Get started with Theme Creator and the Theme CLI

documentation theme developers
, , ,
1

This topic will walk you through how to use the Theme CLI with our Theme Creator site to develop a theme and preview your changes on a live Discourse site.

  1. Sign up for an account here on Meta if you haven’t already

  2. Log in to Theme Creator

  3. Install the Theme CLI via the instructions here

  4. Create a new theme on Theme Creator by:

  5. Click advanced, then edit locally, and retrieve API key.

    Copy the API key that is generated.

    18%20PM
    18%20PM1224×1612 132 KB
    27%20PM
    27%20PM1546×1306 170 KB

  6. Go back to your command line and type discourse_theme download example-folder, where example-folder is where your theme will be stored locally. Follow the prompts.

    • Enter https://discourse.theme-creator.io as the root URL of your Discourse site.

    • Enter your API key from the previous step when prompted.

    • Continue following the prompts and select the theme you created in step 4.

    • Enter yes when asked if you’d like to start watching your theme.

      06%20PM

  7. Now your local theme folder is being watched for changes, which will be automatically uploaded to Theme Creator. You can open a preview of your theme by clicking preview in your theme’s settings on Theme Creator.

    27%20PM
    27%20PM1546×1306 170 KB

  8. To stop watching for changes, hit ctrl + c in your command line window. To start watching for changes again type discourse_theme watch example-theme.

:tada: You now have a local theme directory you can edit and see your changes live!

For an in-depth look at how themes are structured and what you can do, check out our Beginner's guide to developing Discourse Themes

42 Likes