Christian 2.0 wrote:This would prove to be a nightmare for style authors and custom styles.
Rather than displaying a different source file for each image, the system would have to move the CSS background image. That's fine in itself, although restricts custom imagesets to the same size as the prosilver icons. So if a style author were to re-do an image sprite with different dimensions, they'd need to work out all of the new background-position values for every image, even if only one icon has been re-sized.
Nice idea, although the few advantages don't justify the huge amount of work this would add to something simple such as creating a custom imageset.
It only restricts if they do not update the CSS
I get what you are saying however when you are referring to style authors, u are referring to those who tweak current themes or images. This is the main problem with phpbb it caters to style authors rather than front-end designers who are quite used to this as it is common practice. In fact there are tools out there that do this for you already
http://csssprites.com/. It is this that leads to the current state of the styles DB which is nothing more than the same styles with different colors or repositioned elements and altered graphics. The idea of building off of existing styles is quite ridiculous to me as it does not force people to be creative.
This is infact the main reason why it is so difficult to get rid of subsilver and for that matter why it still exists.
Not that an automated system is not a noble idea depending on exactly how it is implemented, but it lends it self to a database controlled style which I am completely against. The css should have no connection with the back-end whatsoever. This limits/restricts the designer as well as adds additional complexities, a set of steps or hoops they must jump through to complete a designer thus deterring them from even trying.
