My history website

[~HG~]

The fixed background is much nicer and now gives scrolling down the page a smooth feel.

The only thing that pops out to me now is your header which appears to be too wide which causes the FAQ to be off to the right hand side out of the picture.

If you want to keep the header at this width then I suggest you move the FAQ link to the left with the Login and Register links.

You still do not the Guest permissions set to view and read so I cannot see the forums themselves to comment on them.

I will though keep an eye on your progress and when you do make any changes please post them here so that we may come back and comment further.
_________________
~HG~

|| rodneyangell.com || || phpbb-tutorials.com ||My Hacks

[the axe]

Thanks HG,

The main problem is that, apart from time permitting, I simply do not know how to adjust the many little thigs that need doing on the site!

Plus, since I've suffered two crashes recently, I'm too scared to experiment and amend things without being 100% confident.

I did manage to google for how to do a couple of things (incl the fixed background), but other things- mostly the link placements- I'm stuck.

Do you think that guests are better off being able to view the site totally (without membership)? I was conscious of security, that's all, as a few months ago I had a colossal battle with some persistent spambots! (And won!)

[terrano]

Thanks Patrick

Your URL bar is a good place to often start to identify what file to go to to make adjustments if you have not worked that out - look for the file in your URL eg http://www.englistory.co.uk/viewtopic.php

For you links in question, put a copy of indexbody on your hard drive and play around, either of the html below maybe able to help you out.

<div align="center"> link code </div>
<div align="left"> link code </div>
<div align="right"> link code </div>

There's also align top bottom middle

The fixed background is a monumental step, would have to source info how to do that if I wanted too.

[the axe]

Hi terrano

Would I have to set up a mirror site in order to see the effects of such experimenting taking effect?

Oddly, I was having more issues with the below website visual issues when I was using Firefox, I now view my site using IE, which seems much more 'normal'?

Although I have (again) got the site basically how I want it, there still are several things I wanted to change, such as (and I'm not intending to force all of these as requests! ();-

[1]My activation emails etc do not include the site name, but merely a 'from "" has emailed' despite my best efforts?
[2]I wondered about the screen resolution for different members (ie. Firefox/IE) - can a site be auto-sized?
[3]Some of the screens (ie. admin log in; PM reply etc) seem to be extending the page screen to the right (with Firefox but not IE?), as they are not below the line with the View unanswered posts | View active topics links?
[4]The bar beneath the 'view new posts' is currently blue, and I want to change it's colour?
[5]I've mentioned previously about wanting a more comprehensive 'who is online' but have not been able to successfully install one?
[6]I am wanting a 'gap' between the date bar and the 'view new' links

[Patrick]

My pleasure, terrano.

Hey the axe,

Let's see if we can tackle some of these with my limited knowledge. Hopefully my questions will help others help, as well. I'll use the corresponding numbers you did:

1. In your admin panel, in the left menu of the main page there is "Board Configuration" and then "Board Settings." Click that. What do you have in the "Site name:" field?

2. There are different kinds of layouts. Check out this article for some background: http://green-beast.com/blog/?p=199 - there are pros and cons to each. You may want to add a website stats tracker, like Google Analytics, onto your page for a while and see what resolutions your users are actually using and that can help you make a more informed decision.

3. Which pages are these?

4. Are you speaking of the light blue bar above the black bar that has "Forum," "Topics," "Posts" and "Last post" in a dark orange? If so, this is controlled by this code in your stylesheet.css file:

[the axe]

Hi Patrick, and as ever, a massive thanks!

1. Nothing - because it simply adds the text to the right of my logo header, extending the screen.

3. Screens such as 'Admin log in' and others (PM reply? I think) in Firefox, but not with IE??

5. Thanks, I'll scout for the hack I used, and simply 'uninstall' it. Tried alsorts, something has to work. Like the one you have here, as mine doesn't break down into a list of members who have visited within X minutes/hours etc?

Thanks again, really appreciate it!!

PS. Sorry to be a pain, but which part of my CSS stylesheet controls how big the font is for both the date/time bar and the 'welcome' beneath the logo header?

[terrano]

Looks like Patrick answered it all

Yes from your FTP load a copy of all your phpBB installation back over to your hard drive, rename the main folder now on your hard drive "test" or what ever you wish (testt, Zoo ) if want more security or do not want others with knowledge seeing what you future plans are. Then swap the renamed folder and all its contents back over onto your server.

Goto http://www.englistory.co.uk/test and you will see a duplicate of your original installation to "play" around on. If you go wildly crazy and upset things just swap another folder over and start again - by doing things this way no harm can ever be done to your original installation.

Especially when working on the "Main" installation I always swap a file over and place an o behind the file name to mark as the original and then swap the same file over again and work on it, at 1 in the morning when the eyes are tired "Its a god-send" if all goes wrong on the original installation to swap the file with the o back again.

All the best Axe.

[the axe]

Thanks terrano, I'll give it a go then!

[Patrick]

Hey the axe,

Not a problem. So sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Let's go back to the bullet points:

1. OK, that's exactly what I was hoping. Enter your website name into this field and save it and it should now be included in your e-mail messages.

3. Could you provide a screenshot of this?

For the CSS control of the time block, it appears to be:

[the axe]

Cheers Patrick! (Again!)

The site name being added has solved the email issues, but now has the unsightly name protruding beyond the right side of the header image!

Here is the screenprint of the log-in issue (which only happens with Firefox, not IE)?