Did you come here from joomlajunkie.com? This is our new home and we are in the process of moving so some links on joomlajunkie are already redirecting to here.

hide forever

Welcome to Prothemer - the new home for JoomlaJunkie.com

only the blog for now but there is much more coming soon...
« How to fix xhtml and css validation errors in Virtuemart  |  The Morph framework for Joomla close to code freeze »

Full list of features for Morph

Since we first started hinting about Morph, the most commonly asked question is “Where can I find a full list of Morph’s features?”.

We held off on posting anything, mainly because so much stuff was changing on a daily basis and not all the features had been decided yet.

We’re now at a point where we are getting close to doing a code-freeze. In short, this means we will no longer be developing new features (before the stable release) and will shift focus to fixing all bugs, optimizing performance and cross browser fixes.

Since the current build is so close to being “feature complete”, we feel its high time we posted a full list of Morph’s features.

So without further ado, here it is:

  • Developer friendly:

    • Easily include custom css, javascript or php in your themelet.
    • Override any block using Morph’s built in html overrides.
    • Comprehensive code comments (including file location, line number & description) can be turned on with the flip of a switch.
    • Toggle error reporting as its needed.
    • Frontend switches to pack/unpack your css & javascript files, which is useful when you need to debug some css or javascript.
    • Cross browser fixes have never been easier thanks to the built in browser plugin, which adds a class for the specific browser and version.
    • Automatic inclusion of Internet Explorer css files (ie6, ie7, ie8).

  • CSS Zen with Themelets:

    • Full separation of content and presentation.
    • Easy to upgrade the core framework.
    • Keep your custom changes separate from the core.
    • All themelets inherit the full set of features from the underlying framework.

  • Extended control with Joomla suffixes:

    • PageFX – set different page layouts with ease.
      • Inner layouts (tertiary content / right module positions):
        • Inner 1 – 50% Right.
        • Inner 2 – 33% Right.
        • Inner 3 – 25% Right.
        • Inner 4 – 200px Left.
        • Inner 5 – 200px Right.
      • Outer layouts (secondary content / left module positions):
        • Outer 1 – 160px Left.
        • Outer 2 – 180px Left.
        • Outer 3 – 200px Left.
        • Outer 4 – 300px Left.
        • Outer 5 – 180px Right.
        • Outer 6 – 200px Right.
        • Outer 7 – 240px Right.
        • Outer 8 – 300px Right.
      • Easily apply a custom body class using the page suffix feature – which allows you to override styling for any given page.
      • Set global defaults for inner and outer sidebar layouts.
      • Set custom sidebar layouts for specific components.
    • MenuFX – choose from lots of different menu types & options.
      • Horizontal navigation:
        • Default (standard joomla).
        • Topfish (superfish).
        • Topdrop (dropline & superfish combined).
        • Split menu.
        • Subtext on parent and child items.
      • Vertical navigation:
        • Default.
        • Sidefish (superfish vertical flyout).
        • Subtext.
        • Accordion.
      • Menu configuration options:
        • Hoverintent – detect your users intent when navigating your menu.
        • Supersubs – automatically expand sub menu items between your preset minimum and maximum widths.
        • Hoverfocus – fade out shelf when hovering on sub menu items, which gives them the focus.
        • Call to action – easily enable a call-for-action button to your menu.
    • ModuleFX – simple module suffix’s to create your own unique style.
      • Module headers can have pretext, subtext and two tone styling.
      • Mix and match your module styles, giving you unlimited combination’s.
      • Module heading styles include:
        • Module heading background style.
        • Module heading icon.
        • Module heading text size.
        • Module heading text color.
        • Module heading text case.
      • Module body styles include:
        • Background style.
        • Module body text color.
        • Module body text size.
    • ContentFX – easily transform your content with built-in styling.
      • Extensive styling is built in for your sites typography.
      • Easy to use content plugin to manage your sites content.

  • Built with performance in mind:

    • Javascript & css files are concatenated (packed) into single files to reduce http requests.
    • Easily enable gzip on your site.
    • Images are sprited to reduce http requests.
    • Only ever load whats needed thanks to Morph’s intelligent engine.
    • The overall page weight is really low, allowing quick loading times.
    • The Light Base themelet scores 87% out of 100% on Yslow & up to 94% when entity tags are enabled via htaccess. The remaining % can be gained by hosting your sites assets (images, javascript, css, etc) on a CDN.
    • Morph passes 10 out of 11 checkpoints on http://www.websiteoptimization.com and we are close to have Morph pass on all 11.
    • Easily disable Mootools & Captions javascript from being loaded on the frontend.

  • Why search engines love Morph:

    • The primary content & sidebars are source ordered based on their importance.
    • Content set to start as high up as possible.
    • Concatenated (packed) css & javascript, reducing the number of http requests that are loaded.
    • Joomla’s output rewritten to use semantic logic ordering, ie removing tables where appropriate.
    • Javascript is minified to reduce page weight.

  • Customizing has never been easier:

    • Customize your colors (headings, links, background, body text, etc) with built in color pickers.
    • There are four different logo options, allowing you to select which method you would like to use (linked h1, image replacement, inline image, etc).
    • Customize your sites background with ease.
    • Customize how your site is displayed on an iPhone.
    • Choose the page width that is right for your site (750px, 950px, 976px, 100%).

