Web hosting comparison - Styling phpBB CHAPTER 1 2
Styling phpBB CHAPTER 1 2 Let s face it, making your board stand out from the crowd is the best way to attract people to your community. The first thing people will notice about your board is not the amount of hacks you have installed or the organization of your forums it s how the board looks on their screen. You get only one chance to make a first impression, so why not do it with some style? When you start to make decisions about the styling of your phpBB installation, you want to weigh your options and circumstances carefully. Is this a professional project? In that case, you ll probably want to bypass acquiring your themes from the Internet and just dive into the code for a slick, integrated look with your site. On the other hand, perhaps your phpBB board will stand alone from any other site, and just be a hobbyist project. In that case, you might want to download a theme that catches your eye, customize it a bit, and install it. It all boils down to just how much work you really want to do. This, the final chapter in this part about phpBB, will take you through the process of styling your board. You ll learn how to obtain and install predefined styles for your phpBB installation, as well as how to create your own templates and styles if you so desire. Acquiring Themes Many sites in the phpBB community offer prefabricated themes free for downloading. These themes range from simplistic to elaborate, and everything in between. If you don t have the time to do customizations or are unfamiliar with HTML and CSS coding, consider downloading and installing a theme package. While I heartily recommend going for the gusto and giving your phpBB board a full styling treatment, complete with integration with the rest of your web site, operating with a downloaded theme is still better than running with the stock subSilver look. Finding themes for phpBB is just as easy as finding modifications for it. In fact, a lot of the same sites that offer modifications also offer themes for free download. Some of these sites may be quite familiar to you, especially after Chapter 11. Here are three sources that I recommend: phpBB.com Styles: At this site (http://www.phpbb.com/styles/), you can find and get demos of more than 100 categorized styles, and it also has support forums. Additionally, you can find documentation for creating your own styles and a full listing of the default template variables phpBB offers (discussed in the next section). phpBBHacks.com Templates: This site (http://www.phpbbhacks.com/templates.php) also offers a copious number of templates available for download, with support included. You can also use phpBBHacks.com to acquire graphics for your forums, such as rank images.
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