iTheme Builder Theme Improved Settings Page Announced

iThemes Builder version 2.7.0 was released in December, 2010. This version brought a huge number of changes and improvements to what was already a super theme.

The biggest change that most Builder users will immediately notice is the new settings screen. A new settings screen may not sound like a big deal, but these new settings give Builder users access to some great new features as well as control over existing features.

The changes are described in more detail below, but be sure and watch the video  because it may communicate some of the details more clearly.

Builder Theme…..Editor Redesign

The main purpose of the interface redesign was to make it easier for new Builder users to get started while giving experienced Builder users more options.

In order to not overwhelm the user with too much information all at once, the settings were divided into discrete logical groups. This change allowed for the addition of highly detailed descriptions and even more settings without making the interface too “junked up” and crowded.

Compensating for the fact that settings now takes up so much vertical space, a Quick Links box was added in order  to inform users what types of settings are now available without requiring them to scroll through the entire page.

Since there were plans to add integrated SEO options and a settings importer/exporter, a place had to be created for these new features. Those options are similar in concept to the settings editor and would clutter up the My Theme menu if they were added to it. A final decision was made to use the tabs from WordPress’ Themes page interface. With the addition of tabs, the new Builder theme settings page can be expanded to include many new similar but separate pages of settings and settings-related tools.

Builder theme just keeps on getting better and better.

Menu Builder

The Menu Builder was not modified. It has worked well for a long time as is. It simply got a facelift and some description.

Analytics and JavaScript Code

The old settings page in Builder theme included a single text area to input code for either the header or footer. While that worked very well for a long time, it was thought that it could certainly be improved.

Some research found that most WordPress users use either Google Analytics or Woopra for their site’s web analytics solution. With that being the case, it seemed reasonable to create some tools to make integrating those services easier to do. Beyond just simply providing an easy-to-use tool, it appeared that this settings section could also very well serve as an introduction to the concept of web analytics for a lot of users.

It should be noted that simple integration is only the beginning for the Google Analytics and Woopra tools. Code is already being written that adds event tracking (for instance, visitor commenting and searching), action tracking (outgoing, download, and mailto link clicks), and also visitor data (including details about logged in users and visitors that chose to leave a comment).

Of course there will continue to be a need to input custom code. The old settings limit of supporting either header code or footer code, but not both, was unnecessary. The new Builder  settings will support having custom code in both locations at the same time, if desired. This simple change should be very helpful to some users.

Identify Widget Areas

In the past, Builder theme would always put some filler text in empty widget areas so theme users could easily identify the name of that area. This feature helps users work with numerous layouts quickly, but , in fact, it wasn’t without problems.

One of the big problems was that this filler text would show not only to logged in users but to site visitors as well. An option existed to turn this off, but this really wasn’t an ideal solution. Now, there will be three choices for who can see the filler text: #1, users that can modify widgets, #2, any logged in user, and #3, everybody. By default, this information will only be shown to users that have the authority to manage widgets.

Another issue was that the filler text would only show in empty widget areas, and that could make it difficult to easily identify a widget area after having added widgets to it. Builder will still have this behavior by default, but settings are now available to either always show or never show the widget area identification.

Comments

In many themes, comments don’t exist in the page.php template for the theme. This means that those themes don’t support page comments even though WordPress does. Builder has always had support for page comments, but this feature has caused a great deal of concern and frustration for some users that just couldn’t stand seeing the “Comments are closed” message on their pages. Eventually, a rule was added to Builder stylesheets to hide this “Comments are closed” message, which created another problem because it also had the effect of removing that message on posts that actually did have their comments closed.

The correct solution was to provide settings to control this. Now, by default, pages are devoid of comments as many users expect; but now, by checking the “Pages” option and saving your settings, page comments can be very easily enabled. And now, the “Comments are closed” message is disabled by default and an option has been added to provide a custom message, if desired.

Theme Features

Over the past year, a large number of features have been bundled in with Builder. If a user wanted to disable a certain feature, customizations to Builder itself would be required, and that process would require specific knowledge to accomplish. Now, the features in Builder theme that can be safely disabled are centralized in a standard system and can be enabled and disabled from the settings screen. No code modification required. Yahoo!

Other Stuff

There have been numerous other changes, but most of them are boring technical details, so we won’t bore you with that information. These other changes boil down to a benefit of faster theme performance. Builder just keeps on delivering.

Many of the decisions that went into this redesign were in response to feedback from Builder users. That is typical of what you get when you choose to purchase an iThemes Theme.

Find out more about the revolutionary Builder theme from iThemes.