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Are templates difficult?

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Paul
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Location: Diamond Springs, California

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Paul
Posted Feb 03, 2007 - 6:58 PM:

Happened to stumble across this today: info.vilesilencer.com/forum...orum/showthread.php?t=1716

ive got an old license of WSN I wonder how much of a difference the new script is. The old one is an absolute nightmare to change any of the templates/stylesheets.

Thats one reason PHPLD is so popular


Has anyone here used phpld? They don't seem to have an admin demo, so I'm wondering what it is about their templates/styles which is easier.
babrees
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babrees
Posted Feb 04, 2007 - 12:42 AM:

Your templates are definitely NOT difficult, although I can't compare them with PHPLD - their site doesn't show a demo under their demo link!

OK I had problems understanding your templates at first, but I put that down to my age and being a blonde female grin Bare in mind also that I have not a single inkling about php or any type of script, and no wish/time to learn that at my age! I persevered and now love it for it's versatility - wsnlinks is so much MORE than just a mere links directory program. None of my sites are just a mere directory, and I use wsnlinks on them for articles and photos as well as links and for my affiliate programs. One is even a shopping cart. Could PHPLD do all that?

True, I still post here a lot but again you must take into account my age, gender and colour of hair wink


scriptwiki
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Posted Feb 04, 2007 - 10:38 PM:

Paul, you have nothing to worry about. PHPLD (the free one) is impossible to customize, that's why you see so many themes floating around. Because people can't figure out how to make their own, there's a market for themes. I created two themes for PHPLD (you can see one at http://www.pbing.com/phpld/). It was the most complicated theming process I have ever been involved with. Here are the first 75 lines of "main.tpl" from the free version of PHPLD.


{* Calculate title from path *}
{capture name="title"}
{if count($path) > 1} - {/if}
{foreach from=$path item=category name=path}
{if $smarty.foreach.path.iteration gt 2}
>
{/if}
{if not $smarty.foreach.path.first}
{$category.TITLE}
{/if}
{/foreach}
{/capture}

{strip}
{if $title_prefix}
{assign var="in_page_title" value=$title_prefix|cat:$category.TITLE}
{else}
{assign var="in_page_title" value=$category.TITLE}
{/if}
{assign var="description" value=$category.DESCRIPTION}

{include file="header.tpl"}

{include file="top_bar.tpl"}

{* Calculate the number of categories per row *}
{php}
$this->assign('cats_per_col', ceil(count($this->get_template_vars('categs')) / CATS_PER_ROW));
{/php}

{if $cats_per_col > 15}
{php}
$this->assign('cats_per_col', ceil(count($this->get_template_vars('categs')) / (CATS_PER_ROW + 1)));
{/php}
{/if}

{* Categories *}
{if !empty($categs)}
<div class="categories">
{if !empty($category.ID)}
<h3>{l}Categories{/l}</h3>
{/if}

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2">
<tr>
{foreach from=$categs item=cat name=categs}
{if ($smarty.foreach.categs.iteration mod $cats_per_col eq 1 and $cats_per_col gt 1) or $smarty.foreach.categs.first}<td>{/if}
<h2><a href="{if $smarty.const.ENABLE_REWRITE}{$cat.TITLE_URL|escape}/{else}index.php?c={$cat.ID}{/if}">{$cat.TITLE|escape}</a>{if $smarty.const.CATS_COUNT} <span class="count">({$cat.COUNT})</span>{/if}</h2>

{* Display subcategories *}
{if !empty($cat.SUBCATS)}
<p class="subcats">
{foreach from=$cat.SUBCATS item=scat name=scategs}
<a href="{if $smarty.const.ENABLE_REWRITE}{$cat.TITLE_URL|escape}/{$scat.TITLE_URL|escape}/{else}index.php?c={$scat.ID}{/if}">
{$scat.TITLE|escape}</a>, {/foreach} ...
</p>
{/if}
{if ($smarty.foreach.categs.iteration mod $cats_per_col eq 0 and $cats_per_col gt 1) or $smarty.foreach.categs.last}</td>{/if}
{/foreach}
</tr>
</table>
</div>
{/if}

{if $smarty.const.FTR_ENABLE == 1 and isset($feat_links) and !empty($feat_links)}
<div class="feat_links">
<h3>{l}Featured Links{/l}</h3>
{foreach from=$feat_links item=link name=links}
{include file="link.tpl" link=$link}
{/foreach}
</div>
{/if}

{* Links heading and sorting*}
{if ($qu or $category.ID gt 0 or $p) and isset($links) and !empty($links)}


For someone who doesn't know PHP very well, it isn't even worth attempting.

