rewriting the user interface

Question

How difficult would it be rewrite the user interface for this product? I would like to make the user interface more productive by minimizing keystrokes, minimizing page refreshes and using other Ajaxy productivity techniques. For example, just to ask a question, I have to navigate to the two screens and click on two different buttons.

Can we potentially use the backend of this product and rewrite the user interface ? is it worth it? Or is it better to the create the entire product from the ground up?

If we can just re-write the front-end, what needs to be modified ? Any hints, ideas, clues will be appreciated. Also, any developers on this forum who might be interested in taking up the project.

Answer 1

I think most of what you're asking is already possible or will be possible in the upcoming 1.4.

This page has everything you need to know about creating your own theme. You can edit the CSS, or change/move elements around using an advanced theme. So in theory it's possible to completely rewrite the front-end, though that would take a huge amount of work.

Asking a question will be simpler in 1.4. I think you will be able to make it one page instead of two. There is also the option to put a "quick ask" box on the home page (as demoed here).