Alright, I'm admittedly getting a little confused about what get-simple really is? I thought that it was like a mini-blog with content management, something more limited when compared to other large blogs? But being more limited, I would think that at the very least it would be possible to open a start/homepage with a few options and not just a lit of individual pages which are displayed on the right side?
Is it not possible to have the start-page of get-simple look more like the admin page? Something with a few tabs on top, each tab designating a separate topic? I can't figure out how to create more than the one default topic, is this not possible? I would like to have a blog with at least 3 or 4 different topic, each topic containing several pages which belong to that topic.
Can someone please tell me which folders contain which files, in order for me to create my own template? I'm fine with css, js, php, and html, so it wouldn't be a problem to work with them. I just don't want to start spending hours to create a custom template, just to fine out later that additional topics for pages within those topics can't be created.
I included an image here of the admin page. Something like that would already be sufficient as the start page of the blog, a few tabs on top for topics, with pages located behind those topics ...
Hopefully someone can help me out here. Thanks.
Well, true, using php everything is possible. I was looking for a simple point n click solution ... click on new topic ... enter name of topic ... click save ... and voila, topic with tab/button whatever created and ready to be filled in with separate pages which can then be assigned for placement in whichever topic the admin chooses.
I'm also hoping to customize the existing theme with my own background images and colors since get-simple is being utilized strictly as an enhancement to an existing site. That's why I don't want to spend too much time writing php from scratch since the blog isn't even used as a primary function.
Is there a specific folder location/file where column width and such can be adjusted within the template as default size values for the entire project, admin section included? My content without the sidebar is 800 px wide, so the sidebar needs to be in the 801px to 1100px section of every viewable page by a visitor to the blog. Thanks.
2019-01-18, 02:18:15 (This post was last modified: 2019-01-18, 02:19:08 by CompuBlog.)
Alright, using the above suggestion I went ahead and found a suitable template which had the sizes clearly and easily viewable in the css. Still working on getting it set up correctly but I'm sure that it'll be fine eventually. One thing that's pretty confusing ... at least it seemed confusing to me ... is the fact that topics and pages are both referred to as ... pages. So for someone who's looking for that page = page, while topic = topic distinction, that can definitely get a little confusing at first.
Another thing that's confusing which falls hand in hand with the page/topic distinction, is that the menu options are closed by default. It's not easily self-evident that the menu+ means it can be opened up. Considering how small the menu options are to begin with, it seems to make more sense for the menu to be opened up by default ... making it immediately painfully obvious that not only are more options available, but also specifically where those options belong to.
Last but not least, yeah, working with the code editing page function and working with../was perfectly fine, in order to track images within a page back to another location of the main site.
Still looking for a way to change the background of everything outside of the page/header/footer constraints into an image instead.
Have a great day.
It would probably help to know which template you are using. Themes are created by their respective authors and as such, the designers/developers are the ones that style the theme. You will need to be more specific with your replies.
Despite your first post saying that you are comfortable with CSS, it contradicts what you said in your latest reply, "Still looking for a way to change the background of everything outside of the page/header/footer constraints into an image instead."
You can change the background to an image using CSS, either altering or adding to the stylesheet:
GetSimple wasn't a blog to start with, just a CMS.
What you describe can be done and done well with GetSimple and I think you should look at mvlcek's i18n plugins. http://mvlcek.bplaced.net/
if you just need a static heirarchy of categories you can make pages like example.com/topic1/page1 and I18N navigation will display the pages at each level in tab style sub menus. http://mvlcek.bplaced.net/get-simple/mul...navigation
a more flexible way you would be looking at using the special Pages Plugin and also the search plugin to tag your pages into different categories and then display search results as tab style navigation links to each page. http://mvlcek.bplaced.net/get-simple/i18nspecialpages
Thanks. The last CMS that I worked with several years ago actually had the image background, the background of everything outside of the body/header/footer, disabled and located in another primary portion of the site. So changing the background in the traditional way just really messed things up. I figured I'd ask before potentially messing anything up.
The theme that I'm using is ... foundation.
I've also downloaded and plan on installing the ... p01-contact ... news-manager-updated ... nanogaller4gs ... modules in order to spruce things up. I may consider the search module at some other point in time, but as it stands right now this will just be a small informative blog, limited strictly to german language speakers with an interest in switching from Windoze to Linux. So I don't really anticipate a whole lot of traffic or discussion taking place.
If everything turns out as I hope it will, then I may consider cloning the blog in order to duplicate it as a private family portal.
Thanks for all of the answers. Have an excellent weekend.
2019-01-19, 20:46:17 (This post was last modified: 2019-01-19, 20:46:51 by CompuBlog.)
