Guest Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 Hi Everyone Im trying to figure out how exactly cubecart works in terms of changing layout/skins etc. I am also trying to learn a little bit of CSS and HTML. I've been making changes to my site via CSS but live on CPANEL and i also tried to open up CC3 in Dreamweaver but it doesn't show the store as it should. Can someone please explain to me in basic terms how these things work and is there any way I can open up my store and edit the files. These are the files im interested in changing only which are related to my skin (Legend) Layout.css Style.css Global Templates I want to make changes and preview them as i go... as doing it through cpanel is becoming a nightmare. Its been suggested to me to use CoffeCup which i downloaded but still can't preview the store when i make changes to the stylesheets. as some things require changes to be made to the boxes and content files for it to take effect. Any help would be soooo appreciated. I want to add styles for Headings etc. so it would be an excellent idea if i can preview the store as i do them as i'm quite new to all of this CSS. Thanks so much Kindest Regards, Antz :wacko: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eric47905 Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 When you say that dreamweaver is not displaying the files as it should what do you mean by that? Are you just seeing the code? Or is it displaying the prieview or design view incorrectly? If you are seeing code only, either click ctrl + ` and it will toggle views from coding to design view, or go up to the view setting I believe and change it to include both the code and design previews. Sorry, I am not anywhere where I can open the program right now, so it might be called something slightly different, but I hope that you get the idea. Also the only files that will display a preview or design look will be the .tpl files, and depending on which ones of these you are trying to open they might not either. And keep in mind too that each finished page is a makeup of several .tpl files, such as index and boxes and or content .tpl files. So when you have one open, even in a design preview it might only look like it has a couple things in it and you will notice that the rest of the page that you see when you go to it in your web browser is not showing up. Another thing is that if you are speaking of things like files (I.E.-Pictures) or backgrounds not showing up, remember that these files will be set up to be viewed in the browser, I.E.- when it is looking for the backround image it is probably not going to be looking for http:// xxx.xxx/images/file.jpg, it will only be looking for /images/file.jpg, meaning that these things will not display if you are editing them on your pc, on or offline. As far as the text design and fonts, you really should edit these styles in the css alone, some browsers and some bots if you want them to read that content will not like these tags, but if you simply create a new entry in the css file, you can tell just that text to look any way you want without changing any other text, and all the while keeping browsers and search engine bots alike very happy. Hope some of this helps, It might not be a 100% but it is close Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 Hi Thanks so much for taking time to resply. Well - this is what i was thinking,,,, so its not like i can open the whole store in dreamweaver then. Which means i would have to treat every tpl file as a part of my store and work of it there. So lets just say i wanted to change the boxes and see how they would look - i would have to open up eg. Currency.tpl right? and then layout.css right? ummmm when i do a preview in browser,,,, it doesn't show me how the box sits within the actual website this is what i meant.... i'd like to see the whole store so i know that the padding is right, margins are right etc. and it fits nicely. Though the more i read on this subject it looks like because CC3 is generated by php - i won't be able to open the whole store in dreamweaver... is that right? so like you said i would have to do bit by bit eg. tpl by tpl.... but considering i'm quite new at all of this i'd like to make a change and preview and see how my skinning is going ;-) Well what i know i can see the code in dreamweaver and i know how to toggle between the views.... its just that i thought i could open the whole store and preview how things look when i make a change to either the css or the boxes etc. Soooo.... lets just say i would like to completely change the loook of cubecart. I would need to keep the boxes as they are and comment out the ones i don't need in index.tpl and then open up layout.css and style.css and create new css? but how does one preview the changes as they go? as i can't imagine writing up new css and thinking of how it will look LOL Anyways, i hope i make some sense! sorry... been at it for hours trying to figure it all out! Thanks again, Antz:) When you say that dreamweaver is not displaying the files as it should what do you mean by that? Are you just seeing the code? Or is it displaying the prieview or design view incorrectly? If you are seeing code only, either click ctrl + ` and it will toggle views from coding to design view, or go up to the view setting I believe and change it to include both the code and design previews. Sorry, I am not anywhere where I can open the program right now, so it might be called something slightly different, but I hope that you get the idea. Also the only files that will display a preview or design look will be the .tpl files, and depending on which ones of these you are trying to open they might not either. And keep in mind too that each finished page is a makeup of several .tpl files, such as index and boxes and or content .tpl files. So when you have one open, even in a design preview it might only look like it has a couple things in it and you will notice that the rest of the page that you see when you go to it in your web browser is not showing up. Another thing is that if you are speaking of things like files (I.E.-Pictures) or backgrounds not showing up, remember that these files will be set up to be viewed in the browser, I.E.