Newbie... creating own design
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I'm a graphic designer, not a coder. I've been designing sites in Dreamweaver and recently exploring Wordpress as a CMS rather than just a blog. Someone told me how great Concrete5 is so I'm here to learn. I noticed that it doesn't include a blog at all but we can buy a module for $55.
My question is about making a custom design and using it with Concrete5. I did a help search and didn't find an answer. Is this possible and if so, how? Is it a matter of editing CSS or replacing header and footer files? I've previously embedded WordPress into existing sites so I know how to do that.
Thanks,
Sheila
My question is about making a custom design and using it with Concrete5. I did a help search and didn't find an answer. Is this possible and if so, how? Is it a matter of editing CSS or replacing header and footer files? I've previously embedded WordPress into existing sites so I know how to do that.
Thanks,
Sheila
Sounds easy enough (maybe!). Will I be able to try that while using the trial or will I need to do a complete install so I have FTP access? Not sure when I'll have time to explore at that level.
A pdf I wrote.
I don't think you can add new themes in the online demo. Here's another post you can read if you're interested in more information about Concrete or Wordpress:
http://www.concrete5.org/index.php?cID=20250...
Especially if you're using a server that's running Apache or that is Linux-based, installing concrete on a server is pretty easy ... about as easy as Wordpress, I think.
Basically you can use your host's web interface to create a new database and a new database user. Then you upload concrete to a directory on your server and tell it where your database lives and what database user to use.
http://www.concrete5.org/index.php?cID=20250...
Especially if you're using a server that's running Apache or that is Linux-based, installing concrete on a server is pretty easy ... about as easy as Wordpress, I think.
Basically you can use your host's web interface to create a new database and a new database user. Then you upload concrete to a directory on your server and tell it where your database lives and what database user to use.
It is easy enough to set up a web site to install Concrete 5. I usedhttp://www.000webhost.com but there are a number of organisations that will give you free space on a site.
Setting up Concrete5 is simple - just download the files and copy them to your new free site. That way you can do whatever you want and play to your hearts content. Alternatively you can set it up on a spare computer at home but that takes a little bit of networking knowledge.
I prefer to use a free web site as I get the experience of actually working on the internet rather than a local network but it really doesn't matter either way.
By utilising a free web site or your own network you are free of the site restrictions of using the trial version on this site andyou get to experience things that you will need to know when you go live...like site administration, adding themes or blocks etc.
Good luck.
Setting up Concrete5 is simple - just download the files and copy them to your new free site. That way you can do whatever you want and play to your hearts content. Alternatively you can set it up on a spare computer at home but that takes a little bit of networking knowledge.
I prefer to use a free web site as I get the experience of actually working on the internet rather than a local network but it really doesn't matter either way.
By utilising a free web site or your own network you are free of the site restrictions of using the trial version on this site andyou get to experience things that you will need to know when you go live...like site administration, adding themes or blocks etc.
Good luck.
Actually I re-sell hosting to my clients so have easy access to install into a new site. My experience when trying to do that with WordPress was that I needed to have a domain name associated with it though or none of the paths worked. Is that not the case with Concrete5?
Sheila you only need to create a folder to put it in. As long as you know your database server name and/or path and the db name (yada yada) you should be ok.
I have it set on subfolders for my testing sites and works really well.
Bill
I have it set on subfolders for my testing sites and works really well.
Bill
If you have any website at all, ie you are using a web server connected to the internet, you must have some domain associated with it or a path to the server - even if it is just the raw numerical address.
As Bill says, if you just install into a sub-directory of the server, everything will work OK. If you have space on the server you re-sell from, just use that.
The free site I have been allocated ishttp://www.concrete.comlu.com. I could have installed into the root of that site but I chose to install into a subdirectory called "concrete" so the web address becomeshttp://www.concrete.comlu.com/concrete.... Apologies if i am teaching grandma to suck eggs.
The biggest issue might be getting the address of the MySQL database rightbut I found Concrete5 to be easier in that respect than, say, Drupal.
As Bill says, if you just install into a sub-directory of the server, everything will work OK. If you have space on the server you re-sell from, just use that.
The free site I have been allocated ishttp://www.concrete.comlu.com. I could have installed into the root of that site but I chose to install into a subdirectory called "concrete" so the web address becomeshttp://www.concrete.comlu.com/concrete.... Apologies if i am teaching grandma to suck eggs.
The biggest issue might be getting the address of the MySQL database rightbut I found Concrete5 to be easier in that respect than, say, Drupal.
removed duplicate...can I delete a post?
removed duplicate
removed duplicate
Create a new Concrete installation and try copying one of the core themes from concrete/themes/ and put it in your own folder inside the themes/ directory. You just need to have PHP files that coordinate to each page type you want to support, like "left_sidebar.php", "default.php" or "full.php"
You can literally copy and past your design in there, then add in a couple important PHP snippets. Here's the code you'll want to turn your static design into a template.
1. Inside the <HEAD></HEAD>:
2. Inside the design:
Repeat this code for each area you need, and re-use the names they use in the core templates when it makes sense so that your design is compatible with other templates
3. At the end of the page, before the </BODY> tag:
4. If you need additional elements, place them in your template's directory and add this before the path:
Then you'll just want to style the core blocks using CSS. I tend to apply my CSS based on the area and the tag name, and it works well for most situations.
Let me know if you have any other questions! I've found Concrete to be far and above anything else when it comes to how easy it is to create a design.