Coldskins: Custom CSS Skins for Contact Coldform

Posted on January 15, 2008 in WordPress by Jeff Starr

[ Icon: Contact Coldform ] With the recent release of my latest WordPress plugin, Contact Coldform, I am also creating a series of free, “drop-in” CSS skins for easy, “plug-n-play” customization. These skins employ valid, optimized CSS code designed for the following browsers:

Firefox 2 (mac & pc)
Internet Explorer 6
Internet Explorer 7
Opera 9 (mac & pc)
Netscape
Camino
Safari

The goal for these skins involves minimizing the amount of CSS code while simultaneously maximizing its universal effectiveness. Thus, while these skins may not appear identical in every browser tested, I am able to keep CSS code sizes to a minimum by focusing on overall design proximity as opposed to pixel perfect precision, which is possible, but would require additional code. In other words, the balance between presentational fidelity and relative code quantity may require further manipulation, depending on your particular design requirements.

Coldskin #1

This minimalistic skin features fields of uniform length and default Verdana text for all elements. The perfect slate for further customization and stylistic fine-tuning..

[ Screenshot: Coldskin #1 via Firefox 2 (pc) ]
Coldskin #1 in Firefox 2 (pc)

Check out Coldskin #1 in other browsers:

Download and Install

To use this Coldskin, simply copy & paste the CSS code from the following file into your default (or custom) WordPress-theme stylesheet, generally located at: /wp-content/themes/theme/style.css:

Coldskin #1 • [ 1913 downloads ]

Coldskin #2

This is the same skin used by the current theme here at Perishable Press. Coldskin #2 features tight, minimalistic form design with “Lucida Grande” labels and “Courier New” input text. Another keen design ready for instant styling or further customization..

[ Screenshot: Coldskin #2 via Firefox 2 (pc) ]
Coldskin #2 in Firefox 2 (pc)

Check out Coldskin #2 in other browsers:

Download and Install

To use this Coldskin, simply copy & paste the CSS code from the following file into your default (or custom) WordPress-theme stylesheet, generally located at: /wp-content/themes/theme/style.css:

Coldskin #2 • [ 1224 downloads ]

Coldskin #3

This skin works great for a clean, minimalistic aesthetic or as a template for further styling and customization. This layout requires no floats and should similar in virtually all modern browsers. Coldskin #3 uses Verdana font for both field labels and text input. Plug it in and make it your own..

[ Screenshot: Coldskin #3 via Firefox 2 (pc) ]
Coldskin #3 in Firefox 2 (pc)

Check out Coldskin #3 in other browsers:

Download and Install

To use this Coldskin, simply copy & paste the CSS code from the following file into your default (or custom) WordPress-theme stylesheet, generally located at: /wp-content/themes/theme/style.css:

Coldskin #3 • [ 1788 downloads ]

Check back for more Coldskins!

This is the permanent home for Coldform skins, and all future Coldskins will be presented and archived here. Also, if you have a Coldform design that you would like to feature here, please contact me and let me know about it — Thanks ;)

13 Responses

Graham Smith says:

March 30th, 2008 at 3:58 am

Finally got round to tinkering with my theme colours. My old Blog used to be dark grey.

So finally got it done. Wanted it to be as nice as possible for this week. Had a guest post published, also had my theme highlighted on graphpaperpress blog.

So more traffic coming, and I wanted it to be good for when we release the interview.

Sorry its taken so long, but I have really wanted to get my site to apoint where I am relatively proud and will be a place people will want to come back to. Etc.

So am close to finishing the interview anyway.

Also got your contact form up again, after I had some theme issues with it. Not your fault, just needed to tinker a bit. But looking good.

Later
Perishable says:

March 30th, 2008 at 1:54 pm

Good to hear you are staying busy, Graham. Sounds like all the hard work is beginning to pay off for you! I am looking forward to seeing the interview posted, but understand that it is best to wait until everything is place before publishing such a thing. Thanks for dropping by — glad to hear the Coldform plugin is treating you well ;)
K says:

April 3rd, 2009 at 5:18 am

Hi,

Your Comment-Form is really good & easy. One question: I use WP 2.7.1 and didn´t find any admin-options to replace the english text like “use this form to contact us via email.” … do you plan any options for this?
Jeff Starr says:

April 6th, 2009 at 12:50 pm

@K: Yes, the next release of the plugin will be completely internationalized (I18n), which will make it easy for you to customize the language in whatever way you see fit.
Lorraine says:

December 11th, 2009 at 12:50 am

Hi! I tried pasting the CSS code for codeskin #3 into my stylesheet but nothing happens. There are no changes. I am really new at this so I may be missing something important. Does it have to go in a certain place? Thanks!
Jeff Starr says:

December 14th, 2009 at 11:34 am

Hi Lorraine, the only requirement is that the stylesheet contains the code and the Coldform is installed and displayed properly. I can’t think of any reason why only the Coldskin styles wouldn’t be applied if all of the other styles are working.
natalia says:

April 11th, 2010 at 11:01 am

Hi Jeff,
I have to questions:
1. Where exactly is the Coldform Admin Options panel? (As in “Customize your preferences in the Coldform Admin Options panel “). I cannot find anything else to edit but the .php files and the instruction is clear this is not neccesary.
2. I have pasted the css style for one of the skins into my style.css. The contact form changed nicely but the instructions on what to fill in each tab dissapeared! he same happened with another one of the above skins. They are visible with the default style though.
Do you have any ideas on ehat is causing it?
Many thanks for your help and big thanks for the plugin!
Jeff Starr says:

April 21st, 2010 at 5:19 pm

Hi natalia,
1. The Coldform Options Page is viewable from within the WordPress Admin. Just log in, go to Settings > Coldform
2. If you provide a link to an example, I could take a look at it for you. Otherwise it’s difficult to say..
Mike R. says:

September 21st, 2011 at 11:39 am

I attempted to use your contact sheet and I love it… However, I can’t change the font color to be black with your CSS code. Any idea why?

Here’s the page: http://choicemedia.tv/contact/
Jeff Starr says:

September 22nd, 2011 at 8:07 am

Hi Mike,

No problem, you should be able to open the file:

http://choicemedia.tv/news/wp-content/themes/choice_media/style.css

and then find this line:

div#coldform {
     font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;
     background-color: #fff;
     font-size: 12px;
     margin: 12px 0;
     width: 600px;
     color: #000;
}

in that set of rules, change the #fff (white) to #000 (black).

Let me know how it goes! :)
Mike R. says:

September 22nd, 2011 at 8:12 am

@Jeff Starr

I did that but it changes the background to be black not the font color…
Jeff Starr says:

September 22nd, 2011 at 8:26 am

Ah sorry I misread your comment. It looks like the form labels are picking up the font color from elsewhere in your stylesheet:

.entry-content label {
color: #888;
font-size: 12px;
}

That should do it, if not using a tool like Firebug or similar will help you find it pretty quickly.

Good luck!
Mike R. says:

September 22nd, 2011 at 8:38 am

Perfect! You’re the man. Thanks!