Enhancement thumbnails

[founfabug]

Consider that the addition of thumbnail images in various lists may not detract from elegance of the theme. Maybe for the future.

[gevhaz]

Like an image associated with a blog post summary in a list? Do you have an example of a theme that does what you have in mind?

[founfabug]

Hello, I mention the enhancement as minimalist websites seem to be adopting thumbnails into the aesthetic quite comfortably now; a change from the text-dominated look of a few years back. The thumbnails usually take one of two forms:

1. A thumbnail that indicates a category
2. A thumbnail derived from a hero image attached to a post

The specifying of images for each task is implemented by some as parameters, and others by filename matching in bundles. The parameter mechanism of more use to those that wish to make simple posts.

The Congo theme is useful as an example:
Home page showing recent posts: https://jpanther.github.io/congo/
Blog page (list) equivalent: https://jpanther.github.io/congo/samples/

FYI I think their approach uses the new(ish) image resizing features in Hugo, rather than the full and thumbnail directory approach in your gallery implementation. This results in posts requiring for more complex Markdown.

[gevhaz]

Thanks for looking into it and providing examples. I also see a lot of Substack blocks have thumbnails similar to the ones in your example.

I'm not against the idea of thumbnails, but it would definitely have to be opt-in, so that people who have used the theme for a while don't get a page that looks entirely different from before when they rebuild.

Your suggestion for the design seems okay.

I don't have time to work on this before Christmas, but hopefully after that. I will also accept PR's if you feel inclined 😉 Only requirements is that the example page is the same before and after by default when it is built (if the user hasn't opted in to thumbnails). And that the code changes are understandable and documented.

[founfabug]

I think opt-in is essential, both for the existing user, and because the default for any post should assume no images available.

There are quite a few poor implementations, where edge cases are very confusing for users, so you are wise to give it some thought. Each of the edge cases I have encountered could be solved by ensuring that parameters override other logic. While this can require more params to be configured per post, you don't end up with situations where the use-case is frustrated. And for your implementation, if no params exist, then everything renders as it does now.

I'd stick this enhancement on the back burner, my main motivation stems from wanting to keep a beautiful theme current, rather than a pressing need.

My skill set allows me to locate where the changes are needed, but not to make suitable changes. I will happily assist with other aspects of development - testing and doco for example.