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HTML is not the problem; How do you GET to the code?
 
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Lsquared



Joined: 30 Apr 2005
Posts: 17

PostPosted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 2:14 pm    Post subject: HTML is not the problem; How do you GET to the code? Reply with quote

Can someone please help me? All the answers I receive presume I am asking about code. I am not. I am trying to understand how you get TO THE CODE. For example - I want to edit my Favorites template - to change the color of the text. I know how to code that - but where is the code? In blogger you simply click on template and up comes the file. Here - I can't get to the file. What are the specific steps for getting to the file so that I can edit the code?

Thank you.
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john
Site Admin


Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 3434

PostPosted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 3:08 pm    Post subject: Re: HTML is not the problem; How do you GET to the code? Reply with quote

Can someone please help me? All the answers I receive presume I am asking about code. I am not. I am trying to understand how you get TO THE CODE. For example - I want to edit my Favorites template - to change the color of the text. I know how to code that - but where is the code? In blogger you simply click on template and up comes the file. Here - I can't get to the file. What are the specific steps for getting to the file so that I can edit the code?

Lsquared - Not sure what answers or presumptions you are referring to but I'll try to start at the top to make sure we're on the same page.

Nearly all of the presentation of the elements of the blog are modified through the use of CSS or Cascading Style Sheets via the style template on your blog.

Do you want to change the color of the text in your Favorites? That's done by modifying your style template. Change the font used in your articles? Also done by modifying your style template. Change the color of your sidebars? You guessed it, modify your style template.

So exactly do how do you change the color of a Favorites item? This article:
gives you a nice intro to modifying your CSS style template and provides you with the CSS code to center your blog on the page. Instead of that code, use this code to change the color of your Favorites items:

Code:
.componentBlogrollItem A {
   color: red;
}


Here's a useful list of valid colors and names:
Hope this helps you towards understanding the process of changing the presentation elements of your blog.


Last edited by john on Tue Jun 14, 2005 3:45 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Lsquared



Joined: 30 Apr 2005
Posts: 17

PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2005 9:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well thanks for answering John. I tried your advice about ten different ways, including using the exact code that you supplied, entering it in the css customization box, saving it, clearing my cache, viewing the blog - but nothing changes. Like I said in my e-mail, blogharbor would be great, if it wasn't so damn mysterious. Should it be that difficult to simply change the color on a component? And now I keep trying to add stuff to the welcome text and it just doesn't show up.

Frustrating! The blog looks good - but I wish I could customize it somewhat without spending hours. I just don't have the time. A wise person once said to me - "you are a very smart person. So if someone is explaining something and you don't understand it - then that person is not explaining it very well." Unfortunately, that's what I think of the explanations on blog harbor.

Does anyone else feel that way?
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Lsquared



Joined: 30 Apr 2005
Posts: 17

PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2005 9:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

.componentBlogrollItem A {
color: magenta;
}

Above, is the code I entered. I copied it from the code you supplied, substituting my color choice after checking it on the list you supplied. The code does not change the color of the text on the Favorites.

Here is the code you supplied:
.componentBlogrollItem A {
color: red;
}

Thank you for any info. This is not working when entered in the CSS customization box at the bottom of the template page, although the template has registered verbally that a change has been made.
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john
Site Admin


Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 3434

PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2005 9:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Should it be that difficult to simply change the color on a component?

On the one hand, you could say that using CSS to globally modify attributes of your blog's presentation makes it difficult to change one small aspect of your blog. On the other hand, you could also say that it makes it much easier to make extensive changes to your blog's appearance since all the presentation elements are controlled in one place.

You do make a valid point; we need to figure out how to strike a balance between making it easier to do advanced things without making it difficult to do simple things.

A wise person once said to me - "you are a very smart person. So if someone is explaining something and you don't understand it - then that person is not explaining it very well."

That may be a valid statement. Of course, the key point in following any instructions is to follow them to the letter, as computers are not very good at determining what you were trying to do, only in what you did. And this is a very good example of that fact...

I just looked at your blog, and you entered the following code in your CSS:

Code:
.ComponentBlogrollItemA  {
color: magenta;
}


At first glance, it might look like the code we provided to you but there is a major difference, one which will cause the change not to work at all. Notice in our instructions there was a space between .componentBlogrollItem and the letter A:

Code:
.componentBlogrollItem A {
   color: red;
}


Yes, it might seem trivial but your web browser understands one and not the other... Add the space and magically the color will change in your blog...

Tip: Try cutting and pasting instead of retyping, especially when it comes to copying code. It will reduce errors and make it easier to debug things when they don't come out right, since you'll at least be able to eliminate one element as the source of the trouble.
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john
Site Admin


Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 3434

PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2005 9:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

To follow up, for some reason which I have not figured out, the instructions I gave are not working on the "BlackNBlue" template you've chosen, though they seem to work with other templates... My apologies. I'm trying to figure out why not right now...
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john
Site Admin


Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 3434

PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2005 10:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lsquared - You're right, this was way too hard. We've definitely made the simple things too hard at the expense of making the hard things easier. My sincerest apologies.

It turns out my instructions were incorrect due to the way the master CSS was created for blogs with different colored left and right sidebars. On blogs using these templates:
  • BlackNBLue
  • Olive
  • OpenBlue
  • Slate
  • Viridity
please use this code instead if your Favorites list is in the right sidebar:

Code:
#rightcol .componentBlogrollItem A:link,


   color:  red;
}


or this code if your Favorites list is in the left sidebar:

Code:
#leftcol .componentBlogrollItem A:link,


   color:  red;
}


Way too complicated, agreed. We'll be looking at ways we can make this easier... Again, sorry for the incomplete instructions the first time around.
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Lsquared



Joined: 30 Apr 2005
Posts: 17

PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2005 11:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you John. The new code works fine. Just F.Y.I., in the previous century I did substantial programming so I am aware of syntactic whims on the part of compilers. So I did try moving the spacing around between the BlogItem and A, simply to see if that would help. And you caught my code amid one of those trial alterations. But as we both now see, the initial codeset was inaccurate, and I am grateful to you for sorting the matter out.

And I promise to copy the code that you furnish so that I can create a welcome note exactly as you supply it.
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