|
Editting table layouts is an advanced subject. This article assumes that the reader knows both HTML and CSS. If you do not feel comfortable with both those languages, do not edit your layout.
Layouts of pages are editted in the 'Page layouts' module.
Coming into the layout, you see an item editor and a visual editor. The visual editor will be loaded with the base layout, which is generally of little use, containing only a header. The item editor has buttons for backing up  , restoring  , viewing in a web page  , copying  , editting  , and deleting  layouts. On the left side of the editor, the default layout is marked with a check  .
Before making any changes, it's strongly advised to back up your layout. If you need a new layout, it is strongly advised to copy an old template and work off of that one. If you edit a template that you have backed up, you can use the restore button to bring it back to the backup version.
Below the item editor is the visual editor. This is where the actual template and style sheet for the template is modified. 'Name' is the name of the layout. 'Name of main block' is the name of the content block in the layout representations. 'Name of block #' is the name of that block in layout representations, such as 'Header' or 'Footer' or anything else. The 'update during editing' checkbox makes the layout representation adjust it's appearance as you edit it.
In the text editor, there are 3 tabs, the 'Layout', 'Layout styles', and 'Common styles'. 'Layout' is for the physical layout of the page. The two style tabs are for CSS code, the 'Layout styles' being for only those pages that use that layout, and 'Common styles' is shared between all layouts.
Layouts are coded in HTML. It is advised not to use an tags other than <BODY>, <DIV>, <TABLE>, <TR>, <TD>, or other 'format' tags. Do not code in actual content. Where content goes in relation to the page is entirely determined by the HTML and special that are parsed out by the back end program and replaced with the content for the appropriate part.
Every layout MUST start with and end with . It is advised to make sure you have a <BODY> tag right after and a </BODY> tag right before . Every page also needs to have it's own <DIV> section with the statistics agent in it, which is coded as such: <DIV id=stat></DIV>. This statistics agent is required, and tracks stats for the hosting and statistics of the page. You can put this anywhere in the layout.
represents the 'body' of the page, or the content. represents the 1st block, which can be anything you want it to be. represents the 2nd block, and so on so forth for as many blocks as you need. As you add blocks, appropriate 'Name of block #' fields are added above. Each tag should be inside of a TD or DIV tag that is id'ed as 'lay_f#', like so: <td id=lay_f1></td>.
You can tag any section in the HTML with a CSS id= reference, such as <DIV id=blah_blah>. You can then define that id in the 'Layout styles' tab, which is just a CSS file that is represented in the CMS. The id tags may also reference to the 'Common style' CSS tab, which is also just a CSS file. It is advised not to put any sort of font formating or styling in the layout, and instead put those sort of things in the CSS with CSS 'id=' references in the layout. In all possible cases, you want to seperate the styling and look of the page from the content and format, which is entirely why CSS was made.
Evolve systems is not responsible for you breaking your page by editing the Layouts. Do so at your own risk and remember to BACK UP EVERYTHING.
|