- when it is looking for the backround image it is probably not going to be looking for http:// xxx.xxx/images/file.jpg, it will only be looking for /images/file.jpg, meaning that these things will not display if you are editing them on your pc, on or offline. As far as the text design and fonts, you really should edit these styles in the css alone, some browsers and some bots if you want them to read that content will not like these tags, but if you simply create a new entry in the css file, you can tell just that text to look any way you want without changing any other text, and all the while keeping browsers and search engine bots alike very happy. Hope some of this helps, It might not be a 100% but it is close Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 Ok - i'm attaching a copy of the file so you can see what i see ;-) Thanks antz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eric47905 Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 Uhhh, right you are , I think No you cannot open the Quote unquote store in its compiled entirety in dreamweaver. You can only ever open parts to display. If you want to edit the look of a box such as the newsletter signup box, there would be a .tpl file under skins/yourskin/global/boxes (I think thats the path, sorry not at home to verify) But if you want the text different or the look of the box such as the header and surround and footer, open the css layout file under your skin and change the 3 parts of the box. If you change the box in the css, and use the same design in each of the .tpls for the different boxes, they will then all be changed. I.E. - if you look at say the killer skin, all the small boxes such as currency and language etc... all of these call to the same boxheader and boxsurround, so changing it in the css, like font or color or etc... will change it for all of those boxes. As far as commenting things out you dont want, you can definately do that, or if you know you are never going to want them back you could also simply delete that block of text from the index .tpl for instance. As far as how to check alignment and padding, you really need to just have a basic understanding of what it will look like. Most of these settings I think are set up in the index.tpl under global. What I do is just after editing I post it out to my sandbox site (a fake site I have set up on my webserver....or locally on your pc if you have apache installed to run a testing environment) Then you can go to your sandbox and see how the whole site will now look, not just the one box or file you are playing with. Basically it sounds as if you are wanting to do more than the out of box easy to edit functionality cubecart provides. I would suggest first going online and checking out some css and or some html tutorials, they can be found everywhere and you can easily skim them to find the thing that fits and explains what you are trying to do. Ok - i'm attaching a copy of the file so you can see what i see ;-) Thanks antz What is that program? That doesnt look like dreamweaver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 29, 2007 Share Posted July 29, 2007 Hi Are you stalking my posts??? jejeje Thanks so much again for your reply. Yes - well you hit the nail on the head. What i want to do is exactly what you said and what you are doing which is having a test site that i can hold on my pc without having to change the live files. Oh and i have been reading up on CSS and HTML and have a basic understanding... as i've made quite a few changes already... but i really wanted to open up the store in DWeaver, but have been told and now understand that this is not possible.... therefore i'd love to set it up locally and make the chnages as i am now but preview it and not have to worry about doing this live! Ummm, its been suggested a few php programs and the problem with these is that i can't seem to set them up. I've downloaded Joomla and also Markscarts has recommended wampserver but again don't know how to set these up on my pc. Thanks Andrea Uhhh, right you are , I think No you cannot open the Quote unquote store in its compiled entirety in dreamweaver. You can only ever open parts to display. If you want to edit the look of a box such as the newsletter signup box, there would be a .tpl file under skins/yourskin/global/boxes (I think thats the path, sorry not at home to verify) But if you want the text different or the look of the box such as the header and surround and footer, open the css layout file under your skin and change the 3 parts of the box. If you change the box in the css, and use the same design in each of the .tpls for the different boxes, they will then all be changed. I.E. - if you look at say the killer skin, all the small boxes such as currency and language etc... all of these call to the same boxheader and boxsurround, so changing it in the css, like font or color or etc... will change it for all of those boxes. As far as commenting things out you dont want, you can definately do that, or if you know you are never going to want them back you could also simply delete that block of text from the index .tpl for instance. As far as how to check alignment and padding, you really need to just have a basic understanding of what it will look like. Most of these settings I think are set up in the index.tpl under global. What I do is just after editing I post it out to my sandbox site (a fake site I have set up on my webserver....or locally on your pc if you have apache installed to run a testing environment) Then you can go to your sandbox and see how the whole site will now look, not just the one box or file you are playing with. Basically it sounds as if you are wanting to do more than the out of box easy to edit functionality cubecart provides. I would suggest first going online and checking out some css and or some html tutorials, they can be found everywhere and you can easily skim them to find the thing that fits and explains what you are trying to do. Ok - i'm attaching a copy of the file so you can see what i see ;-) Thanks antz What is that program? That doesnt look like