A new Sandbox plugin has been released for Movable Type that enables users to benefit from the many themes available from the Sandbox Design competition launched last year for Wordpress users. The idea is reminiscent of The Style Contest that was held in 2006 for designers to come up with new themes for MT 3.x. The plugin provides an ideal opportunity for those users who've been complaining about the lack of styles for MT4 to give their sites a facelift. And finally, you can choose from either fixed-width designs that are preset to a certain pixel width or fluid designs that will automatically enlarge to fit the width of the browser screen.
Beau Smith has created a beautiful and functional site using one of the Sandbox themes that is a perfect example of how to build a targeted website, as well as offering some valuable tips for Movable Type users. You'll find everything you need to know about the Sandbox plugin on his site.
A new version of StyleCatcher comes with the plugin that makes it easy to switch between the available styles. You can also download styles from the Sandbox Designs site and installing them is easy. The live demo site lets you see the designs in their entirety. I spent hours last night playing with the new plugin, switching between themes and browsing the live site. Below are two themes that I downloaded and installed that are available from Sandbox Designs.
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