Hmmm, perhaps I should have worded that differently. I'm trying to figure out which file to edit for the previously described background, so that any and all available themes have the same background. That would be a global background image that shows up everywhere outside of the header/body/footer constraints.
Changing the background in the css.php file within admin/template/ only works for the admin section.
po1 contact is pretty old now. i prefer to use formspree.io for forms now.
News Manager updated and with its add-ons is an excellent choice. You can do a lot with it.
I don't know about foundation and I don't understand your backgrounds. all the css and layout of your site is defined by the theme. The CMS inserts different blocks of content and manages the menus and backups.
2019-01-20, 00:32:15 (This post was last modified: 2019-01-20, 00:40:03 by CompuBlog.)
Well, part of the problem with having worked for a number of years on an entirely different cms, is the fact that I now have to relearn the structure for get-simple and how which php files do what. Based on past experiences as well as what I've seen posted here, I figured that any site-wide changes could be made in the css.php file. But when I added my background image, it only became effective in the admin section of the site and not the viewable pages for the public.
Then I tried the folder where the common.php was located, but when I tried adding the background there, it just created non-functioning white error 404 pages. So I set that one back to the default.
At this point I'm stumped and can't figure out where the background image can be changed globally throughout every page of get-simple. I guess I'm just missing something ...
EDIT: I also can't figure out exactly where to change the size constraints. Now I'm paranoid about changing anything anywhere since I don't want to end up mucking the blog portion of the site up entirely. When I open the browser in full-screen mode, the default site name of the blog appears on the upper left, while the generated menu pages appear in the upper right corner, with a gigantic space between the two corners. I mentioned this earlier here, but I'd like to contain each and every function/page/module to appear in a space apx. 1100 pixels wide ...
Right now my open browser is probably around 1800 px or even wider and it looks pretty ugly.
The previous cms that I worked with also had css files, multiples of them actually. But for global changes it was easier to just change the individual php files in order to make permanent changes that not even a template change could touch. With get-simple I'm not really sure where global header, global size constraints, global backgrounds, etc. would be made.
(2019-01-21, 14:03:22)shawn_a Wrote: All front end changes should be made to the theme.. you are changing source code..
And what's wrong with that? If a theme doesn't provide the ability to make a desired change to open source free software, then a user has to be willing to dive into the guts of the system. As I explained above, when I made the background image change via the css.php file, that only worked in the admin section for whichever reason.
So what other choice do I have, if I wish to continue using that theme?
Useful answers really go a long way, as opposed to criticizing ....
It's all good and well to provide css templates, but at the same time it's not helpful to be able to make 100+ adjustments in areas which aren't totally and concisely labeled. I can't find the area where the entire blog, each and every single page including admin section, can be constrained to a width of 1100 px. I can't find the area for adding a background image which will work globally, and not just in the admin section. I can't locate the place for making at least the header narrower, in order to make what appears at the very top of the page come closer together. Yes, I can read, but apparently I'm missing something. It's really easy to criticize ... when you're the one who's already very familiar with an application.
And again, there should be nothing wrong with making hard-coded changes to php files.
I'm not creating something new, taking credit away from anyone, nor making a commercial product.
It's hard to assist when all your answers are so vague, like what CMS were you using before? What version of the theme are you using (A search for 'Foundation' shows up 3 themes within GetSimple's Repository)? Have you looked at the Admin Theme section: http://get-simple.info/extend/all_admin_themes.php ?
I don't think its about criticizing but it doesn't seem like you understand what the CMS does nor do you fully understand the concept frontend and backend if you're thinking that modifying a theme means you also change the backend admin section.
(2019-01-21, 20:52:58)newdeepdan Wrote: It's hard to assist when all your answers are so vague, like what CMS were you using before? What version of the theme are you using (A search for 'Foundation' shows up 3 themes within GetSimple's Repository)?
it doesn't seem like you understand what the CMS does nor do you fully understand the concept frontend and backend if you're thinking that modifying a theme means you also change the backend admin section.
Whichever CMS was being used a few years ago really shouldn't have any bearing on my questions which had to do primarily with global size constrictions and inserting a global background image. Knowing that a few years ago I admistered Dolphin 7 (by Boonex) does absolutely nobody any good.
CMS ... Content Management System ... Ergo, an application which manages a diversity of Online Content, ranging from minimal functions/features/data to mindblowing amounts of functions/features/data. There isn't a whole lot that can be misunderstood about that.
Modifying the admin backend to look like the rest of the system, or rather the background anyway, is just a personal thing. I happen to like it when I'm viewing uniformity as much as possible throughout a system. However, I wasn't even modifying the admin section. I was applying a background to the css.php file and ended up with the background in the admin section, while it showed up nowhere else. I know that I already explained that earlier.
It's hard to believe that nobody can just tell me ....
