RocketTheme Blog

In our ongoing series of blog posts about Gantry5, we are covering some of the goals the RocketTheme team has for the next generation of the framework.

In this article, we will take a look at how we are tackling the goal of making Gantry5 the simplest and most user friendly version of the Gantry Framework yet.

Below, we have listed a few of the ways Gantry5 will change the way users experience the framework. These steps are intended not only to make life easier for the experienced developer, but to make it possible for just about anyone to create rich, unique sites with Gantry.

Upgraded User Interface

The modern Web is simple, and users do not want to have to deal with complexity when they are in the process of creating a new website. This is an important focus for Gantry5, and one that inspired us to create an entirely new user interface that is streamlined and as easy to work with as any consumer-facing product.

We’d like to think the backend of your website is as beautiful and easy to navigate as the frontend.

We also eliminated the need for the user to interact with the file system. All of the settings you need to configure are available in the admin, including the ability to add and remove positions, edit your error pages, and more.

In fact, many of the features in Gantry5 can be accessed with click-and-drag simplicity. Creating a new module/widget position is as easy as dragging a new position where you want it to go. You can even modify your site with ease using a touch screen.

No Programming Experience Required

Do you know your way around your CMS (content management system), but hate dealing with PHP files and editing code to change a small thing? This isn’t a problem with Gantry5. Many of the things you used to have to break out the text editor to configure are now easily accessible and configurable in Gantry5’s administrative interface.

On the other hand, if you love being able to create your own custom CSS files, modify the code your site runs on, and simply handle things from a more manual standpoint, you are still just as capable of doing so with Gantry5.

Gantry5 is built to be as simple or as powerful as you need it to be. Whether you are creating your 1st website, or your 50th, Gantry5 will make creating and modifying your theme easy.

The team has even been able to cut down on the need for the user to use HTML to edit common features. If you create a Ganty-powered site for a client, you can create particles (previously called features) which make it easy to simply add information in a set of fields rather than editing html to make minor changes. This will reduce the amount of possible issues that can arise from someone without development experience altering information, such as the copyright or team member lists.

These particles can be created in minutes, and will have long-lasting time-saving applications for your site.

Portability

This is one of the things that makes Gantry5 stand out from any other framework available today. It is extremely portable, meaning that you can create a theme for your WordPress site and migrate it to Joomla or any other supported CMS with little to no required effort.

Gantry5 includes a unified templating format, meaning that you can not only rapidly configure and deploy your theme, but migrate it from one platform to another.

Gantry5 has a goal in mind of supporting more platforms, as well. We are already testing and seeing it work very well in Joomla, WordPress, phpBB, Magento, and Grav.

This makes Gantry5 the perfect framework of choice for users that want to create a larger website with multiple content management systems, interlinked. The theme you create for your WordPress blog will easily convert to your phpBB forum, and to your Magento store so your visitors have a seamless experience without adding overwhelming development time.

While the initial launch of Gantry5 may not include all of these platforms out of the gate, it is being developed with cross-platform development in mind.

Use the Latest HTML5, CSS3, and Flex Standards

Gantry5 is built from the ground up for the modern Web. This means having integrated support for the latest Web standards, including CSS Flexbox, which makes it easy to create incredibly smooth responsive themes.

One of the most frustrating parts of Web development is dealing with platforms that are built on outdated standards. This can be limiting for the developer, and create issues down the line.

This is one of the core reasons behind Gantry5 being a complete rebuild of Gantry from the ground up. We wanted the framework to come out-of-the-box ready for tomorrow’s Internet, today.

Advanced, Modern Features

One of the biggest areas of feedback we received from previous versions of Gantry related to the features we incorporated, including the color picker. We heard this feedback, and have completely redesigned our color picker, as well as added stunning Google Fonts and file selectors, and more.

We also kept integrated support for the popular Font Awesome icon library, including the latest version, 4.3.

Gantry5 is our most ambitious project to date. Our entire team has been hard at work coming up with ideas and developing new solutions that we know you are going to love.

For more information about Gantry5, please check out these other blog posts from our ongoing series:

• Gantry5: Requirements and Details
• Gantry5: Built from the Ground Up for Speed
• Gantry5: Regarding Backward Compatibility
• Gantry5: Reimagining the Layout Manager

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