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    • CommentAuthorpkearney
    • CommentTimeJun 17th 2008
     
    Hi all,

    Just installed plogger on one of my websites and I like it. I also like the fact there is a good coomunity on here to help install/customise it going forward.

    I've trawled though the first 400 odd posts so please excuse me if I ask something that has already been answered but here goes...

    1) I've seen a few posts for people asking for guides on customisation and integration into existing websites. I like the fact you can have themes and create your own, but I don't think that is something for the faint of heart. So the way ahead for most is to play with the CSS file for the standard theme. Is there an explanation enywhere of what each of the styles in the CSS file pertain to? Maybe if the CSS files included a commented out description of each style in them?

    2) Tumbnails, I know it is next to impossible for the automatic generation of the thumbnails to correctly grab a suitable portion of a none square image, so is there a way to override the thumbnail generation with your own thumbnail (e.g. where the automatic generation has cropped someone's head off an image).

    3) With the 'powered by plogger' link at the bottom of the standard theme, can this be set so it open in a new window rather than have the user navigate away from the site (I'm _very_ new to PHP, so don't want to go playing in files when everything is currently working!).

    4) For more specific customisation, would it not be worth creating a generic HowTo. For example how to remove the date above a photo in a gallery, how to remove the search options...

    Thanks everyone and keep up the good work!

    Regards

    Paul
    •  
      CommentAuthorsidtheduck
    • CommentTimeJun 17th 2008
     
    Hi Paul

    Posted By: pkearney
    1) I've seen a few posts for people asking for guides on customisation and integration into existing websites. I like the fact you can have themes and create your own, but I don't think that is something for the faint of heart. So the way ahead for most is to play with the CSS file for the standard theme. Is there an explanation enywhere of what each of the styles in the CSS file pertain to? Maybe if the CSS files included a commented out description of each style in them?
    There is a ticket issued for this to happen and it will happen . . . eventually. I / we are currently working to update the backend script and clear up a lot of the bugs with the current release of Plogger, so those come first before explanations of how to customize it yourself. It may only be for the 3 themes that are released with Plogger as well, but eventually (I think) people can submit their own themes for Plogger (Ardamis has already created quite a few!).

    Posted By: pkearney
    2) Tumbnails, I know it is next to impossible for the automatic generation of the thumbnails to correctly grab a suitable portion of a none square image, so is there a way to override the thumbnail generation with your own thumbnail (e.g. where the automatic generation has cropped someone's head off an image).
    Sure you can. All the thumbnails are stored in the "thumbs/" folder. The naming convention is "id-picturename.ext" for the regular thumbnails and "lrg-id-picturename.ext" for the intermediate thumbnails. If you know the plogger picture ID, then save over the corresponding thumbnail with your new cropped thumbnail. It won't change unless you change the size of the thumbnail in the Admin -> Options tab, then it will resize all of the thumbs to it's standard thumbnail again.

    Posted By: pkearney
    3) With the 'powered by plogger' link at the bottom of the standard theme, can this be set so it open in a new window rather than have the user navigate away from the site (I'm _very_ new to PHP, so don't want to go playing in files when everything is currently working!).
    Just open up 'plog-functions.php' and look for the following code:function plogger_link_back () {
    return '<div id="link-back"><a href="http://www.plogger.org/">Powered by Plogger!</a></div>';
    }
    then edit it to read:function plogger_link_back () {
    return '<div id="link-back"><a href="http://www.plogger.org/" target="_blank">Powered by Plogger!</a></div>';
    }
    That should open it in a new window for you.

    Posted By: pkearney
    4) For more specific customisation, would it not be worth creating a generic HowTo. For example how to remove the date above a photo in a gallery, how to remove the search options...
    This also is on the books and probably higher priority than the CSS documentation. Hopefully you can wait just a little longer. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. :D
    • CommentAuthorpkearney
    • CommentTimeJun 18th 2008
     
    Hi Sid,

    Thanks for the very thorough replies. It is good to know there are people like you out there working for us :-)

    I'll keep my eyes on the forum for any updates.

    Regards

    Paul