dreamweaver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eric47905 Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Ya, wamp server is what you want. I cant tell you how to set it up in any short post, there are actually books on this very thing. You should be able to go to the store and pick up a book around 8 pages, and it comes with a cd with all the software you need to set up wamp on your machine. Thats what I have set up on my laptop for local testing. It is easy enough to install if you follow the directions, but I am no expert on it at all, I can barely remember what it stands for, something like windows, apache, mysql, and php I think, but that might be way off, anyways, go get a book, they only run about 5-15 bucks and it will walk you right through setting it up and will come with software for it a lot of times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 k thanks for that. I'm not sure i will get the book - as i'm quite limited in leaving my home LOL but i will keep googling around for information and hopefully some information may come up on how to set it up. Cheers Antz Ya, wamp server is what you want. I cant tell you how to set it up in any short post, there are actually books on this very thing. You should be able to go to the store and pick up a book around 8 pages, and it comes with a cd with all the software you need to set up wamp on your machine. Thats what I have set up on my laptop for local testing. It is easy enough to install if you follow the directions, but I am no expert on it at all, I can barely remember what it stands for, something like windows, apache, mysql, and php I think, but that might be way off, anyways, go get a book, they only run about 5-15 bucks and it will walk you right through setting it up and will come with software for it a lot of times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eric47905 Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 k thanks for that. I'm not sure i will get the book - as i'm quite limited in leaving my home LOL but i will keep googling around for information and hopefully some information may come up on how to set it up. Cheers Antz Ya, wamp server is what you want. I cant tell you how to set it up in any short post, there are actually books on this very thing. You should be able to go to the store and pick up a book around 8 pages, and it comes with a cd with all the software you need to set up wamp on your machine. Thats what I have set up on my laptop for local testing. It is easy enough to install if you follow the directions, but I am no expert on it at all, I can barely remember what it stands for, something like windows, apache, mysql, and php I think, but that might be way off, anyways, go get a book, they only run about 5-15 bucks and it will walk you right through setting it up and will come with software for it a lot of times. Oops, that is around 80 pages not 8, sorry....You might google wamp or apache and there are place to download the software and directions on how to set it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burgensteen Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Try THIS tutorial over at cubecartforums.org. Its realy easy to install. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Thank-you will have a look. By the way - just thought i'd mention.... I love this forum! You are all very helpful Kindest Regards, Antz Try THIS tutorial over at cubecartforums.org. Its ealy easy to install. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseyjoe Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Forgive me if I comment without taking time to read the above responses in detail. In a nutshell, I think you are wanting to work on the store using a WYSIWYG editor such as DreamWeaver (FrontPage, Nvu, etc.). The simple answer is, you cannot because CubeCart - and all applications such as forums, shopping carts, guestbooks, blogs, etc. that rely on the combination of PHP and MySQL - are "server side" (your web site host), as compared with HTML which is "client side" (your computer). Don't be intimidated by that. It is not necessary to have major command of PHP and MySQL in order to customize a CC store. I have tried to read five or six books on those subjects and my eyes roll up in my head. But after hanging around these forums for a while and reading the many lucid postings on how to do certain things - and after acquiring a few free or very inexpensive tools that manipulate the elements that make up a CC store (and those other formats) - I am surprised and pleased with how much I can accomplish. I'm now building my 9th CubeCart store (see www.itsgreektomejerseycity.com) * My suggestions for a basic toolkit are: * Easy PHP (described in the tutorial I wrote that is linked above) on how to install and run CC on a USB or thumb drive or on any hard disk. It includes an Apache server, plus PHP and MySQL and MyPHPadmin that it will install on your drive or device. With those tools you can simulate your CC store without putting it online. You can break it and reinstall it over and over again as part of the trial and error learning process. * AlleyCode for editing PHP and other languages * FlashFXP - an excellent FTP program. * An image manipulation program that can change the physical dimensions AND the kb footprint of images to optimize download speed. I use PhotoShop because I like its powerful industrial-grade features. But for people on a tight budget, Adobe Image Ready is Photoshop's excellent "little brother" that can do a great many of the same things. For even tighter budgets, Picasa from Google is free and includes an "export" feature that allows you to make batch changes of dimensions and bytes. Finally, bookmark the growing (and superb) CC Documentation project over on www.cubecartforums.org. Best of luck to you . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 Hi Well i managed to install joomla and running both stores! its been a much easier option! Just a thought though.... i now have dreamweaver 8 and have noticed that you can create php files..... so can someone tell me if this program will allow me to open up cubecart? Thanks Andrea :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.