CHAPTER 12 STYLING (Web server) PHPBB 359 After you
CHAPTER 12 STYLING PHPBB 359 After you decide a strategy to use to attack the CSS, the next step is to dive into the HTML of the header and footer template files to do the bulk of the integration portion of the project. Using Headers and Footers to Integrate with Your Site Site integration projects generally require you to work the most on the header and footer files. You need both because overall_header.tplopens most of your pages, and overall_footer.tpl closes them. When customizing your board, think of overall_header.tpl extending to where the body of the board begins. For example, I like to employ a sidebar in my designs. If you have a sidebar on the left side of your site, this is the file where you would want that sidebar to show up. However, if the sidebar is on the right side of your site, you will want to edit overall_footer.tpl and insert it there instead, as that picks up where the body of the page left off. The key to templating is that you are just editing one fragmented HTML page. Understanding the templating of the header and footer is critical, especially if you use tables for layout. If you forget to finish your tables in the footer, you may run into serious problems with your page breaking. When editing the header, it s important to preserve the links to the specific pages of your forums (editing profiles, registration, and so on). Going through and doing wholesale deletions can be costly; for example, you may realize that you can no longer check your private messages easily. Make sure you use the subSilver template as a guide, and check constantly to make sure you ve kept the links. It s a smart idea not to replace the titles of the links with images or textual characters that are not localized to the language, unless you are planning on serving an English- only site. By replacing the {L_. . .} variables, you re removing the references to the localizations. Optional items include the site title and slogan. I usually end up using an image to replace these. A smart idea would be to use the site title and slogan as the alternate text for any title image you may create. Use the footer to round out the design, whether tabular or via style sheets. Feel free to add your site s standard footer, not disturbing the link to phpBB too much. After rounding out your design in the footer, take a look at your site. You may be wondering about the simple_header.tpl and simple_footer.tplfiles (briefly explained in Table 12-1). These are the simple header and footer used in the pop-up windows. If you ve decided on full CSS replacement, you ll want to remove the subSilver CSS embedded in simple_header.tpl and replace it with what you are using. You might edit simple_footer.tpl only if you wish to modify the style of the copyright, as that is all that is displayed on that screen. Caution Do not delete the link to phpBB in the footer! By doing that, not only are you denying credit where credit is due (I doubt you wrote the source code behind phpBB), but you are also putting yourself in jeopardy of not being able to receive support for your forums if you run into a problem. You re getting phpBB for free, and the least you can do is acknowledge the work the phpBB Group has put into it.
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