WSN Links is miles ahead of PHPLD, as a link directory, and a content management system.

I bet you could increase your sales 150% if you developed a decent looking theme smiling face. The default one is pretty ugly (no offense). You've seen my work (tidget being my favorite). I swear I got 5-10 emails a month asking me what CMS I used, and I think they were mostly impressed with the theme. Employing that current theme isn't a good first impression, and is probably hurting sales.
Paul
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Location: Diamond Springs, California

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Paul
Posted Feb 05, 2007 - 10:28 AM:

Given that my default theme is ugly, it continues to puzzle me why people don't sell themes for WSN Links. Perhaps the frequency of template changes has had something to do with it, but that doesn't seem like it'd be as much a factor lately with changes being managable since 3.4 and with the file comparison tool.

I'm adding automatic updating of unchanged templates for 4.1, so it'll only need to list changes for templates that were customized. Hopefully that'll help.

As for the default theme, I found out from my attempt to hire someone a few years ago that it's a risky proposition. If there were people actually selling themes then I might make a bid to buy rights to one I like, but nobody is.
babrees
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babrees
Posted Feb 05, 2007 - 11:00 AM:

Paul wrote:
Given that my default theme is ugly, it continues to puzzle me why people don't sell themes for WSN Links. Perhaps the frequency of template changes has had something to do with it, .



My favourite thing with websites is designing and messing about with wsnlinks templates! I would simply LOVE to be able to design different themes! However, with me it is simply lack of time as I have so many things on my plate. Maybe one of these days.... smiling face

hmm, thinking about this I AM tempted <G> Have no idea of costings though - how much would people be prepared to pay for a different theme?
Paul
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Paul
Posted Feb 05, 2007 - 3:45 PM:

Well if it's generic enough it's how many people you sell it to that makes the difference. I see the first PHPLD ones google brings up are $30. 4templates has more general, non-script templates in similar price ranges (that's where I bought this site template).

Funny observation: I see PHPLD charges an extra $10 to access their support forum and get fixes. Plus $50 to remove the branding link, so they can advertise a $25 price while charging $85 in the end.
jsflinks
Experienced

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Joined: Jul 28, 2005

Total Topics: 30
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Posted Feb 05, 2007 - 7:38 PM:

What would be a big help would be to have the ability to edit the templates in my GoLive program, and if I didn't have to run the scripts online everytime I make a change.

I suppose maybe there is a way, like if I kept a MySQL database on my laptop, but I'm not that much of a PHP/MySQL guru yet.

Maybe a little tutorial on a good template editing workflow would be useful.

babrees
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babrees
Posted Feb 05, 2007 - 10:59 PM:

jsflinks wrote:
What would be a big help would be to have the ability to edit the templates in my GoLive program, and if I didn't have to run the scripts online everytime I make a change.



I never edit my templates online, always use dreamweaver (in code view) then upload them.

Paul
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Joined: Dec 20, 2001
Location: Diamond Springs, California

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Paul
Posted Feb 07, 2007 - 10:27 AM:

Dreamweaver doesn't actually kill things? I used to get a few reports of it causing problems. Maybe that was the WYSIWYG view, or just user error. Anyhow I can't give reliable advice on what HTML editors to use since most of the popular ones don't run under Linux. I could try NVU and see if it messes things up or not, I suppose.

You don't have to do your changes or testing online: scripts.webmastersite.net/w...server_with_XAMPP-108.html

I'm not that much of a PHP/MySQL guru yet.

All you do is double click the install file. I'll add the link into the introductory PDF.

Maybe a little tutorial on a good template editing workflow would be useful.

I'm not sure what that would mean. All I can think of to say which is more generalized than the manual entries is to edit the style, then the wrapper, then everything else... but I believe the introductory manual PDF already says that in the section that discusses templates.
babrees
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babrees
#10 - Quote - Permalink
Posted Feb 07, 2007 - 11:07 AM:

Paul wrote:
Dreamweaver doesn't actually kill things?


LOL! I know you don't like dreamweaver <G> But I'm lazy! I used to do all my sites using notepad, but dreamweaver has so many shortcuts you can use it's much quicker! I love the way it will close tags for you, and select everything within a tag too - when you've got nests in nests that is a real boon. It is also far easier to see as it shows things in different colours. I have to say that I am usuall in code view and just look at the design view occasionally.
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