Cedric V

It's truly amazing to see how easy the theme editor is. The amount of possibilities are really endless. And that will definitely be fun to see various communities making their own version. Having a 3rd party theme designer create something like this custom for you is worth alone thousands of dollars. This version takes your community to a whole new level. I don't think people can really comprehend how much work goes into this.
Brilliant work team, well done. Couldn't be more excited to see more!

A list of CSS properties in a guide is a great idea!

It's truly amazing to see how easy the theme editor is. The amount of possibilities are really endless. And that will definitely be fun to see various communities making their own version. Having a 3rd party theme designer create something like this custom for you is worth alone thousands of dollars. This version takes your community to a whole new level. I don't think people can really comprehend how much work goes into this.
Brilliant work team, well done. Couldn't be more excited to see more!

A list of CSS properties in a guide is a great idea!

It's truly amazing to see how easy the theme editor is. The amount of possibilities are really endless. And that will definitely be fun to see various communities making their own version. Having a 3rd party theme designer create something like this custom for you is worth alone thousands of dollars. This version takes your community to a whole new level. I don't think people can really comprehend how much work goes into this.
Brilliant work team, well done. Couldn't be more excited to see more!

A list of CSS properties in a guide is a great idea!

🤯 🤯 🤯
I thought this was going to be something along the lines of Wordpress' theme editor (which is okay, but... I really did have to hack a lot of CSS in there when I was using it), something nice for newbies to play around with... but after watching that video I think it honestly touches 99% of all the colour scheme-related theme tweaks I've ever needed to work with! What an amazing feature! Fantastic work Ehren and team!
I've made some 17 colour variants of the same core custom theme on my community (+ dynamic dark modes for each), and although I took advantage of loads of CSS tricks (variables out the wazoo) it was a significant amount of effort - I can imagine that time being cut down so dramatically with this Theme Editor. Even the content box colours, wtf. 😄 The swatches are a really really nice touch as well, thank you for that thoughtful inclusion!
The only thing I didn't see that was teased in the intro was the use of background image in the header... I wonder how that works (will there be opacity options so that any image you add doesn't complicate the nav links etc)..? 
Also, is there scope in a future release/update to support gradients for some of the colour options? I tend to use gradients for the content box headers rather than block colours, but if not it's definitely something I can just work in using the Custom CSS as I have been doing before.
I love it, I love this. Great stuff! 👏
PS. I had a feeling this was going to be a good update when it didn't arrive on Wednesday like the last two blogs! 😆
EDIT: 
I second this! One of the biggest issues in custom theming V4 is the lack of documentation/guides on what existing structural properties exist in the codebase... meaning that I ended up adding custom CSS to achieve things (like grids etc) that most likely already exist out of the box. I just know that, for as much as I've tried my best, there are elements of my custom code which is just wasteful because of it.

A list of CSS properties in a guide is a great idea!

Not just the selector or element class being targeted, but what are applicable CSS properties IPS may already have defined that can be used in those areas.  An IPS CSS Guide so to speak. 
There are a lot of IPS defined CSS classes to control formatting, so I was just thinking along the lines of bubbling that up into the editor in some way (i.e. things like ipsType_normal, ipsType_bold, etc) versus a site owner creating new (and potentially duplicate/excessive CSS).  So it's both about exposing available CSS to use in target areas and then also applying them to the desired target elements for that theme (in the use case presented in the video, the option to use IPS CSS property XYZ and the ability to apply that all buttons or just to that singular target button). 
The overarching goal is higher reuse of existing code and global/uniform application of that customization across the suite so look and feel remain consistent.  Not every IPS natively defined CSS property will be available as a UI feature, so having some editor level exposure and reuse of those natively available CSS properties is highly beneficial (at least in my eyes).  
 

It's truly amazing to see how easy the theme editor is. The amount of possibilities are really endless. And that will definitely be fun to see various communities making their own version. Having a 3rd party theme designer create something like this custom for you is worth alone thousands of dollars. This version takes your community to a whole new level. I don't think people can really comprehend how much work goes into this.
Brilliant work team, well done. Couldn't be more excited to see more!

It's truly amazing to see how easy the theme editor is. The amount of possibilities are really endless. And that will definitely be fun to see various communities making their own version. Having a 3rd party theme designer create something like this custom for you is worth alone thousands of dollars. This version takes your community to a whole new level. I don't think people can really comprehend how much work goes into this.
Brilliant work team, well done. Couldn't be more excited to see more!