... go here to this file and adjust size constraints globally ...
... then go here and apply your background image globally ...
Looking at the 'Foundation' theme's 'template.php' file, you can see in the header the stylesheets are linked externally and not locally. So you would need to either download those stylesheets locally, edit them, then replace the stylesheet links with the local link ones, upload, and there go you. The other option is to just create a separate stylesheet with your edits and add it to the template file head. Don't know why that's hard to understand if you've worked with any CMS within the last 7-8 years. And knowing what your background is with previous CMS helps to assist by transferring your understanding of that particular CMS to something you're not familiar with.
(2019-01-21, 22:36:25)newdeepdan Wrote: Looking at the 'Foundation' theme's 'template.php' file, you can see in the header the stylesheets are linked externally and not locally. So you would need to either download those stylesheets locally, edit them, then replace the stylesheet links with the local link ones, upload, and there go you. The other option is to just create a separate stylesheet with your edits and add it to the template file head. Don't know why that's hard to understand if you've worked with any CMS within the last 7-8 years. And knowing what your background is with previous CMS helps to assist by transferring your understanding of that particular CMS to something you're not familiar with.
Thanks. I realized this eventually too. This whole thing is turning into too much effort for me. I'm really extremely short on time, this was an extra that I needed to be able to implement more or less "instantly" by simply adding 2 or 3 image and size related tweaks to a page/file or two, and that's it.
Too me, simple means ... no brainer. Dolphin was all drag & drop, totally different and to me much easier to work with than get-simple. Click on add image, click on location on page ... header/footer/left/right/all .... click save ... done, all with drag/drop/import settings. There were multiple css files too if you preferred making a lot of changes there for font colors/sizes, features of individual modules from the front end, and even one short one for global changes across the board. Those css files were commented like you wouldn't believe, it was practically impossible to do anything wrong with all of the detailed instructions. Dolphin's about 50x larger than what I was looking for as a simple site enhancement this time around. Really not suitable for what I have in mind.
I understand that it's free software with some fiddling required, but I wasn't expecting for the theme not to have all of the files which are pertinent to that theme ... not to be included ??? I'm also not used to themes receiving their functions from external sources, that's totally new territory for me. I thought that I'd ask a question, get told to go here and here and insert that and that, finished ... all within the same 24 hour time frame, nice & simple.
It's all getting a little too time consuming for me, probably my fault for lack of proper expression. Ah well. I might check back at a later time when I actually have more time on my hands. Right now I'm just strapped too thin, to dive into this "GetSimple" project. Spent way too much with with this already. Thanks a bunch for all of the answers. Have a great week.
2019-01-22, 08:53:07 (This post was last modified: 2019-01-23, 02:27:34 by datiswous.)
You could have found a lot of info about GS in the docs section (wiki) of this website. This is a good starter to get an idea of how the cms works. You seem to have some ideas how things work in a cms based on a previous experience with another cms. This is what slows you down, not the cms.
"Simple" can also mean that it's very basic and clean, without too much bells and whistles (although you can add them via plugins), which is I think the direction GS is going for, but not what you expect in this case.
Well, I'm actually somewhat disappointed in the help here as well. I assumed that this active forum would be filled with people who know getsimple inside and out, so someone would be able to provide answers to move me along. Look at the length of this thread. I've asked some very basic, very simple yet specific questions about size constraints and global insertions. Question that IMO did not require anything more than a brief ... go here and look for that. Yet this thread has dragged on endlessly without any specific answers. Telling someone who's got time to read through all of the documentation, wiki, etc. is all good and well. But when someone clearly states that they're in a time crunch, would it be possible to get some specific answers? No, apparently not here, just more conversation that took up more and more time.
I'm sure that you disagree with my assessment, but it is my opinion to which I'm entitled. I've built, repaired, and upgraded hundreds of computers with multiple different operating systems. Consequently I'm also a member on 3 different support forums. When I do have time to help with support, I provide detailed concise answers in orer to receive but one short response from the person who's doing the asking ... Thank you! I don't want to waste their time and I certainly don't want to waste my time. Granted, sometimes there isn't enough detail to start out with, but once the needed details are there, the answer should be 100% to the point ... requiring no further question ... getting a thread marked with <SOLVED> in order to help others later on. Again, look at the length of this thread. Nothing was resolved ...
Feel free to delete my account. I'll be making some time on Sunday in order to check out Serendipity ...
Have a great week,
I can understand security concerns over referencing remote files, but it's not unusual for CMS themes to pull in libraries like Jquery or components of frameworks such as Bootstrap or Foundation from a CDN or repository so that they are always up-to-date. This is regardless of the particular CMS being used. Frameworks like Foundation and Bootstrap also break their CSS into a set of modules each for a particular purpose rather than one large file.
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