Proposal: Help modernize the codebase

[Rouzax]

Hi @DewGew,

I'm a Machinon user (running it on my home Domoticz instance) and I'd like to offer help modernizing the codebase. Before doing any work, I wanted to check if you're open to
receiving PRs along these lines.

Why now?

With issue #157 showing that the new Domoticz beta (Angular conversion) is already breaking the theme, this feels like a natural moment to address some of the underlying
brittleness that makes the theme fragile against upstream changes.

What I've found

After auditing the codebase, these are the main areas that could benefit from attention:

JavaScript

• 8+ synchronous AJAX calls (async: false) that freeze the browser UI during settings load/save
• 20+ global variables with no module pattern — every file mutates shared state freely
• Memory leaks — intervals never cleared (standby.js), object URLs never revoked (dashboard_camera.js)
• Race conditions — multiple setTimeout hacks with comments like "delay it a few otherwise it gets overwritten"
• Tight coupling to Angular — polling loop every 100ms checking typeof angular with no cleanup
• Duplicated code — switchState recreated in 3 files, near-identical settings functions in themesettings.js
• Vendored libraries — moment.js (deprecated upstream), livestamp.js (2015), animate.css v3.7.2 (2019)

CSS

• 248+ !important declarations - fighting upstream styles with brute force
• icons_on_tabs.css - 341 lines that are ~80% duplication, could be ~100 lines
• Invalid CSS - height: flex and width: flex in custom.css (not valid values)
• Hardcoded colors - 100+ raw hex/rgb values that should be CSS custom properties
• No design token system - shadows, borders, spacing, breakpoints all hardcoded and duplicated

Security

• Unsanitized values used in DOM selectors ($("tr[data-idx='" + data.idx + "']"))
• Unvalidated URLs injected into iframe src and CSS url()

How I'd approach it

• Small, focused PRs - one concern per PR, easy to review
• No behavior changes - same features, same look, just cleaner internals
• Prioritized by impact - start with bug-causing issues (invalid CSS, memory leaks, sync AJAX) before structural refactoring

Transparency

I use Claude Code (AI-assisted development) as my development tool. All code will be reviewed and tested by me on my own Domoticz instance
before submitting. I'll note AI assistance in commit messages per convention (Co-Authored-By: Claude).

What I'm asking

Are you open to receiving PRs like this? I'm happy to:

• Start with a single small PR so you can evaluate the approach
• Adjust scope/style based on your feedback
• Back off entirely if you'd prefer to keep the codebase as-is

I'd also really value your input and perspective on priorities - you know this codebase and its history far better than I do. If there are areas you've been wanting to clean
up, or things you'd rather leave untouched, I'd love to hear that before diving in.

No pressure either way - just offering to help with a theme I use and appreciate daily.

Thanks for maintaining Machinon! 🙏

[DewGew]

Hi,

Thanks a lot for reaching out and for taking the time to look so thoroughly at the codebase. I really appreciate the effort.

I’m definitely positive about this and I’m grateful for any help I can get. At the moment I’ve put this project a bit to the side due to limited time, so contributions are very welcome.

Your approach with small, focused PRs sounds good to me, and starting with a small one so we can evaluate the direction makes perfect sense. Feel free to go ahead with that.

Thanks again for offering to help improve Machinon — it’s much appreciated!

Best,
DewGew

[Rouzax]

Is there any area you would prefer I started?

[DewGew]

I have issues with sidemenu with machinon settings meny deactivated, and use domoticz default menu. That need some improvements.

[Rouzax]

I can certainly look at it but have never experienced that myself, can you give an example or share a screenshot?

[MadPatrick]

Hi guys

Appreciate the work which yuo done the last weeks.
I've tweaked a bit with the CSS, just for fun

custom.css

[Rouzax]

I'm waiting for Gizmocuz to merge https://github.com/domoticz/domoticz/tree/css-theme-restructure as that will be a complete shift of the theming structure that he has been working on, with some input from me.
When that is done I will try to make machinon fully modern and compliant with that (when I have another week to waste with Claude 😄 )
Have some other ideas for the theme that I wanted to build, like more flexible color system. With the idea you pick 1 accent and 1 background and the rest is automatically created based on WCAG rules for visibility for instance.

[MadPatrick]

Understandable.
I very curious 😬
Again. Appreciate the work your putting in the project.
Looked a long time abandoned

[Rouzax]

I still love Domoticz, I have so much history with it that I cannot and don't really want to move to HA for instance, and Machinon is by far the cleanest en most modern looking skin for it Domoticz.

[MadPatrick]

Same for me.
If i can support with testing let me know.