ThemeDreamer » News

Version 1.0.1

admin — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 22:28:04 +0000

An update to ThemeDreamer has been released and is available in the download section of the site. This version corrects for installation and compatibility issues with Apple’s latest Snow Leopard update 10.6.2 and above.

ThemeDreamer for WordPress 1.0 Released!

admin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 05:01:15 +0000

Now for 2010, we’ve released a brand new version of ThemeDreamer. You may have noticed that all users now qualify for free updates for a year with every purchase of a ThemeDreamer serial number. We’ve bumped the version number to a nice and even 1.0 to level the playing field. More then just a version number, ThemeDreamer 1.0 now comes with a wealth of new features. Included in this new release is dynamic theme activation and preview when using ThemeServer for WordPress. Designers can work on multiple themes in Dreamweaver’s documents window and have ThemeServer dynamically activate their current theme for instant preview in one of their pre-configured web browsers, right from the toolbar.

We’ve also introduced a new Font Wizard along with 50 royalty free fonts included. These fonts are cross platform, cross browser web fonts and are released under the Open Font License. These fonts have been tested in everything from Google’s Chrome to Safari on iPhone and render beautifully. We’ve also updated our Basic Foundation Themes (http://www.themedreamer.com/bft) and enabled anti-aliasing fixes for IE7/IE8 so that your new fonts will look fantastic. Since these fonts are real cross browser compatible fonts, they are highly visible to search engines, are selectable and text-to-speech assistive compatible. Beauty and functionality in one! Check out the new user’s guide in 1.0. You can download version 1.0 right now at one of our mirrors:

ThemeDreamer for WordPress 1.0 – Select a Mirror
http://www.themedreamer.com/ThemeDreamerWP-101.zip
http://www.virtuosoft.net/ThemeDreamerWP-101.zip

ThemeServer for WordPress 1.0 – Select a Mirror
http://www.themedreamer.com/ThemeServerWP-100.zip
http://www.themedreamer.com/ThemeServerWP-100.zip
http://www.virtuosoft.net/ThemeServerWP-100.zip

Be sure to download them both (ThereDreamer AND ThemeServer) and then get our updated Basic Foundation Themes…
http://www.themedreamer.com/bft

We’ll be updating all our links system wide shortly!

Introducing ThemeServer for WordPress (a small desktop WP server)

admin — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:28:14 +0000

Although real-time feedback of most WordPress CSS rules can be achieved via Dreamweaver’s Design View mode when using ThemeDreamer, often times it is necessary to validate on a real web browser. This is especially true if you want to target multiple clients (i.e. browsers such as Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc.). Typical testing for compatibility involves uploading theme files to a web server either on a live hosting provider, a ‘testing’ server on another machine, or a local LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) compatible service running in parallel on your computer. Working on multiple themes would make the feasibility of accomplishing this task further cumbersome as one would need to login and out of their web services and/or WordPress to update files and activate and deactivate themes. Thankfully, much of this complexity has been reduced by using the 100% open source ThemeServer extension for Dreamweaver.

ThemeServer is a combination of multiple open source projects which includes the latest WordPress version 2.9.1 pre-configured with an open source web server, PHP interpreter and MySQL database. The entire service is wrapped up into a single, cross platform extension for Adobe Dreamweaver. Whether you are running on Mac or Windows, simply download and install the extension and voila! -You get a fast, open source, Java powered PHP interpreter, web server and MySQL engine with the latest version of WordPress. All services (web server, database, and PHP interpreter) automatically start and stop when Dreamweaver is opened or closed on the user’s desktop. Optionally, the user can shutdown ThemeServer services without un-installation via a convenient ‘Enable ThemeServer for WordPress’ menu item from Dreamweaver’s Commands pull down menu.

ThemeServer is the perfect optional compliment to ThemeDreamer. With both ThemeDreamer and ThemeServer installed, designers can work faster on multiple theme projects without having to switch and reactivate themes or shuffle server configurations. Developers can instantly test posts, pages, widgets, and content scenarios on multiple themes easily. The ‘dynamic theme switching/activation’ feature is only available when using ThemeServer with ThemeDreamer together.

Requirements and installation instructions

Windows users should have a current Java run-time (built in on Mac) available at http://www.java.com.
Download and unpack T h e m e Server W P -1 0 0 .z i p archive. Locate the ThemeServerWP-100.mxp and either double click it, or use Adobe Extension Manager to install it.
Launch Dreamweaver and select the pull down menu ‘Commands->Enable ThemeServer for WordPress’.

Visit http://localhost:8080 to view your web server or use the ‘Preview’ icon on the document toolbar. ThemeServer will automatically start and stop when you open and close Dreamweaver when the ‘Enable ThemeServer for WordPress’ menu item is left checked. Please note that ThemeServer will take a moment to unpack and configure on initial use. ThemeServer is an excellent alternative to more complicated Apache, MySQL, PHP installations such as MAMP, WAMP or LAMP stacks. ThemeServer’s web service and database runs on ports 8080 and 8083 and should not interfere with any service running on alternate ports. ThemeServer does not currently support the GD library (pending) which is needed for image resizing on posts. Not all WordPress plug-ins may be compatible. As such, ThemeServer is only intended for quick and easy local WordPress template development and not as a public, high volume web server. ThemeServer uses a high performance, open source web server by Caucho Technologies, Inc. (ThemeDreamer, ThemeServer and Virtuosoft is neither affiliated nor endorsed by Caucho Technologies, Inc.). ThemeServer is released under the GPL open source license.