When Ehren talks about the new CSS structure, you'll see how it all goes together. The new CSS framework is remarkable.

Welcome to the third video of our sneak peak series! Today, we're really excited to introduce you to the new Theme Editor!
Built entirely from scratch, the new editor provides an instant, live preview of your theme, as soon as you modify a setting. It's a zero-code approach to creating themes, and has been designed to ensure your theme adheres to your color scheme and looks great on every device, with very little effort. Let's take a closer look!
 
Paragraph 1.mp4
 
To the left of the editor, you’ll see a live preview of your community. You can navigate to any page, as if you were browsing your site normally. At the top left of the editor, you’ll find icons which change the theme between the light and dark color schemes. Below that are buttons which change the viewport size, from desktop, to tablet, to mobile. This is a really convenient way to ensure your theme looks great on every device, without needing to manually resize your browser window.
Lets take a closer look at the Color Palette.
Editing colors in version 4 was a fairly time consuming process. For example, modifying the color scheme from the default blue to another color meant that 26 theme settings needed to be changed. In contrast, the Version 5 theme is powered by just 3 colors: Primary colors are responsible for styling the main elements on your page, such as the Start new topic button. Secondary colors control minor elements, such as pagination links, while the Base color is responsible for controlling the overall tint on your site.
Clicking on these colors opens a color picker. Let’s change this blue color to yellow.
 
Video 2.mp4
 
You’ll notice two things have happened here. First, the preview window updated as soon as we modified the color. All elements which were previously blue, now use yellow, such as the Start new topic button. Secondly, the text color in our button has changed from white to black. This is our automatic contrast feature and it ensures our text is easy to read on our new yellow background, since white text may be more difficult to read for some viewers.
Below the color picker is a text box, with our color displayed in HSL. You can paste your own colors in this box, in any color format and that color will be applied to your elements.
 
Video 3.mp4
 
The Base color controls the tint of your backgrounds and text colors. Let's try a few examples to demonstrate how easy it is to recolor your theme.
 
Video 4.mp4
 
Next up are Logos! Invision Community 5 has three logo types: a text logo, an image logo for desktops and an image logo for mobiles. Let’s edit our text logo.
 
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After changing the text to “Theme Editor Demo”, we can see that the logo in our preview window updates instantly with our new text. Below that, we have multiple options to help us style the text logo, such as font-family These fonts are a combination of system fonts and web fonts. The web fonts are hosted locally on your site for optimal performance. Additionally, we can also change the font-weight and font-size. We might want a different font-size for mobile logos, so that can be edited too. We can see a live preview by changing our viewport to the mobile option.
If you’d prefer to use an image logo, you can assign it using the Image Logo options. Image logos are made up of 2 upload fields, one for the light theme and one for the dark theme. Below these upload fields, a slider lets you resize your logo so it fits neatly.
 
Video 6.mp4
 
Layout options let you assign the default layouts in your community. In our first sneak peak video, we showcased the new side panel layout, feed view for forum categories, and compact view for topics. These can all be enabled via the theme editor using a simple select menu.
 
Video 7.mp4
 
Lets explore some Color options! In the Header panel, we can see a list of elements we can customize. Clicking on an element opens the Swatch List, which is a list of 22 colors that are powered by the Base, Primary and Secondary colors from earlier. We have 6 "light" base colors, 6 "dark" base colors as well as various shades of our primary and secondary colors. Clicking on any of these swatches will apply that color to your element.
But what if none of these colors suit your requirement? That’s where the Color Picker comes in handy. Here, we can easily choose any color, or even paste in our own color like before.
 
Video 8.mp4
 
A major hurdle with themes in version 4 was customising the header. Depending on the complexity, this would typically involve modifications to both the CSS and HTML. That is a thing of the past with version 5! If we flick over to our Settings tab, you’ll see a brand new interface for customising the header. A new drag and drop feature allows you to easily reposition header elements without touching a single line of code.
 
Video 9.mp4
It’s an incredibly fun tool to play with, and we’re really excited to hear what you think!
Below the drag and drop area, we can customise the header further by using sliders to adjust its height, or we can enable navigation icons with a single click. Body settings let you can customise global elements such as the body background color, text colors, the max-width of your site, the font-family, font-size and more.
Editing Content boxes has always required code modifications in the past. Using this new editor, we can adjust not only the colors of the boxes, but also the borders and shadows. Theme editing has honestly never been this easy!
 
