In the meantime, you should try setting up an admin:themes page for your CSS code. It means that any changes you make to your theme are recorded in the page's history.

As for using this theme… that's up to the guy that designed most of it! ;-)

Yes, Rob, I do see the problems with putting all the code in. After all, the aim is to offer something friendly. Retitling the box though would be worth doing. Not quite this, I suggest, as CSS is off-putting to us Dummies!

How about:

'Add additional custom instructions in the box to adapt the existing code of your chosen theme. See this page for more details.'

ie. add an extra guide page straight away. My suggestion is that the code is described with no 'assumptions' at all made! - eg. this (typo corrected) is how I communicated on the topic on the Philosophical Investigations site just:

The trick it seems is in these normally hidden 'CSS' scripts that each page automatically loads (they show up at the top of the 'source' for every page as http sites for where the page has gone off looking for its style thingies) giving the 'custom' design. Now I've begun to understand the theory, it ain't so difficult to modify the pages, and indeed it seems even the 'orrible dotty boxes can be consigned to history if we want!

If you like this change, (this is the code for it below) we now need to add this to all the pages. That involves going to site manager and themes and then assigning all the pages not to 'co' but to the modified version, which I've called 'main pages'.

blockquote{
border: 0px #999; [I made the border '0']
padding: 0 1em;
background-color: #f4f4f4;
}

#toc{
margin: 1em auto 1em 0;
padding: 0em 0.5em;
border: 1px solid gray; [I just changed this to solid from dotted]
background-color: #F7F7F7;
display: table;
}

Best,

Martin

I'm not sure the best way of showing the base and theme CSS but I really don't think it should be put into that blank box when you try to create a new theme. It would no doubt cause coding issues and would actually probably confuse more than it would illuminate given that the base CSS and theme CSS run to hundreds and hundreds of lines.

For a new user I can see your point that it would be beneficial for them to see what the code in that blank box will build on. And perhaps the blank box could be re-titled something like "Add/import your CSS to change the theme". Many advanced users are using Firebug to view the CSS code and try changes on the fly and it is an invaluable tool, but most new users probably won't know about that. Unfortunately if the developers put the full CSS of the base and theme on a page it would make for a very long page indeed given the length of the stylesheets. I'll give this some more thought and see if there is something that we might add to the wishlist to show the CSS (perhaps in a new window) that would make this aspect of creating a new theme a bit more understandable.

Rob

Well, let me know if you want any input/ feedback on the page. The 'blank box' riddle appears after you go to:

manage site/
appearence/
custom themes/
create a new theme

The naive user (like me) chooses the theme to follow, eg basic, and then expects the code to appear in the box below. Only 'it never does'! We need some advice on how to get the 'appropriate' code there to edit. How about putting the code from the selected theme straight into the box?

Martin

The existing pages sort of lost me where it started saying edit this code, and offered a blank box!

Where did this happen? If there some rogue instruction somewhere we can correct that easily.

Rob

I can help write a really simple page if Michael wants to start one.

Max Fernandes

http://community.wdfiles.com/local--files/howto:design-your-own-css-theme/tema1.JPG

Looks well like a image for the" top"

Do you need a background - picture always available from an "open" storage?

or do you want to give it as a gift to the community?

Thank you,
~WK

 #breadcrumbs { background-color: #F7F7F7; padding: 0.25em; position: absolute; top: 100px; } 

-Ed

No need to jump down my throat, particularly when I don't think you have quite got this right. What I said in my previous post is the correct way to do it. You do not upload the file for your header to a theme, you upload it to a page on your site and reference it in your custom theme CSS which just happens to be named /local--theme/{yourname}/style.css... as shown in my site below:

Rob

 http://<wiki_name>.wikidot.com/local--theme/<custom_theme_name>/style.css?24 

 http://<wiki_name>.wikidot.com/local--theme/<custom_theme_name>/ 

<wiki_name> and <custom_theme_name> are generic.

 #header { background-image:url(http://strathviewconsultants.wikidot.com/local--files/css:theme/sc3_header.jpg); ..etc ..etc } 

Rob

 url(background00.gif) 

How can I upload the image files to the themes page?
if I upload to the mytheme page the file link is ../local-files/… but the link required is ../local-theme/… or something similar.