Frustrated by v5.8
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I inherited a v5.6 website and am in the process of updating it to v5.8. Let me preface the rest of this by saying that I have no issues with keeping the content updated but I have almost no experience with configuring C5 and have not been able to find the answers that I need.
I have created a new directory on my active server and installed the new version of C5 in that directory. I am now in the process of re-creating the site in that directory. When it is finished, I'll roll it out as the production site.
While I have gotten most of the pages to work, I have 3 of issues that I don't know how to solve:
1) How do I globally change the color of all links in all blocks. I have changed the color in the designer but it only changed the color on the page that I was working on when I made the change.
2) Similarly, how can I globally change the line height in text contact blocks across the entire site?
If there's no way to use the designer to change these, I expect they can be changed in a .css file somewhere but I have no clue where to find the files that I need to change.
3) Since I am developing in a sub-directory, how can I insert links that won't need to be changed when I move the site up a level and into production? C5.6 changed absolute links to {CCM:BASE_URL}. I assume C5.7 will do the same. Where can I set this variable (site.php?) and specifically where is the file located in the directory structure?
As I go further, I will probably have more questions but answers to these two would help me a lot.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
I have created a new directory on my active server and installed the new version of C5 in that directory. I am now in the process of re-creating the site in that directory. When it is finished, I'll roll it out as the production site.
While I have gotten most of the pages to work, I have 3 of issues that I don't know how to solve:
1) How do I globally change the color of all links in all blocks. I have changed the color in the designer but it only changed the color on the page that I was working on when I made the change.
2) Similarly, how can I globally change the line height in text contact blocks across the entire site?
If there's no way to use the designer to change these, I expect they can be changed in a .css file somewhere but I have no clue where to find the files that I need to change.
3) Since I am developing in a sub-directory, how can I insert links that won't need to be changed when I move the site up a level and into production? C5.6 changed absolute links to {CCM:BASE_URL}. I assume C5.7 will do the same. Where can I set this variable (site.php?) and specifically where is the file located in the directory structure?
As I go further, I will probably have more questions but answers to these two would help me a lot.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Thanks for the info. I am using Stucco, a marketplace theme. I looked at Elemental but the search box and menu structure just do not look good.
I just looked at the Customize Theme panel and there is no option that I can find to apply the changes globally. The interesting thing is that if I go to a different page and apply the same changes (link color, for example) they do not get applied to that page.
I am comfortable with overriding items in the CSS but, as I said in my original post, I have not been able to find any of the CSS files in the directory structure for the new site. If you or anyone can point me to the CSS files, I think I can solve the issues I'm seeing. Neither of these are show stoppers (I can override the link color in the html for the pages where they appear and the line spacing is just for readability) it just makes work.
As for moving the website, that's a couple of months down the road and I think I understand what needs to be done but questions may come up when I actually get ready to move the site. I know there is documentation on moving sites and I will use that when I get a bit closer.
I just looked at the Customize Theme panel and there is no option that I can find to apply the changes globally. The interesting thing is that if I go to a different page and apply the same changes (link color, for example) they do not get applied to that page.
I am comfortable with overriding items in the CSS but, as I said in my original post, I have not been able to find any of the CSS files in the directory structure for the new site. If you or anyone can point me to the CSS files, I think I can solve the issues I'm seeing. Neither of these are show stoppers (I can override the link color in the html for the pages where they appear and the line spacing is just for readability) it just makes work.
As for moving the website, that's a couple of months down the road and I think I understand what needs to be done but questions may come up when I actually get ready to move the site. I know there is documentation on moving sites and I will use that when I get a bit closer.
1 - When you change settings in the 'Customize Theme' panel, there is an option to apply it to the entire site or just that page, I'd be making sure you are selecting the correct option there. That being said, there's quite a number of different theme options available, and you may have to dig around further to find the right one.
Personally I don't use the theme configuration tool myself very often, I tend to prefer overriding things directly with CSS. You can actually still use that with the theme customizer, if you scroll to the bottom there is a 'Custom CSS' button which brings up a dialog where you can enter CSS to apply to the site.
Another option is a little add-on I developed called 'Theme Styling Tool', it allows you to inject CSS in a similar way, but the process to do so is arguably a lot quicker than using the theme styling panel.. (disclaimer, this is a paid add-on, and you need to know CSS)
2. Line height might be a styling option that isn't offered by the theme styling panel, again you may need to use CSS to tackle that one.
3. Concrete5 will automatically resolve links make in content blocks and elsewhere when you move a site between folders, or even domains, no issues there. You just have to make sure that caching is off (or at least cleared) for everything to update.
You shouldn't need to edit a config file as such when you move directories, but if you have pretty URLs on, you will need to adjust your .htaccess file. There's a line in that like
RewriteBase /If you are running your site from a folder, it will look have a folder path instead of a slash. If you are moving to the to level of your domain you'd need to just make it appear as above.
Perhaps leave pretty URLs off for now, and only turn them on when you go fully live.