Although real-time feedback of most CSS rules can be achieved via Dreamweaver’s Design View mode, often times it is necessary to validate on a real web browser. This is especially true if you want target multiple clients (i.e. browsers such as Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc.). Typical testing for compatibility involves uploading theme files to a web server either on a live hosting provider, a ‘testing’ server on another machine, or a local LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) compatible service running in parallel on your computer. Working on multiple themes would make the feasibility of accomplishing this task further cumbersome as one would need to login and out of their web services and/or WordPress to update files and activate and deactivate themes. Thankfully, much of this complexity has been reduced by using the 100% open source ThemeServer product.

ThemeServer is a combination of multiple open source projects which includes the latest WordPress version 2.9.1 pre-configured with an open source web server, PHP interpreter and MySQL database. The database is preloaded with WordPress tables and the administrator user ‘admin’ with the password ‘password’. The entire service is wrapped up into a Dreamweaver Extension. All services (web server, database, and PHP interpreter) automatically start and stop when Dreamweaver is opened or closed on the user’s desktop. Optionally, the user can shutdown ThemeServer services without un-installation via a convenient ‘Enable ThemeServer for WordPress’ menu item from Dreamweaver’s Commands pull down menu.

A Happy New Year Gift

admin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 13:41:25 +0000

We want to thank all of our devoted users in this new year by extending every licensed user of versions 0.1 through 1.0 to one year of free updates!

New purchases should notice that we have done away with the old ‘license block’ schema that penalizes on the eve of a major version number releases. All new purchases of ThemeDreamer include one year of free updates.

Early licensed adopters that have purchased before January 10, 2010 will now automatically inherit free upgrade coverage and support beyond their original terms until 2011.

Hotfix version 0.6.2 Released

admin — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:01:38 +0000

An update has just been released to fix compatibility with WebAssist and other third party Dreamweaver extensions. Users of WebAssist extensions such as ‘PayPal’, ‘Surveyor’, ‘DataAssist’ and other third party extensions should update to version 0.6.2 to resolve previously known compatibility issues.

Hotfix version 0.6.1 Released

admin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:36:16 +0000

An update has just been released to fix a conflict with Dreamweaver’s Database-Library. We recommend all users upgrade to version 0.6.1 to resolve this issue.

New Features and Enhanced Rendering, version .6 released.

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:10:12 +0000

We’ve just released version .6 now with a new Content Simulation Panel for testing different post scenarios. The download is now a zip archive that includes a work in progress User Guide. Check back for more details soon, or download the latest with the User Guide to get the inside scoop!

While you’re at it, you’ll want to download our new Basic Foundation Themes, a set of six themes ready to help you streamline your theme development process. Download it here today!

Yes, we are still alive! Now with version .5

admin — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:08:36 +0000

After a long summer, ThemeDreamer version .5 has been released. We’re back on track this fall with an accelerated release cycle (another version is just around the corner). For now, check out our newest support for threaded comments, and updated vocabulary for WordPress 2.8.4. Visit us again soon for details or download it today:

http://www.themedreamer.com/download

Version .4 Now With Full Support for CS4

admin — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 13:57:48 +0000

We’re proud to announce a new version with many bug fixes, feature enhancements and updates compatible with Adobe’s newest release of Dreamweaver CS4. The updated design-time render engine now supports Gravatars as well as rendering optimizations for WordPress 2.6.5 and the upcoming WordPress 2.7 release. The toolbar docking bug that has affected some XP and Vista users has also been resolved and we’ve carved out a fast track path to deliver more features in subsequent versions. Be sure to install this essential upgrade as soon as possible. Download here.

Not Just Another Version, .3 Is Here!

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:26:32 +0000

We’ve got a new version out and it is feature packed. Don’t let the sub version number fool you! Version .3 has many new enhancements including a new toolbar, additional support for comments, and a number of essential bug fixes.

A new toolbar debuts with more buttons for simulating essential features for image alignment, page navigation, and comments.

WordPress 2.5 introduced an image alignment feature for inserting images into posts and pages with wrapping text. The default Kubrick theme is an example that coordinates with WordPress 2.5 convenience features. However, not all themes implement image alignment within their style.css file. Now you can be sure that your theme supports WordPress’s convenience features with the handy red image alignment icons on the new toolbar. The added buttons simulate WordPress 2.5’s image alignment in Dreamweaver’s Design View.

Page navigation has also been added that exists in WordPress’s classic theme but not present in Kubrick. The page navigation feature defined by the wp_link_pages template tag is now simulated in Design View. Expect to see some new How To’s on the website that will show you how to bring these features into your own theme. More support for various template tags and rendering bug fixes for DW8 Mac users round out the improvements in this release. Download it today!