  • Intuitive management interface:

    • Control all aspects of the framework from an easy to use interface.
    • Easily install & manage your sites assets (images, backups, themelets, etc).
    • Built in upgrade notification system that tells you when new versions are available (with option to check manually).
    • 16 different keyboard shortcuts in Configurator to make your day to day tasks quick and easy.
    • Easily switch between normal & fullscreen mode in Configurator.
    • Options are only ever shown if they are needed.
    • Switch between thumb and list views in the assets tab.
    • Quick and easy to submit bugs / feedback from within Configurator.
    • Easily enable Google Analytics by entering your id.
    • Option to display an upgrade notice to IE6 users.
    • Built in Quick Tips to get you started.
    • Easily set your Configurator preferences.
    • Loads of options to configure your sites footer.

  • Block level control at your fingertips:

    • Split up into logical blocks making it easier to manage.
    • Set inner or outer wrapping div’s on any block.
    • Certain blocks can be repositioned as needed.
    • Every module position can be turned into a grid, tabs block, accordion and we will continue to develop new module chromes.
    • Toolbar, inner and outer shelves can be turned into sliding positions.
    • 30+ module positions that can handle up 100+ modules.
    • Each block can easily be disabled.
    • Every module position can have its own default module styling.
    • Grid split ratio can be set for grids that contain two modules.
    • Choose how modules are padded in (either both the heading and content or content only).

  • Built on industry leading frameworks:

    • Layout and grids aspect of the framework is powered by Yahoo’s super flexible YUI CSS library.
    • All javscript use through out the framework is powered by the awesome jQuery javascript library.
    • Joomla 1.5 – arguably one of the best open source content management systems available.

  • Automatic progressive enhancements:

    • The first paragraph in articles is automatically given a class of teaser, allowing for emphasized styling.
    • Images are automatically given a class based on their alignment to allow for pixel perfect spacing.
    • Alternative classes (zebra striping) added to table rows and modules, to allow for alternating styling.
    • First and last classes added to modules to allow for extra tweaking.
    • Form elements are automatically given a class based on their type.
    • Easily add rounded corners to (almost) anything, using the built in rounded corners jQuery plugin.
    • Easily turn on equal heights on module positions that are set to display as a grid.

  • Getting setup is a breeze:

    • Simple install process with our custom installer.
    • Automatic configuration of modules and general setup steps.
    • Settings are specific to themelets, so switching between them is super easy.
    • Over 90 sample modules (loaded unobtrusively) can be loaded to get you started with ModuleFX.
    • Easily load sample content and demo database.

  • Built on an intelligent engine:

    • Only ever load what is needed.
    • Automatically override settings if a feature is actually used.

  • Help is always close at hand:

    • Built in Quick Start guide.
    • Extensive inline documentation.
    • Online documentation, screencasts and tutorials.

  • Integrated jQuery plugins:

    • Scrollto – Automatically fade in a “scroll to top” link as its needed.
    • Equal heights – Equalize the heights of block level elements.
    • Rounded corners – Add rounded corners to (almost) any element.
    • jQuery UI – User interface toolset, which includes tabs, accordions, etc.
    • Cookies – A simple, lightweight utility for reading, writing & deleting cookies.
    • Superfish – Suckerfish style dropdown menus with added features.
    • Hoverintent – A utility that attempts to determine the user’s intent.
    • Supersubs – Automatically increase the width of sub menu items.
    • Slider – Simple plugin to toggle visibility of a block by sliding open or closed.

  • iPhone ready, out the box:

    • Automatically optimized for the iPhone.
    • Multiple options to control the iPhone version of your site.

  • Strong focus on accessibility:

    • Skip to menu for screen readers.
    • Built in text resizer.
    • Source ordered content based on importance.
    • Elastic em’s based layout allowing you to easily increase the font size.
    • Support for RTL languages.
    • Custom error page styling.
    • Custom offline page styling.
    • Built in print styling and optimized component.php.

  • Passionate about standards:

    • Valid CSS Level 2.1.
    • Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional.
    • Section 508 (all aspects handled by Morph).

  • Tested in all major browsers:

    • Internet Explorer 6, 7 & 8.
    • Firefox 3+ (Mac & Windows).
    • Safari 3+ (Mac & Windows).
    • Opera 9+ (Mac & Windows).
    • Google Chrome (Mac & Windows).

I’m sure there are a couple of features that i’ve missed, but this should give you a pretty good overview of what you can do with Morph :)

The last few things that we are still working (to be done before code-freeze), include:

  • Update our installer to allow for tar.gz archive types.
  • Add options for demo sql & iphone media to universal installer.
  • Add no javascript option to Morph.
  • Separation of settings for site & themelet.
  • Add option to allow the shelf to be moved below the tabs.
  • Add option to hide top branding / tips.
  • Rework the save button so its easily accessible.
  • Finish round two of our html overrides.
  • Review login / acl system.
  • Simplify the “Save & Activate” process.
  • Improve the upgrade process.
  • Add option to download a backup of the entire morph_assets folder.
  • Change preferences to pull from the database instead of cookies.
  • Update summary to include download links if an update is available.

What do you think? Have we got the bases covered? We would love to hear your feedback in the comments ;)

Want to download and try Morph? Read more here


Related blog posts:
  • Morph updated – new versions across the board

    The downloads area is now updated with new versions of pretty much everything (Morph related at least). The new versions are aimed at addressing......

  • Sneak peek – features of the Morph toolset for Joomla

    A few days ago we blogged about the screencast showing you how easy it is to change the sidebar scheme/layout using Morph’s Configurator component.......

  • Performance and seo optimized framework

    Many frameworks and templates available for creating websites are extremely useful and built with amazing features and options. However, there is one problem… Following......

    • Tags: ,

    20 Comments

    Leave a Comment |  RSS feed for comments on this post.

    Trackbacks / Pingbacks

    Leave a Reply

    CommentLuv Enabled