Better SMF

Theme Lab for SMF 2.1

Theme Lab was built for one simple reason: creating a custom SMF theme should not require hours of hand-editing CSS, hunting through templates, and hoping one change does not break another.

Theme Lab gives administrators a visual workspace for building and refining SMF themes while keeping the process familiar, structured, and manageable.

Build themes without living in CSS

Theme Lab lets you control the look and feel of your SMF forum through a dedicated workspace instead of forcing every change through manual stylesheet edits.

You can adjust things like:

• Page width and overall layout
• Header and navigation styling
• Panel and content backgrounds
• Borders and border radius
• Buttons and hover states
• Typography and spacing
• Forum sections and message layouts
• Mobile presentation

The goal is to make theme creation more approachable without taking away the flexibility SMF users expect.

A workspace built for iteration

Themes are rarely finished in one pass.

Theme Lab is designed around that reality.

You can create a workspace, make changes, preview the result, refine the details, and keep working until the theme feels right.

That makes it easier to experiment without losing control of the project.

Create multiple theme workspaces

Theme Lab supports separate workspaces so you can build and maintain different theme ideas independently.

That is useful for:

• Testing new designs
• Creating seasonal themes
• Building light and dark variations
• Maintaining multiple site styles
• Experimenting before publishing changes

Each workspace can evolve without forcing you to overwrite the one you are already using.

Import and continue existing work

Theme Lab can also work with imported theme projects, making it easier to continue refining an existing design instead of always starting from scratch.

That gives you a practical path for improving themes over time while keeping the project organized.

Designed around the full SMF experience

A theme is more than the board index.

Theme Lab is built to account for the parts of SMF people actually use every day, including:

• Board listings
• Topic views
• Posting and editing screens
• Quick Reply
• Menus and dropdowns
• Admin and moderation interfaces
• Buttons and controls
• Mobile layouts

The goal is for the finished theme to feel consistent everywhere, not polished on one page and unfinished on another.

Responsive by design

Theme Lab-generated themes are built with desktop and mobile use in mind.

Layouts can adapt for smaller screens so navigation, topic controls, blocks, and forum content remain usable on phones and tablets.

A good theme should not fall apart just because the screen gets smaller.

Fine control without unnecessary complexity

Theme Lab is meant to give you meaningful control without turning the interface into an overwhelming wall of options.

The focus is on the settings that make a visible difference and help define the personality of the theme.

You can work on the big structure first, then refine smaller details like spacing, alignment, button treatment, and corner styling.

Built through real-world testing

Theme Lab is developed the same way as the rest of the Better SMF suite: through repeated testing on real SMF pages and real forum workflows.

Small problems matter.

A menu sitting two pixels too high, a popup appearing behind another control, a button wrapping badly on mobile, or a content panel not lining up correctly can make an otherwise good theme feel unfinished.

Theme Lab is built around finding and fixing those details.

Made for administrators who want their forum to feel like their own

SMF gives you a strong forum platform.

Theme Lab gives you a better way to shape how that platform looks and feels.

You do not have to abandon SMF.

You do not have to rebuild your site from scratch.

You can keep the forum you know and create a design that feels like yours.