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sNews 1.7RC

Here's the download link for sNews 1.7RC available for download today! http://snewscms.com/download/sNews17RC.zip Please remember, this is a "release candidate" and should not be used for production purposes. sNews 1.7RC has been released to the public for testing and feedback purposes. A final release is targeted for May. 1.7RC features subcategories, faster code with better memory usage. If you install and test this version, please report your experience here: http://snewscms.com/forum/index.php?board=100.0

Multiflex 5 Theme for sNews

Multiflex 5 is a newly released template developed by Gerhard of 1234.info . I have considered using Multiflex since version 3, due to the consideration for browser compatibility and great layout flexibility. The improvements present in version 5 are certain to make this template extremely popular among bloggers as ports to blog software and CMS's are developed.

Speaking of ports, here's mine for sNews 1.6 :

DEMO and DOWNLOAD .

1024px version of CrystalX

I've had more than a few visitors ask me if I have a full width versions of the 800px fixed-width "x" series templates available for download here, and unfortunately my answer is no because the modifications would require more time than I have at the given moment. Until then, here's a 1024px fixed-width version of CrystalX

CrystalXL Demo and Download .

It won't take much effort to create 1024px versions of all the templates, so look for those links (coming soon) in the Templates section of this site, as I will not be making a separate announcement as I finish each one.

sNews: Preserving HTML in your Feed

If you subscribe to my RSS , you'll notice for the first time that I have images, links and some basic formatting for the first time in my feed.

Now, I might be a light blogger, but I'm a heavy RSS reader and I always appreciate bloggers who allow images and links in their RSS feeds; helping separate the blocks of text and making the feed more useful, I think.

On this site, I had been meaning to fix the blanket stripping of all html tags from the RSS feeds, and thanks to Sibas from the sNews forums pointing me in the right direction I'm able to show you the right line to alter in your snews.php file so you can enjoy some simple formatting and images in your feeds without breaking RSS validation.

The thread is here: HTML in an Valid RSS Feed

Google Sitemap for sNews

I've updated my Google Sitemap Generator Mod on the sNews Forums here . This Mod dynamically generates an XML sitemap for Google to index each page of your site. It includes your home, articles, categories and pages... You can find more information about XML sitemaps on http://sitemaps.org .

Update 9/16/07 : If you don't want to modify your snews.php file, you can download this mod as a more or less standalone program here: http://dahlin.googlecode.com/files/snews-google-sitemap.zip . Just drop the files in the root of your install and tell google to find your sitemap at googlesitemap.php instead of sitemap.xml. This approach works well and should be more compatible with already heavily modded versions of snews. I recommend using the new standalone version.

BluePigment Theme for sNews

I've been meaning to port this template to sNews for quite some time. styleshout.com describes it as "A web 2.0, blue theme design. Has a two-column, fluid layout with a static right sidebar." The demo, as always, is located at my sNews demo site here .

demo and download .

MarketPlace theme for sNews

Here's another tribute to styleshout.com and sNews 1.6 . It's a brand new sNews template called "MarketPlace". Please see a demo at my sNews demo site here .

demo and download .

Blogger Templates

I decided to port the x-series templates to Blogger because I haven't seen anyone do it yet.

Demo and Download Here

I used the classic template option instead of the widget-based and I hosted all the images and stylesheets on Google servers, so it should be a simple one step process of copying and pasting a single text file into your Blogger template.

sNews Plugins

Recently, I slammed a couple cans of "Monster" which gave me a false sense of motivation and so I developed three sNews modifications which I described in the forums of Solucija (now snewscms.com as of 8/20/07).

Google Sitemap Generator for sNews Link to Post

Feedburner Redirect Mod for sNews Link to Post

Digg.com Vote Button Mod for sNews Link to Post

It didn't take me long to realize after tediously posting the instructions step by step that we needed an open ended plugin module for sNews.

Separate site for sNews Themes, Mods and Tips

Dedicated sNews Site

I created a separate site for testing and downloading sNews themes and mods. I'm also making an effort to port themes to sNews without having to hack the core code in snews.php. This should make things easier for people who want to plug the templates right into their existing sNews sites.

http://snews.kendahlin.com/RubyX/home/download-themes/ Download Page for CSS Templates

In addition, I made a page on this site from which all the regular css templates can be demoed and downloaded. Here's the link for that:

http://www.kendahlin.com/home/templates/

HigherGround for sNews 1.6

I love the design work at styleshout.com so I thought I'd see how well their templates work with sNews 1.6 . Well, I wasn't disappointed! The sNews core did not have to be changed at all which is just really nice when it comes time to upgrade. Please see a demo of my HigherGround port to sNews 1.6 at smaller.org and look for a download link here soon.

demo and download .

Google PageRank

This is a new section which will feature tools that are intended to help Webmasters.

The first tool is a way to check your website's Google Pagerank; either manually or by a button you can put on your website

Please try it out here and report any bugs: Google PageRank Checker

NegativeX Template

I felt like doing one more...

Demo and Download .

EmeraldX Template

As promised. The very green EmeraldX is my third and final color scheme hack based on CrystalX. Enjoy.

Demo and Download .

ObsidianX Template

Because I can't get enough of it, ObsidianX is a design based entirely on CrystalX with a dark, black and white "color" scheme. And yes, EmeraldX (green) is also in the works.

Demo and Download .

YourHost Template

YourHost is a black, gray and green template that presents a layout which is typical of many hosting companies who like to show off their features on the home page separated in boxes. It's good for anyone looking for a mysterious dark tech feel. Demo and Download

CrystalX ported to sNews

One of the hottest CSS templates these days is called CrystalX and one of the first things I thought of when I saw it was that it would could be a nice interface for sNews with a little loving care. And so, after a little time and few modifications to snews.php and index.php it appears to be working... but seeing that it's early, early morning in my timezone I'm sure there are plenty of problems here and there. Please let the bug reports fly and that will tell me there is an interest in archiving a version .02 ;)

If you would like a demonstration of CrystalX working with sNews 1.5 before you download it, you're looking at it. ;)

Download CrystalX for sNews 1.5 here (ver.01)

Download CrystalX for sNews 1.6 here

Download CrystalX for sNews 1.5 here

RubyX Template

RubyX is a very pink version of CrystalX and is now available for download.

Demo and Download

Version for sNews coming as soon as I can figure out why the layout is breaking in IE6.