xScape2 will be a new theme framework for WordPress, but it will share very little with current xScape Theme Framework. xScape2 will be very lightweight, written from scratch and with hardly any interface at all and with support for WordPress Theme Customizer.
It is hard to say when the new framework will be ready, but first usable version with no admin interface will be completed in the next week or so, and it will be used to build first basic theme. New framework will be used for all future themes here on the Dev4Press. New framework is not compatible with old one, and it can be used to replace old framework. So, old themes are going remain using old xScape. Themes: skyScape, reXposed, eScape, newsScape and R8 will be developed as new themes that support new framework.
xScape2 will be part of the theme, in contrast to current xScape that was part of the xScape Core theme, and individual themes were child themes of that one. With new approach, you will be able to make child themes from each theme using xScape2. Themes made with xScape2 will be all HTML5, fully responsive, packed with some basic jQuery libraries for menus, breadcrumbs, background images and more. Framework will use standard WP templates format, but with few twists on the implementation to make content control via templates easier, and leaving sidebars, headers and other elements to framework control.
More on the new framework will be available soon, and I will keep you in the loop with the development progress. Also, I will need to test the framework at one point, and I will need users with WordPress development experience, since the early versions of framework will have no interface at all.
