Site re-design

Are there any designs submitted that we can see and have an idea about what exactly is this about? Something like an example... because there are people that don't know the full site structure.
I for example, would love to try something but don't know what are the conditions/details of the contest.

Yeah, same problem here.

E.g. I would like to have some infos about the template marks. Can they be rewritten? I don't want to do just a design wrapper around an "ugly" table-system, but also would like to redesign some parts of the site itself.

It is explained in the article. The currently submitted proposals are listed here:

phpclasses.org/design/

To propose a design you just need to go here:

phpclasses.org/design.html

There you can edit the default HTML template and turn it into what you like. That template has mandatory marks, that are listed in a separate tab of the edit form.

You can also edit the main CSS template, add images you need, or replace icons used in the site.

Just let me know if you would like to do something that you have no idea how to do.

Just go on the design editor page, create your theme, edit the main HTML template. It has no tables. You can use tables or not.

There are some mandatory marks. The meaning and syntax of the marks is explained in a tab of the editor form named "Template marks". Just click on that tab so you can see which marks are mandatory and what is their purpose.

Mandatory tabs cannot be omitted, nor made invisible. Some marks belong to the header, others to the footer. If you move them to the wrong section, the design is not accepted.

I don't want to remove or replace any marks. But some marks generate code, which results in tables, like the navigation or the user menu. What, if I would like to put the user menu vertically? Doesn't seem to be possible right now.

Sorry, I'm late to this contest. I should have asked earlier. ;-)

No, you can change the orientation of the navigation menus. Just click on the respective are in the HTML template editor and a menu will appear to let you switch the layout of the navigation bars. All bars support that.

Ah, thank you! That makes it a lot easier. :-)

Why menu is using tables? the body content is using tables. Can you change it to make it more semantic? :)

Why can't we just slice our self made design? More contesters will join and the results would be better. It's quite hard to make a completely other design based on another.
But complaining... I made my first drafts to join. But I need a few additional divs I think. Isn't it possible to slice my custom layout by myself and send that to you? Awaiting your reply.

Unfortunately, there are browser differences that make it the navigation bars not work the same way if different browsers. Using tables was the best way found to make it work consistently.

Anyway, there are several styles used in navigation bars precisely so you can style them from the design editor.

Just click on the tab that says "Template marks and styles" for an listing of styles and explanation of their purposes.