I'm a complete newbie here (how many weeks/months/years can I keep saying this for? :laugh: ) I have browsed quite a few pages here but can't see an answer to these:
I've got the forum installed and have tweaked a few things but what I really want to do is make it look nicer. First off I want to make a nice banner at the top to replace the forum title. Would I have to get a mod to do this (and where from?) or is it something I can do myself - as a complete beginner.
I'd also like to add a front page and maybe some more pages which link to the front page - ultimately a "home page" leading to say five other areas, one of which is the forum.
I've brought up the calendar tab. Is there a way of getting entries in the calendar to generate a thread automatically as I have seen this happen on other forums?
Is there a "contact us" tab somewhere? And would it send a pm or an email? When people send emails does that automatically generate an email notification?
1) If you want one like I have, here http://www.tlakoc.org.uk I can help you out. :)
2) Front page? Have a look at Simple Portal. Or any of the others, come to that) Again, look at the front page at my place.
3) Yep. It's a standard feature, I believe. Never used it, though. So, I'll have to check that one out. ;)
4) Not as standard, but Simple Portal can have a block set up to do that in whatever way you like.
If you want me to help you out, let me know.
It'll have to be tomorrow, though, coz I'm just off to bed. :)
Thank you for replying (again!) and sleep well :)
1) Something like that but with artwork in. Is it possible just to make a banner and slot it in - are all graphic file formats OK. I don't have a banner made yet - but don't want to get working on it if it's not going to be possible.
2) Will look at Simple Portal
3) I found it :)
4) See (2) ;D
5) Can I change the colours anywhere, without installing a different theme?
6) Is creating a new avatar set as simple as doing a set of gifs and putting them in a folder on the avatar directory?
The header is in index.template.php. Look for
template_main_above(). In the default theme, it's formatted with HTML <table>, so it's pretty easy to insert and position a new image.
All I did was add this line, right after the opening body tag of index.template.php:
<a href="http://my forum.co.uk/index.php?action=forum"><center><img style="margin-top:6px" border="0" src="/Banner.gif" width="800" height="90" alt="Forum" title="Forum" /></a></center>
Banner.gif has to be in the root of your forum.
Obviously, you can call the image whatever you like. :)
You'll want to edit width, height, alt and title to suit, along with the URL.
Clicking the banner will take you to your homepage, if you use that URL, there.
OK - this will be my first attempt at tweaking so:
I make a banner of appropriate size (eg.800x90pixels) and store it as a file in my forum directory (so it will sit among the 11 other odd files of smf)
Then I put that line of code in the file called index.template.php (not sure what you mean by the "opening body tag" but hopefully this will become clear after I have looked at it.
Is that url bit optional? Because I don't have a home page yet - I'm planning one but I don't know whether it will be a quick job or not. But if I put the url bit in (the home page of my site) then clicking the banner will take me there?
The opening body tag is a line that looks just like this:
<body>';
You can put any URL in there that you want.
Or, if you prefer, leave this bit out, completely:
<a href="http://my forum.co.uk/index.php?action=forum">
and take the
</a>
out, near the end.
The banner won't be clickable, then. :)
Oh... before I go, look at my sig. ;)
I saw your sig on the very first time I visited here. And that is the first thing on my to do list which I will hopefully be starting on tonight :)
You may be interested to know that although I'm not a Lord of the Rings fan as such, until recently I was an obsessive Lord of the Rings Online player :-[ My new forum is my new playtime :)
My site was for a gaming clan.
King's Of Chaos?
Never played, myself, coz I'd've found it monotonous, to be honest.
The clan was heavily LOTR based, though.
We even had the LOTR theme, for a while. ;)
Thank you for all your help so far. You've made the first couple of days really surprisingly straightforward. I am of course waiting for it all to go pear-shaped ;)
I've not heard of Kings of Chaos - they were probably on another server. Was a nice game though. Managed to cure my addiction when my graphics card stopped working properly and I got out of the habit. 8)
Back with some more questions. Please tell me if they're better in another section.
I've been looking at smiley sets and I'm quite keen on the kolobok smileys at www.en.kolobok.us Would it be possible to use these and is there anything special I have to do?
I'd like to change the colours of the various panels? Is there an easy way to do it or do I have to delve into the coding? (eek) I think I saw that in the coding the colours have numbers - is there a table of the colours with numbers somewhere?
