Quote Originally Posted by DarkAngel View Post
We were all in the same boat at one time too...unknowing and I am still learning so no worries.

1. you are not uploading the folder to the server so no overwriting will occur. you open the folder on your desktop and only transfer the files from each nestled folder to the matching folder on your server---for instance includes/languages/english files on your desktop will go into that exact same path on the server.

if you are not using the classic default theme then in some area you may have a folder with your templates name (this is an override folder) and your desktop files will go there...still following the path.

most creators will place a folder called your_template then files inside it...that is your clue to create a folder in that area with the templates name to place the contents into it.

2. yes you are

3. what other mods do you have...and most likely if you installed the mod you would have had to edit the files manually. with this mod -- fortunately-- the majority of the files are labled with bmz_ but there are files that are named exactly as the ones on the server. with some of those files I can usually disable the original ones by placing a ~ at the end of the file name--like header.php gets changed to header.php~ then the new file can be uploaded without fear of overwriting...thus if something doesn't work right you just remove it with its other related files you uploaded from whichever mod you used.

Just in case I always keep a copy of the files from the server on my computer so that if for some reason they should get corrupted I just need to replace the file...and always have them current each month since there are usually a lot of changes I do to something or another...lol

hope that helps and I did not confuse you more.

Thanks DarkAngel,

Most of what you said makes perfect since. I have not installed any Mods yet myself. This is my first attempt. I am using Clyde Jones' Desert Noon Template. It has these features:
Features:
* Fixed width 3 column display
* Colors: Styled in Sage Green, Yellow, Tan and Blue.
* Customized button set included.
* Per-page CSS stylesheets to style individual pages.
* Better Categories Sidebox installed.
* Order Steps (tableless) installed.
* Date in Header.
* Tested using Firefox, IE7, Opera, Safari.

I would think that the three I bolded above could have problems with files that might want to be overwritten. My plan is to make 2 backups of my site to a portable hardrive (dedicated to web stuff). I will open one of them and add all the files as you said from IH3 and then go back to my web server and delete the test folder I have that contains my site and upload the new test site (backup) I worked on above.

My question is this. When I am copying files from IH3 to my backup site, as mentioned above, when I attempt to copy a file that already exists, it will want to overwrite this file. Is it at this time that I say "No" and then put the two files into WinMerge and compare and merge the files? Right? How do I know where in the file the merge is to take place? Does the merged part of the file just go at the end of the file or do I have to know exactly where it is to be placed?? I hope that wasn't too confusing, it sure was for me I have not used WinMerge yet, this will be my first attempt. Hopefully not my last.

It is late so I will look for an answer tomorrow. Thanks for all your help, greatly appreciated.