HELP! Side-bar disappeared

n2 · 2011-01-26 21:46:31

Yes, I mentioned home-sidebar in one of my replies (#59.)

Here’s the code. Pls let me know if i should take it down after you copy i, since it’s long:

<!-- sidebar -->
<div id="content_feature">
<fieldset id="upcoming-events" class="">
  <legend>Evening Classes</legend>
<a href="http://www.meditationinmass.org/gp-evening-class"><img src="images/117.jpg" width="185" height="125"></a>
</fieldset>

Edit: I’ve shortened it, since we don’t need to see all of it any more.

Last edited by jsoo (2011-01-26 22:04:51)

jsoo · 2011-01-26 22:03:33

The homepage is using the default template, not the homepage template.

This is set in Presentation->Sections. The homepage is the “default” section. There is a dropdown labelled “Uses page” or something similar. Did you ever change this?

Unless I’m mistaken about this, at some point the default section got changed to use the “default” page template. But I don’t know if you made that change or not. I suspect you did, because that certainly explains why the sidebar disappeared. But I don’t know what will happen if you change the default section’s “use page” setting to “homepage”. Likely enough, it will work, but I don’t know, and you are working on a live site. Your call.

n2 · 2011-01-26 22:12:34

THAT’S IT!!!

I just changed it and voila! Are you also able to see the sidebar on the main page now?

What’s odd is that there’s actually a section titled “homepage” and it has the following settings:

Section name: homepage
Section title: homepage
Uses page: homepage
Uses style: global
Selected by default? No
On front page? Yes
Syndicate? No
Include in site search? No

jsoo wrote:

The homepage is using the default template, not the homepage template.

This is set in Presentation->Sections. The homepage is the “default” section. There is a dropdown labelled “Uses page” or something similar. Did you ever change this?

Unless I’m mistaken about this, at some point the default section got changed to use the “default” page template. But I don’t know if you made that change or not. I suspect you did, because that certainly explains why the sidebar disappeared. But I don’t know what will happen if you change the default section’s “use page” setting to “homepage”. Likely enough, it will work, but I don’t know, and you are working on a live site. Your call.

jsoo · 2011-01-26 22:27:02

n2 wrote:

THAT’S IT!!!

I just changed it and voila! Are you also able to see the sidebar on the main page now?

What’s odd is that there’s actually a section titled “homepage” and it has the following settings:

Yes, the sidebar’s really there :)

I suspect at this point all you want to do is wash your hands of this. I’ll just suggest you let the site owners know that:

the site should be upgraded to a more recent version of Txp (ordinarily this is easy to do, but given what appears to be an unusual server setup, I can’t say)
there’s a fair amount of stuff in the main navigation menu that is, as far as I can tell, not being used. I suspect this is the main reason the page load time is so slow, and that this is why the site was modded to use jpcache.

Finally, I’ll just say that Txp itself has not been to blame in all of this. I don’t think you are, either. We’re dealing with an unusual server config, and then whoever implemented the site in the first place did some fairly advanced and non-standard Txp stuff. Fine if that person is called in from time to time for maintenance. Not so great if the next person who has to deal with the site is someone else. You’ve had about the worst possible introduction to Txp.

n2 · 2011-01-26 23:03:59

You are SO wonderful for walking me through all this. Giving you a virtual hug across the states!

Yes, i had never even heard of TP until now, so it was a crash-course of sorts! (almost literally. ;)
I totally agree about the messy set-up. I think if i were to install TP on another site (and did it properly from the start!), it would be a little easier to work with and more user-friendly.

I do have one other small change i was hoping to make for these guys before i got all tangled up in the sidebar disappearance, and that is to replace the existing header image with a transparent GIF that extends beyond the width of the table that currently holds the header. The new header has stemmed flower extending off the border and “floating” over the page background.

In Dreamweaver this can be done by placing all the page contents (except the header) inside a wider table, the move the header to the outer table and bottom-align it to sit right above the smaller table. So when live, it looks like it’s still attached to the nav bar below it. But because it’s not confined to the width of the smaller table below, it can extend on the right side.

Feel free to say no as I know I’ve already taken up a bunch of your time!

Thanks again for all your help. :)

~n2

jsoo wrote:

n2 wrote:

THAT’S IT!!!

I just changed it and voila! Are you also able to see the sidebar on the main page now?

What’s odd is that there’s actually a section titled “homepage” and it has the following settings:

Yes, the sidebar’s really there :)

I suspect at this point all you want to do is wash your hands of this. I’ll just suggest you let the site owners know that:

the site should be upgraded to a more recent version of Txp (ordinarily this is easy to do, but given what appears to be an unusual server setup, I can’t say)
there’s a fair amount of stuff in the main navigation menu that is, as far as I can tell, not being used. I suspect this is the main reason the page load time is so slow, and that this is why the site was modded to use jpcache.

Finally, I’ll just say that Txp itself has not been to blame in all of this. I don’t think you are, either. We’re dealing with an unusual server config, and then whoever implemented the site in the first place did some fairly advanced and non-standard Txp stuff. Fine if that person is called in from time to time for maintenance. Not so great if the next person who has to deal with the site is someone else. You’ve had about the worst possible introduction to Txp.

