Proof of concept of Themes in Theia with GitLab-UI components
Problem to solve
As follow up of https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/56812, we still have some lingering questions that we need to find the answers to before we can understand the complexity of developing and customizing Theia's Web IDE, before we can have a final decision.
These are the questions we have that will impact the frontend and UX understanding of how such future would look:
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How much control do we have over the UI? (relevant for UX, too).
- What can we change and what we can't?
- Are we comfortable with those restrictions?
- How complex/time-consuming it is to develop an extension and/or plugin? (knowing from the get-go that plugins are far less powerful, per their docs)
- If we develop an extension, how much will that hinder the upgrade path going forward?
Intended users
Developers and Designers will make use of the conclusions of this effort.
Further details
By answering these questions, we'll be much better equipped to understand the technical and experience aspects of a future Web IDE powered by Theia.
This will allow us to plan the way forward, should that decision be made.
Proposal
This issue should include the following:
- Implement a theme to be used with Theia: exploring what is possible and the limitations of UI. Heavy collaboration with UX is expected.
- Include at least one component from https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ui/ in order to understand the feasibility of a scenario of sharing code between GitLab CE/EE in terms of building UI components.
What does success look like, and how can we measure that?
We'd be able to understand the technical effort required to customize Theia's UI as well as understand the limitations afforded by that path.