Video 10.mp4
And there you have it! Our brand new theme editor. With a few simple clicks and drags, we've been able to create a customised theme that looks great on desktops and mobiles, with a new color scheme, new logos, a customised header, new page layouts and restyled content boxes - all without touching a single line of code.
Speaking of code, for those of you who want to apply more advanced customisations, we’ve added a really convenient way to access your custom CSS file, via a new dialog box.
Video 11.mp4
And last but not least - the new theme editor is fully responsive, so even if you’re away from the desk, so you’ll be able to change colours and settings, upload new logos, redesign your header and even add your own code!
 
Video 12.mp4
 
Developing this new editor has been a lot of fun, and it’s even more fun to use. Themes have never been easier to edit and we're really excited for you all to get your hands on it so you can have a play for yourself - but for now, let us know what you think the comments, and we’ll see you next time!

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It's truly amazing to see how easy the theme editor is. The amount of possibilities are really endless. And that will definitely be fun to see various communities making their own version. Having a 3rd party theme designer create something like this custom for you is worth alone thousands of dollars. This version takes your community to a whole new level. I don't think people can really comprehend how much work goes into this.
Brilliant work team, well done. Couldn't be more excited to see more!

That seems like a perfect space to place an advertisement and monetize your community. 😉

Brilliant work ! Loving the progress.
 
Can we also round up an applause for the frequently in depth updates Invision is bringing? Something that doesn’t need to go unnoticed. It’s one thing to keep working on v5, but keeping us informed with a top notch video, is equally as important!
 
Well done team!

🍂🍁 Welcome to this week's Invision Community Insight! 🍁🍂
Thank you for checking out our weekly, round up post. I hope you have had a wonderful week. 
This week's updates from the Invision Community team are below. 🙂 
 
Current Happenings
Version Five News is Flowing! 🎉
Ehren has more to unpack about this new version. Dark mode, accessibility, performance, oh my! 🤩 
Check it out for yourself 👇

 
Marketplace Closure
Reminder that our Marketplace Closure is set for October 30th. Information can be found in the following two blogs. 
 
Changelog
For those that like to see what we are up to line by line, here is the changelog for the last two weeks for version 4. 
 

And at the same time, it gives you the possibilities to explore new applications, new content delivery material when you were not using those applications previously. So if anything, it gives you more freedom to expand your community. 🙂

Brilliant work ! Loving the progress.
 
Can we also round up an applause for the frequently in depth updates Invision is bringing? Something that doesn’t need to go unnoticed. It’s one thing to keep working on v5, but keeping us informed with a top notch video, is equally as important!
 
Well done team!

I get what you are saying there, however, the changes were put into place to ensure the viability of the classic self-hosted product going into the future. Of course, this doesn't affect your current license unless you want to switch to those new terms. 
The reality is, that the new terms are less expensive for some, and more expensive for others (if you would not have previously purchased multiple applications). 
But exactly the same for any current license holder, as their terms haven't changed. (unless you choose to do so). The majority of our customers will find any new license they purchase cheaper, and will certainly find comfort in the fact we made changes to ensure viability. 
In terms of what we are referring to here in terms of renewals, yes, of course paying for something you have been using is more expensive than not paying for something you have been using.

Getting some great quotes for the marketing material, thanks!

Brilliant work ! Loving the progress.
 
Can we also round up an applause for the frequently in depth updates Invision is bringing? Something that doesn’t need to go unnoticed. It’s one thing to keep working on v5, but keeping us informed with a top notch video, is equally as important!
 
Well done team!

That quote is going straight into the top of our marketing.
Also, may I recommend:

Honestly, though during the initial building phases back in early summer we used to have a weekly sync meeting with Ehren as he's in Australia and everyone else is not and he'd take us through concepts, and ideas and we'd all just say 'wow' for about 20 minutes.
Now I just send him badly annotated screenshots and broken HTML I mangled at 2am his time while he's sleeping.

Thanks @Clover13!
Relocating your ad would likely be the best solution here. You could technically use CSS to reposition the mobile menu, but a top menu doesn't really meet the goals of an "app-like" interface which we've been aiming for. It's not a setting which will come baked in with version 5, but it's certainly achievable with a couple of lines of CSS 🙂
I appreciate that, thanks Cedric! The amount of time that goes into a quick 4 minute video is more than I'd like to admit haha! 😅

Brilliant work ! Loving the progress.
 
Can we also round up an applause for the frequently in depth updates Invision is bringing? Something that doesn’t need to go unnoticed. It’s one thing to keep working on v5, but keeping us informed with a top notch video, is equally as important!
 
Well done team!