In migrating my working D6 website (AppraisalShareware.com) to D7 so it can be migrated to Backdrop, I find that there is no equivalent Acquia Marina theme in either D7 or Backdropcms.  Given that all my training videos were produced using Aquia Marina screenshots, it would be beneficial if an equivalent theme were available in Backdrop.  How difficult would it be to do this and are there any development/conversion guides available?

Most helpful answers

Not sure. What I usually do is make a child theme of the core Basis theme and then customize it for the client. You could add colours and icons to it to approximate the Marina theme.

Looks like Aquia Marina relied on Fusion base theme and Skinr. https://www.drupal.org/project/acquia_marina You'd probably have to port both of those too if you need the theme functionality. An easier approach is to create a new theme and steal elements from Marina so it looks similar but not exact.

Comments

As you may be aware, you don't need a theme in Drupal 7 if you just plan to upgrade to Backdrop CMS immediately after. 

Here is an article from BackdropCMS.org on porting themes:
https://api.backdropcms.org/converting-themes

You can post a port request for a theme or a module here:
https://github.com/backdrop-ops/contrib/issues

I've seen a number of modules get ported after a user posted a request here. I'm not sure how likely you are to get a theme ported, but you should try.

You mention training videos as one reason for using the same theme. Is this mostly an issue of just having a theme that looks like Acquia Marina or did Acquia Marina have specific functionality that you would like to reproduce? 

Here is a link to a Virtual User Group discussion on creating themes for Backdrop CMS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVtaRb7FEVY&t=8s

Thanks for the reply, stpaultim. I was not aware that a theme was not necessary in a D6-D7-Backdrop migration, but when I researched Acquia Marina in D7 it appeared that the D7 theme was abandoned. 

I am happy with the D6 platform and Acquia Marina theme, and I am not aware of any non-cosmetic dependencies upon Acquia Marina apart from the considerable investment in training videos. 

I will take a look at the links you thoughtfully provided regarding theme porting and development in Backdrop.  I also have a couple of small custom modules that I will need to redevelop or convert from D6 to Backdrop.

Looks like Aquia Marina relied on Fusion base theme and Skinr. https://www.drupal.org/project/acquia_marina You'd probably have to port both of those too if you need the theme functionality. An easier approach is to create a new theme and steal elements from Marina so it looks similar but not exact.

Excellent point Herb.  I was looking for an existing Backdrop theme that was similar to Acquia Marina that I could tweak.  Any suggestions?

jromine's picture

@BGood did you ever find a replacement theme for Acquia (Fusion) Marina? I am porting some sites now that are using that theme on Drupal 7.

Not sure. What I usually do is make a child theme of the core Basis theme and then customize it for the client. You could add colours and icons to it to approximate the Marina theme.