Last edited by n2 (2011-01-26 23:50:24)

jsoo · 2011-01-27 00:45:24

n2 wrote:

I do have one other small change i was hoping to make for these guys before i got all tangled up in the sidebar disappearance, and that is to replace the existing header image with a transparent GIF that extends beyond the width of the table that currently holds the header. The new header has stemmed flower extending off the border and “floating” over the page background.

In Dreamweaver this can be done by placing all the page contents (except the header) inside a wider table, the move the header to the outer table and bottom-align it to sit right above the smaller table. So when live, it looks like it’s still attached to the nav bar below it. But because it’s not confined to the width of the smaller table below, it can extend on the right side.

In this case the layout isn’t based on a table. div#container has a width matching that of the header image. So far as I can tell from a quick look, that’s the only thing determining the width (the width of div#container). So replacing the image is a simple matter of uploading the new image, setting the stylesheet to use it as the background image, and setting the width property of div#container.

GugUser · 2011-01-27 00:47:01

And since n2 is now arrived here, it may still be possible to simplify, for example, line 155:

<h1><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>  <o:OfficeDocumentSettings>   <o:AllowPNG/>   <o:TargetScreenSize>1024x768</o:TargetScreenS …

This <h1> is crazy – sorry for the expression.

n2 · 2011-01-27 18:18:20

Thanks so much, JS.

I was able to create a test page changing the CSS to show the new header GIF image which has a transparent background. I also adjusted the height/width in the div#branding (which is where the header image lives) to accomodate the larger image.

But, because the header image is in the main container which has a*white* background, the image also has the same background which shows as white instead of transparent. I don’t want to change the container background color to transparent, because then the main contents will not have a white background either. What’s interesting is that the problem is only in the height of the image, not the width, which still shows as transparent.

Is there a way to set the branding background to “transparent”, but keep the rest of the container background white (#ffffff)?

jsoo wrote:

In this case the layout isn’t based on a table. div#container has a width matching that of the header image. So far as I can tell from a quick look, that’s the only thing determining the width (the width of div#container). So replacing the image is a simple matter of uploading the new image, setting the stylesheet to use it as the background image, and setting the width property of div#container.

n2 · 2011-01-27 18:23:34

n2 wrote:

Thanks so much, JS.

I was able to create a test page changing the CSS to show the new header GIF image which has a transparent background.
I also adjusted the height/width in the div#branding (which is where the header image lives) to accommodate the larger image for the header, but not change the rest of the container width.

But, because the header image is in the same container (div#container) as the rest of the contents with a white background (#ffffff), the image also has the same background, so the top of the header is filled with white instead of being transparent. I don’t want to change the container background color to transparent, because then the main contents will not have a white background either. What’s interesting is that the problem is only in the height of the image but not the width, which still shows as transparent.

Here’s the URL to the test page: http://www.meditationinmass.org/header-test

Is there a way to set the branding background to “transparent”, but keep the rest of the container background white?

Here are the CSS codes I have for both the branding & container:

bc. #container { width: 750px; margin: 20px auto; border: 1px solid #50606b; background-color: #ffffff; }

#branding { clear:both; width: 808px; height: 245px; position: relative; background-color: transparent; background: url(/images/header-banner-new.gif) no-repeat bottom center; }

jsoo wrote:

In this case the layout isn’t based on a table. div#container has a width matching that of the header image. So far as I can tell from a quick look, that’s the only thing determining the width (the width of div#container). So replacing the image is a simple matter of uploading the new image, setting the stylesheet to use it as the background image, and setting the width property of div#container.

Last edited by n2 (2011-01-27 18:41:48)

jsoo · 2011-01-27 18:36:12

I’d give #container a transparent background, and then give #content etc. a white background.

n2 · 2011-01-27 18:52:28

Thanks; so i did that, but this is what happens:

http://www.meditationinmass.org/header-test

jsoo wrote:

I’d give #container a transparent background, and then give #content etc. a white background.

jsoo · 2011-01-27 19:33:42

You’ll need to replace the #content div’s margin with padding of the same dimensions.

Then you’ll need to anchor something below #content_main (because it’s a float), perhaps with something like <br style="clear:both;" /> below both #content_main and #content_feature. Don’t forget #subscribe and #site_info.

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#73 2011-01-26 21:46:31

Re: HELP! Side-bar disappeared

#74 2011-01-26 22:03:33

Re: HELP! Side-bar disappeared

#75 2011-01-26 22:12:34

Re: HELP! Side-bar disappeared

#76 2011-01-26 22:27:02

Re: HELP! Side-bar disappeared

#77 2011-01-26 23:03:59

Re: HELP! Side-bar disappeared

#78 2011-01-27 00:45:24

Re: HELP! Side-bar disappeared

#79 2011-01-27 00:47:01

Re: HELP! Side-bar disappeared

#80 2011-01-27 18:18:20

Re: HELP! Side-bar disappeared

#81 2011-01-27 18:23:34

Re: HELP! Side-bar disappeared

#82 2011-01-27 18:36:12

Re: HELP! Side-bar disappeared

#83 2011-01-27 18:52:28

Re: HELP! Side-bar disappeared

#84 2011-01-27 19:33:42

Re: HELP! Side-bar disappeared

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