New & Need Help Please [Archive]

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Andy SH

06-Dec-2005, 11:10 AM

Hi Everyone.

I am very new to Actinic 7 and on a bit of a learning curve so please go easy on me :)

I have decided on using the "Smart Theme" but have a question I would like answering if possible before I start creation of my site.

I find the "Smart Theme" a little to wide if that makes sense. I would like to alter the theme so that it fits nicely on the screen on a screen resolution of 800 X 600 pixels.

If possible can someone help me and explain how I alter the theme to suit 800 X 600.

It would be usefull for future reference if I could find out how to narrow both the centre section of the theme and also the left and right sidebars so I have a bit more control over the layout.

Also if its not to much trouble is there a way to narrow the gap or margin on this theme that is between the centre section and the left and right sidebars.

Thankyou in advance for your halp and patience.

Kindest regards

Andy

jont

06-Dec-2005, 11:28 AM

Hi Andy,

the overall page width will need setting in the master templates (Act_Primary, Act_BrochurePrimary and Act_PrimaryCheckout) in the root of the site1 folder.

The central table is set under Design | Options | Site Defaults against the variable ACTSTDWIDTH which you can reduce down accordingly.

jont

06-Dec-2005, 11:30 AM

As a second thought be aware that the side boxes in the smart theme have a image background to get the rounded top corners (yack) - these are a fixed width so cropping may occur if you reduce the box size in the primary templates

Andy SH

06-Dec-2005, 12:08 PM

Thanks for your reply Jont...

I have found the option in Actinic for setting the "Central Table Width" but could you please tell me or post sample code of what I alter on the actual (Act_Primary, Act_BrochurePrimary and Act_PrimaryCheckout) files in order to reduce the overall page width...

I have looked at the HTML code for these pages with Dreamweaver but I am no wiser.

Thanks again.

Andy

wjcampbe

06-Dec-2005, 12:14 PM

I have the first three tables set at 775 - logo, menu and overall body, then I have the centre table set to a width of 100%, the left and right at default 200 column width with 150 table width.

Seems to work OK.

jont

06-Dec-2005, 12:17 PM

Open the Act_Primary.html template in DW and you will see various nested tables - there is one "master" table which is set to 100% - the code will be towards the top of the <body> tag ... you can set the width from a percentage to a fixed width eg 700px

Best to save a copy before working on any of the primary template!

jont

06-Dec-2005, 12:39 PM

150 table width.

Bill - note the table top image is 140px wide which will need widening to avoid horizontal repeating

wjcampbe

06-Dec-2005, 01:34 PM

@jont - all I can say is - this is the default and it works??

Andy SH

06-Dec-2005, 01:35 PM

Hi again all....

I am very sorry if I sound rather thick at this HTML edditing business but I am still struggling and would be greatfull if I could appeal to your experience and wealth of knowledge.

I have loaded the Act_Primary.html up in Dreamweaver and figured there are 3 places I need to edit from 100% down to say 775px in order to display "Smart Theme" at 800 X 600 correct.

Having edited the 3 points in the HTML code the "Design View" in Dreamweaver shows the Act_Primary to look ok... However when I load it up in the Actinic software all of the "Right hand Sidebar" is kind of stuck out in relationship to the rest of the page and thus not displaying right at 800 X 600.

Obviously I have missed changing something in the page but I am not sure what.

My dreamweaver and HTML knowledge is a little basic so please bare this in mind whilst helping.

Thankyou again for your patience.

Andy

jont

06-Dec-2005, 01:42 PM

@Bill

screen grab under FireFox shows repeating background - not seen under IE though!

wjcampbe

06-Dec-2005, 02:01 PM

@jont - thanks, that was being caused by the width of the menu items in the css file, coupled with the way FF adds the padding externally while IE applies it internally. Changed the css width from 126px to 120px and the problem is gone.

jont

06-Dec-2005, 02:08 PM

IE and CSS ... no wonder I am going bald :mad:

wjcampbe

06-Dec-2005, 02:13 PM

@ Andy, I have emailed you an amended default template for Act_Primary - is that one working?

Andy SH

06-Dec-2005, 02:57 PM

Thanks Bill

For sending me the edited file.

For some reason your file behaves exactly the same as the one which I edited...

I changed 3 parts of the HTML code to 775 as you did but the Left and Right side bars overhang the rest of the page...

I have attached a screen capture so you can see what I mean.

Note! Screen capture has been done on a resolution of 1024 X 768 to show whats happening to the template. Currently at 800 X 600 the template goes off page due to sidebar overhang...

I can only think there is something else, possibly an image thats pushing the left and right side bars over the 775 pixels...

Anymore thoughts Bill?

Thanks again for taking the time to help me.

Kindest regards

Andy

wjcampbe

06-Dec-2005, 03:43 PM

Andy,

you will need to check the inner tables in the main section to make sure you do not have a fixed width there that is forcing the sidebars out.

My ACTSTDWIDTH in Design | Options is set to 400, no image in the centre table bigger than 360. Took me a while to get it all sorted, too.

Andy SH

06-Dec-2005, 04:48 PM

Thanks again Bill for your Input.

I could not see anything which was pushing the Left & Right sides out so I tried reducing the Left and Right widths from 150 to 120 and all looks well now.

Would have been nice to pinpoint the actual problem but I am happy with the reduced Left & Right side panels and I think they look fine at 120 having reduced the rest of the template in size.

Thanks again for all the help.

Regards

Andy

Yong

05-Jan-2006, 09:55 AM

Hi,

im using this theme too, to suit the 800 x 600 resolution
i see that u have suceed in doing so.
may i know which templates have u edit?

currently i had only changed the number of ACTSTDWIDTH.

Thanks :)

wjcampbe

06-Jan-2006, 01:29 AM

The template to edit is Act_Primary.html for the catalog section and product pages, Act_BrochurePrimary.html for the Brochure pages and Act_CheckoutPrimary.html for the Cart and checkout pages.

If you drop me an email, I can give you a copy of the Act_Primary I sent the OP.

Yong

06-Jan-2006, 03:46 AM

Thanks for the mail :) Yes, my maximum image size in the center is mostly 320 wide, so it wont pose a problem. Currently i have no intention of adding images to the side panels, so i dont think it will be a problem on the images.
:)

by the way, do i have to edit the other templates and those i have created too, (Act_BrochurePrimary, Act_CheckoutPrimary) when im done with Act_Primary?

Yong

Bruce

09-Jan-2006, 03:45 PM

Andy,

Is this resolved as yet? if not can you post the code on the template up here so that we can take a look at it for you.

Kind regards,

Yong

12-Jan-2006, 02:59 AM

Hi

I have resolved mine :) all thanks to Bill's help.
i followed the template he sent me and edited some other templates like Act_PrimaryBrochure, Act_ShoppingCartXML, Act_Order00 and Act_Order01 templates to make sure it doesnt stretch out of the intended width.

Not forgetting the templates i edited to suit my products layout :p

just for info for those who might who this theme