This has been a dream of mine for a long time, ever since witnessing my first demo of EE2 in 2009. Even way back in EE1 days, I longed to layer my own design sensibilities, client needs and usability preferences on top of the default control panel.
Something clicked a couple months ago and I realized (1) how doable this was with the modular architecture of EE—even for an intermediate programmer—and (2) how much I personally wanted to do it. After some encouraging feedback on Dribbble & EE Insider, I put my head down and cranked out version 1 using just the native CSS override functionality built into EE. It worked, but CSS overrides didn’t let me insert any jQuery or making user preferences easy.
Jump ahead a month, now I’ve learned how to move the core functionality into an accessory, set preferences via an extension and added some features to take it beyond a purely visual enhancement. Launching today, version 2 includes a slew of new features. Full screen template editing, numerous additional keyboard shortcuts and automatic night mode, to name a few. Also, support for the new rich text editor and a bunch of other popular third-party add-ons out of the box.
So far it’s been an amazing learning experience and I’m incredibly happy with how this version turned out. It’s already improving the user experience on several of the client & personal sites that I manage. It’s available now, only $20 on Devot:ee. If you’d like a trial copy, please email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and I’ll gladly email you one.
Lots more I want to add and ideas for new themes to explore, so any feedback would be hugely appreciated.