Crimson Editor for a newbie

[spinnersue]

Please could someone help me get started with Crimson Editor. I downloaded it yesterday and can't for the life of me find out how to upload and download files to my site. I was told it was easy, that you just had to type in your domain name and log-in details and that was it more or less.

I want to edit some files and have been told I have to use one of these types of programmes and this one seems to be the most popular.

Please can you help?

[fairestcape]

I think you may be confusing Crimson Editor with Filezilla.

Crimson Editor is a text editor (similar to Notepad) that helps you make changes to various code files - such as php, css, html, etc.

Filezilla is a FTP program - and it is this that you are after. An FTP program opens up a two-way connection between your home computer, and the remote server where your website resides.

It requires a little bit of configuration (you have to tell the FTP program WHERE your web host is, and provide a login name and password), but fundamentally, it's about as easy transferring files using ftp, as it is dragging and dropping files from one folder to another on your home machine.

Yes, you WILL use Crimson Editor (to edit files, either on your home computer or remote server), but the program you need to TRANSFER files between the two systems is an FTP program - and Filezilla is a good one.

[spinnersue]

Thanks fairestcape, I thought they were the same thing. I will go and d/l Filezilla now but I suspect I will be back here before very long lol!!

[spinnersue]

Yep, sure enough, here I am back again. Eventually i got the right log-in details and now I have got a load of files showing under "remote site" which look like the ones I have to edit. Do I have to transfer them somewhere first? What is the next step please.

[fairestcape]

Next step is...

... depends on what you are trying to do...

Is your zenshop up-and-running?

[spinnersue]

Well, yes I hope so but I want to make alterations to it first as I am not happy with the templates I have got as only have a choice of two and supposed to have five they keep promising me, but I have decided to keep the one I have now for the time being and try and customise it to my liking. The first things I want to change is the colours because I don't think they are very user friendly, especially the blue on black. After that I want to get rid of the pic at the top with the woman with the dvds and replace it with something else.

Have a look here and see what you think. Be honest, I wont be offended.

www.sues-all-sorts.com

[fairestcape]

Fundamentally I think it is quite an attractive site!

It uses a custom template, which makes it more challenging for people to help you on the forum because we may not be sure how the template is set up.

But generally, many of the layout issues are resolved by editing the STYLESHEETS.

Much of your site contains background images - for the blue and black colours - so these must be re-developed using a good image editor (adobe photoshop springs to mind).

What I suggest you do is firstly try to develop an understanding of your template's "architecture". To start this process, you should use FIREFOX browser, with some of its useful ADD-ON'S, like "Firebug", "Colorzilla" and "Developer Tool Kit".

Go to the firefox website and grab these downloads (install Firefox first if you don't have it).

These ADD-ONS enable you to see a wide range of background stuff relating to any given web-page. I just used my firefox to produce a full report on all the images on your front page, download copies of your css files, and alert me to validation issues.

I now have a better understanding of your template architecture and know enough to tell you that there are a large number of very carefully crafted images that make your site look the way it does.

Get firefox with the add-ons first, then use these tools to analyse your pages.

The site looks good (maybe not perfect) but it's not embarrassing! So don't rush... take appropriate steps first.

[spinnersue]

Ok, thanks for that, its obviously not as bad looking as I thought then. I did manage to use the features in admin ok, such as moving the boxes around and deleting certain ones, its just all this other stuff I find so complicated though I am sure once I have got my head around it, I will be ok. I have come across threads which tell me what files to edit, but I dont know where they need to be for me to edit them, though I can see the names I need in my remote list so can they be altered from there? I will d/l Firefox next.

I might start to promote the site as it is just for a few friends and colleagues and improve it as I go along. I must admit I really do hate that picture at the top!

[fairestcape]

I must admit I really do hate that picture at the top!

This is EASY to fix.

The image PATH is:

includes/templates/DVD-Template-One/images/header_pic.jpg

And its dimensions are:

620 pixels wide
215 pixels deep

All you need to do is create a NEW image with the same dimensions, save it with the same name (header_pic.jpg) and then upload it (via FTP) to the same directory as the one above.

You will be prompted to overwrite the existing file, in which case you happily agree!.

[spinnersue]

Oh thanks so much for all your help. I have just found that file so at least i know what I am looking for when I come to do it. What programme would you suggest I use to make a very simple replacement header? I dont have Adobe Photoshop. I promise this is the last question for tonight (I mean this morning lol!).