Symphony.

What would you like to see as the default theme for the final release?

As long as we stick to the following criteria:

• Be in the spirit of learning. So nothing exuberant for exuberance sake, i.e. no chess game programmed in XSLT
• Showcase Symphony's flexibility and power.
• Lend itself well to good clean markup so newbies can poke around and distinguish the XSLT from the HTML.

Also, we should finally move away from the blog format, so let's go crazy with the thinkin'!

can it have flowers? heh

I disagree with Allen. We want to eventually add a section for ensembles to the Overture showcase -- that's where all the publish-ready sites will go, and demonstration of Symphony's abilities/versatility, XSLT ninja, etc. The default ensemble doesn't need to do any of that.

I think the #1 goal of the default install should be to teach people who are completely unfamiliar with Symphony how to use the system. I'm hoping to have time to build this myself before the 2.0-final release.

1. It should include a few basic introductory tutorial articles that walk the user through the main aspects of developing with Symphony, with links to more detailed/advanced information where appropriate. Although that sounds ambitious, I believe it can be done in less than 3000 words in total, since it really should just be an overview rather than in-depth guides ala Bauhouse's series.

2. It should be easily blank-able; only a few pages and/or sections should need to be deleted before the system is ready for a new project.

My $.02:

Not sure how you'd do it, it it would be great if it was optimized for use in tutorials, both simple ones possibly incorporated into the theme, as well as more advanced ones written independently. I think that would be preferable to having new ensembles for subsequent tutorials, so a new user can get comfortable and familiar with a single site install.

A challenge will be to keep it simple enough for new Symphony users, and also descriptive of new features for current 1.7 users. I think functions like a blog should be included, but as one aspect rather than the apparent primary function.

Would it be possible to have a flag during the install as to which ensemble to begin with? I mean - for first time users you can install a tutorial/learning type theme that is intended to walk a user through the basics and allow them to use it as a bit of a sandbox to experiment, but then more advanced users could perhaps opt for a much more vanilla installation where there are really only common utilities installed...

That might cover both bases - in that new people to Symphony are going to be eased into XSLT and advanced and experienced users can jump right in and not have to chop back the extra stuff that typically comes with a standard install...

Just some ideas...

Would it be possible to have a flag during the install as to which ensemble to begin with?

I think this is a good idea, but we've addressed it in a different way by including the installer with each ensemble, so instead of firing up an installer then choosing your ensemble, you do it the other way around: pick your ensemble, then install it.

Perhaps what we could include is the option to install a blank canvas, rather than needing an extra empty ensemble.

perhaps three ensembles: blank, intro, and more advanced one like ashooner had suggested?