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By Kevin Sherus

This talk will explore the design and architecture of the VHX theme engine, which allows our filmmakers to easily create highly-customizable websites to promote and sell their movies. We'll walk through the technical and UX decisions that were made to optimize for maintainability, flexibility and future-proofing.
VHX themes are a blend of HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Mustache templates that are parsed by both Ruby and JavaScript. On the Ruby side, our theme engine can take advantage of server-side rendering, caching, and testability; with the JavaScript implementation we can add client-side rendering, live previewing, and enable an offline development environment for theme designers.
We'll show off the code involved in VHX's theme engine, advanced code editor (with live previewing through the HTML5 postMessage API), a master/child inheritance system that allows themes to be forked, and piecing it all together in a beautiful, easy-to-use interface.

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In the video titled "Microtalk: Building a Theme Engine w/ Ruby Mustache" presented by Kevin Sherus at GoRuCo 2013, the focus is on the design and architecture of VHX's theme engine. This engine allows filmmakers to create highly customizable websites for promoting and selling their films directly to fans. The talk outlines the technical and user experience (UX) decisions made to enhance maintainability, flexibility, and future-proofing of the theme engine, which combines HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Mustache templates. Key points discussed include:

- **Background of VHX**: Founded by former Vimeo engineers, VHX is dedicated to helping artists and filmmakers distribute work directly to their audience, leveraging existing social reach for better sales and insights.
- **Inspiration from Tumblr**: The team aimed to replicate Tumblr's successful theming capabilities while integrating video and e-commerce, fostering a robust developer ecosystem around VHX themes.
- **Product Goals**: The theme engine seeks to provide a simple yet powerful tool for developers, focusing on offline capabilities, server-side rendering for performance and SEO, and overall improved flexibility.
- **Technical Framework**: The use of Mustache allows for a straightforward templating system that operates effectively in both Ruby and JavaScript, promoting a clear separation between data and presentation.
- **Development Approach**: Emphasis was placed on versioning themes, allowing users to create drafts without affecting the live site. The example provided featured a scenario where modifications could be tested in isolation before going live.
- **Demo of the Theme Engine**: Kevin demonstrated the dynamic rendering and editing capabilities facilitated by the theme engine, showcasing how changing data in the editor sends updates to the rendered output in real-time.
- **Future Vision**: Plans include a fully offline development package and extending Mustache with Handlebars, providing developers extensive tools to enhance their workflows.

Overall, the talk underscores the importance of creating a user-friendly and powerful theming engine that empowers filmmakers to manage their digital presence effectively while ensuring high levels of maintainability and adaptability for developers. The innovations discussed position VHX as a forward-thinking tool in the current landscape of online film distribution.

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