homepage? Is there any way that I can do that without using categories at all or I need to create one category where all topics will be added (but I don't want to user see that category anywhere on the site, for example http://screencast.com/t/6dIByIF5W )?

You definitely need to create at least one category, yes.

[Jelena]

@Xiph @trevor Thank you guys for your answers. I am noob at nodebb so I will need some time to learn how the stuff works, but I will keep you updated.