You'd need to look at style.css.
It has a lot of good comments in the file, to guide you as to what section of code does what.
If you Google "hex colour codes", you'll see loads of colour-charts and stuff, related to this. :)
I've just been searching for your signature K.
Where is the blighter... :)
Something like this might be helpful -
http://colour-calculator.software.informer.com/
Lainaus käyttäjältä: cancasa - toukokuu 14, 2011, 03:56:17 IP
I've just been searching for your signature K.
Where is the blighter... :)
Er...
It's down there...
Just under this.;)
Off to style.css and the colour charts tomorrow, thanks :)
Let us know how you get on, yeah? :)
I've marked this as being solved, for now, coz I have great confidence in your talents. ;)
Mark it unsolved, though, if you have further need. (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.katzy.dsl.pipex.com%2FSmileys%2Fc018.gif&hash=dbf6b10ad78cd31a57feae3f0016b14d8d2c90fa)
Lainaus käyttäjältä: K@ - toukokuu 14, 2011, 04:11:57 IP
Lainaus käyttäjältä: cancasa - toukokuu 14, 2011, 03:56:17 IP
I've just been searching for your signature K.
Where is the blighter... :)
Er...
It's down there...
Just under this.;)
Very odd...
Only showing my sig on this thread. Wonder what's causing it ???
No idea, mate.
Shows OK, for me.
Browser cache? (Can't imagine why, though)
Lainaus käyttäjältä: K@ - toukokuu 16, 2011, 05:31:46 AP
Let us know how you get on, yeah? :)
I've marked this as being solved, for now, coz I have great confidence in your talents. ;)
Mark it unsolved, though, if you have further need. (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.katzy.dsl.pipex.com%2FSmileys%2Fc018.gif&hash=dbf6b10ad78cd31a57feae3f0016b14d8d2c90fa)
Haha - you are joking right? :laugh:
This is my first delving into code so I am feeling decidedly untalented at the moment.
So I opened up the file in Notepad. Is there anything better to open it in as the font is huge and the text is all over the place?
Any how, I found one <body> tag about 1/4 of the way down, followed by a ; (semicolon)
Do I type in that line you gave me before the ;
Or have I lost the plot completely?
you can try notepad++ it is much better for editing code files then notepad is any day.
Notepad's... er... well... how can I put this?
Oh, say what you mean, K@...
It's CRAP!
Wordpad's better, but, as Illori said, Notepad++ (http://notepad-plus-plus.org), Programmer's notepad (http://www.pnotepad.org) (They have a rather handy portable version, too), TextPad (http://www.textpad.com) (My fave) and various others are FAR superior.
Oh good - I'm glad it's not just me ;D
I will look into those others when I'm a bit more awake - then I might be able to see what I'm supposed to be dealing with a bit better :)
(https://www.simplemachines.org/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.katzy.dsl.pipex.com%2FSmileys%2Fc014.gif&hash=f74820123053ff9301b57a2ded5672bfa96b900b)
@ timetraveller, I can't imagine running a forum without a portal/home page. With a good portal your possibilities are endless.
I installed Simple Portal into my first site 8 months ago; it's great software.
I got SimplePortal a few days ago :)
Still got a long way to go with my site but it went "live" a couple of days ago so dealing with bits of that mostly at the moment.
Got the TextPad editor. Haven't had a chance to look at it yet though.
When you start, go to the "Configuration" menu and "Preferences".
LOADS to set, there. :)
I've done a teensy bit of setting up - but I'm saving my Portal questions for their site :-)
Hi timetraveller :) Everything fine and dandy, or do you still need assistance with something? :)
Relatively fine and dandy. The forum's running great and has been very easy to manage etc.
My laptop imploded under the strain (well maybe it was something else!) so I have restriced PC access at the moment (new computer should be arriving any day now) so I haven't been able to do much more than keep the forum buzzing.
In the meantime I've been thinking about the home page and its look. I'm very happy with the forum - a few minor tweaks - couple of changes of colour, a change of font maybe, and a nice header and that will be done.
But I'm not happy with the home page. I'm considering other options - options suitable for the "code-tweaking-phobic". I've looked at some site building software (XSitePro and others) and am likely to go down this route if it will integrate nicely with SMF.
Then you'll probably want to get familiar with this board http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=33.0 :)
I've delved in there a few times and it all looks horribly scary :( But I've posted a new topic in there :)