Help-Copy the layout directory from zip to images directory on server

Keepital · 2013-07-11 01:15:46

I am having a really hard time finding any resources on how to understand what I’m reading. It seems like it is fairly straight-forward to install a theme – if I knew what I was reading. I even tried googling generic searches regarding theme installation for beginners/website vocabulary for beginners, but I found nothing except pages and pages of searches all involving WordPress. How did any of you teach yourself? How can I teach myself if I can’t find any resources to read so I can understand?

I want to install the ‘My Wishful Thoughts’ theme by Piotr Delawski created in 2007.

Instruction: Copy the layout directory from the template package to the images directory on your server
*Literally does he mean right click and select copy from the zip archive on my desktop?
*How do I paste something on my server?
*What is my server? Does he mean the login-admin page for my site or is my server ‘Bluehost’?
*Where is the images directory on my server? I was expecting to use FTP for copying over images, based on a discussion with Bluehost but his instructions say nothing about FTP. How do I know what an images directory is?

Keepital · 2013-07-11 01:26:07

Where I’m at: (Just so you all know_)
I have a fresh install of TextPattern on my site.
I figured out how to log into my site admin-login.
I created backups using cpanel on Bluehost.
I have the zipped theme package downloaded and on my desktop.
I’ve looked over the instructions for the install and read through them.
I’ve attempted to google basic terminology and instructions, am having very little success finding resources.

Last edited by Keepital (2013-07-11 01:27:09)

GugUser · 2013-07-11 01:56:12

I don’t think it’s a good idea install currently a template (from 2007) made for Textpattern version 4.0.5.

uli · 2013-07-11 17:00:26

Hi Keepitall, and welcome to the forum.

This all is doable, and lay/wo/men before you have successfully done this :)

Keepital wrote:

How did any of you teach yourself? How can I teach myself if I can’t find any resources to read so I can understand?

The situation you’re starting from is a little exceptional. The most part of Textpattern users have a (semi-) professional background in web design or web technology. Best for your situation would have probably been the Textpattern wiki, and the FAQ. But the time ahead you’ll ideally spend asking questions here in the forum, I’d assume.

I was expecting to use FTP for copying over images, based on a discussion with Bluehost but his instructions say nothing about FTP.

What the author calls “copying” is actually done via FTP. Once you’re a little more familiar with the things, you’ll have a lot less doubts about what’s called what and will be able to understand more intuitively. And I think installing this theme can be even easier than it was back in 2007. But before we get into more detail: Do you have an FTP application and are able to operate it? Because this is what you’ll have to do.

How do I know what an images directory is?

It’s named “images”. Things can be as simple as that :)
The server, finally, in this context, is the harddisk space on the web that your website is situated in.

Last edited by uli (2013-07-11 17:03:45)

Keepital · 2013-07-13 15:29:07

Well hello all,
It’s been a few days, but I have successfully been able to install this theme, as a newbie and all by myself! And it wasn’t really that hard! I am quite proud :D
(As I expected, the vocabulary began to come around the more I fuddled my way through the beginning steps.)

For other newbies, looking to install a TextPattern theme using BlueHost —- here’s what I did:

1) follow the blog, bloggingwithamy.com – watch her video on how to use BlueHost FTP. http://bloggingwithamy.com/how-to-use-ftp/

2) on BlueHost, make sure you can make a backup after you’ve used the MojoMarketplace/SimpleScript 1-click install of TextPattern. Use BlueHost support if you need to here to learn how to do these steps.

3) download the theme from textpattern to your desktop in a zipped file the same way you would download anything. Unzip it; or you can copy the folders inside the zip to your desktop, so that you can access the material inside (you can’t access zipped folders inside BlueHost’s cpanel Unlimited FTP icon). Read the instructions contained in the downloaded zip file all the way through, even if you don’t understand what you’re reading.

3) If the instructions say to copy the layout directory from the package to the images directory on the server, you will follow the instructions you already watched from Amy’s blog for how to use FTP to do this using your cpanel within BlueHost, using the Unlimited FTP icon and following her instructions. It’s a REALLY simple concept, but I’ll tell you, after doing it within my bluehost cpanel, there was no way to know I’d done it right because nothing changes yet on your website. You have to complete all the steps in the instructions to see changes on your site.

4) At this point, I was instructed to do the same thing with the Scripts folder inside the zip drive as I had the Images folder. So I used BlueHost’s FTP icon once again to put the scripts folder into my public_html folder. You still won’t notice any changes.

5) Before you started figuring out how to install your txp theme, back when you installed TextPattern initially as your CMS before doing any of these other steps, you received an email with a weird web path and a password. You would have received this after you used 1-click install of TextPattern on BlueHost, or after you manually installed TextPattern directly, but if you manually installed TextPattern directly you probably don’t need the rest of my steps and I’m not sure why you’re reading this. This is steps for beginners, like me, and I used BlueHost for as much support as possible. You need this weird web path that they sent you after the install of textpattern in order to access your admin side of your site. Do you know how long it took me to figure this out??? A long time, I couldn’t figure out how to log in, because I didn’t realize TextPattern had sent me a direct link to my admin sign-in page! Let me just tell you know that the txp forum said my login site would always be yoursite.tld/textpattern – but this was not the case for me. My txp log-in site was different.

6) After you’ve found your log-in page, you can do the other steps in the instruction manual. For the rest of the steps, I didn’t use BlueHost at all, but worked directly within my admin log-in site of my page. The rest of the steps are basically pretty simple, although they seem complicated when you read them. For example, inside your admin- presentation tab, you have Sections, Pages, Forms, and Styles. You have folders inside your zip drive for each of these components of your website as well. Inside these folders are text documents. Note that on your admin- webpage you have a Page labeled “default” on the right-hand side. There is also likely to be a text document in your Pages folder labeled “page_default”. You will replace the contents that already exist for your default page, with the contents of that text document. After you do this once for one of the pages, you should be able to do the rest of the pages, and then move on to the same concept to replace the Forms. I’m talking literally copy and paste here.

The rest of the instructions provided by your theme are likely the same or similar. I don’t need to walk you through them because if you’ve gotten this far, you’ll be able to read the language within the instructions at this point, and things should start to make sense to you as you learn the vocabulary, and as well you are now probably making connections between what medium you’re supposed to do these tools/steps through.

Last edited by Keepital (2013-07-13 15:34:28)

uli · 2013-07-13 21:22:12

Keepital, thank you very much for writing down these detailled instructions for theming a TXP installation on Bluehost and for encouraging beginners that setting up a TXP site and installing an aged theme like this is all feasible. Glad you have it working now, and great that you were up to even find that way on your own :)

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#1 2013-07-11 01:15:46

Help-Copy the layout directory from zip to images directory on server

#2 2013-07-11 01:26:07

Re: Help-Copy the layout directory from zip to images directory on server

#3 2013-07-11 01:56:12

Re: Help-Copy the layout directory from zip to images directory on server

#4 2013-07-11 17:00:26

Re: Help-Copy the layout directory from zip to images directory on server

#5 2013-07-13 15:29:07

Re: Help-Copy the layout directory from zip to images directory on server

#6 2013-07-13 21:22:12

Re: Help-Copy the layout directory from zip to images directory on server

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