Break Away From The Standard Site Build It! Design - Page 6

JaMina · #51 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 08:37 PM

Yeah thanks Steve. Although I have used many website builders, such as Dreamweaver, NVU and Arachnophilia, many times I often use plain and simple Notepad. I just used it today as a matter of fact to do some quick HTML to upload to my site. I've never heard of Notepad2 but I'm definitely going to check it out.

Multimastery · #52 (**permalink**) 06-15-2008, 05:03 PM

Love the new design! I ran across your site in the past and although the previous design was workable -- this new design definitely "sells" your website more -and the layout is more engaging

u9026a · #53 (**permalink**) 07-01-2008, 06:19 PM

Hi again Lisa

I hope you read this - I have a question about your implementation of the search box you use on your stomach site. I have signed up with master.com and I can get the search tool to work but I was wondering how you get the search results to show inside a page of your site? I have read their instructions but I must admit, I'm a bit lost.

Am I right in assuming that you have to put the entire code for a page, includes and all, into a master.com page for it to look the same?

And then what do I need to upload to my site for this to work?

Thanks
Steve

lisa · #54 (**permalink**) 07-01-2008, 11:49 PM

Hi Steve

Yes, you do have to grab all your code. They won't read include files so you'll have to use the expanded HTML code from your includes.

What I did was open up my homepage in a browser, did a "View Source" and copied all my code into Dreamweaver. (The reason I opened my site up in a browser rather than getting the code from my PC is because browsers will display the include code. Remember, master can't read includes.)

I erased all the content from the "main content" area where the results are to be displayed and placed the Master code where the content was. You need to paste the text Master.com.content in your template where you want the results to show.

Then login to master.com, click on the "Search Your Site" link under the "Configuration" tab and paste this template you've just created into the Look and Feel Selector box.

Now add the search box code HTML to your site. Here's mine and of course you'll just adjust it to work for your site. You can get this code from master too.

HTML Code:

<FORM METHOD=GET ACTION="http://flat-stomach-exercises.master.com/texis/master/search/">
<INPUT name="q" value="search this site..." size="14">
<INPUT TYPE=submit VALUE="Search Now"><INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=s VALUE=SS>
</FORM>

Also if this is too complex you can try Google customized search. I'm sure it's much easier to setup. The only reason I don't use it is I've used Master long before Google Search came about and I've just gotten comfortable with it.

u9026a · #55 (**permalink**) 07-02-2008, 05:34 AM

Lisa, you are a star, thanks! Now, why couldn't they have written it like that? Actually I was struggling with a few div tags as well, so it wasn't all their fault!

Just one thing, how did you get the text of the links in the search results to be brown in colour? I want mine to be green for my herbs site.

Thanks again
Steve

lisa · #56 (**permalink**) 07-02-2008, 10:06 AM

Glad I could help.

I did that by linking to my site's style sheet in my template. In the head of my template there's a line that reads

HTML Code:

<link href="http://www.flat-stomach-exercises.com/support-files/style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />

This tells the browser to use my site's stylesheet for my fonts, colors, etc.

Are you using SBI!'s block builder? If so you need to email support and find out what that link is. I'm not sure how to get that from SBI! if you're using the block by block builder. Not even sure if you can to be honest.

If you don't have a style sheet or don't want to bother figuring out what your link is, the other option is to use an internal style sheet and declare the colors right in the template. So you'd add this code in the head of your Master template:

HTML Code:

<style type="text/css">
a:link {
COLOR: #0000FF;
} </style>

Change 0000FF to whatever color you want.

u9026a · #57 (**permalink**) 07-03-2008, 01:22 AM

Jeez Lisa, I must be having one of those bad hair days! I already have that link in the head section to my style sheet (I upload my own), and that's why the links are exactly the same colour as on my site. Doh!

But anyhow...I did want a different link colour for these links in the search results so I will delete the ref to my style sheet and add the new code.

I have to say, this is like having my own on-line tutor! Thanks, you are indeed a star.

Steve

Edit: Just tried it and of course, because the page needs the original style sheet, I can't have a different colour for these links, if you get my drift. Never mind, this search is million times better than the what I previously used for searching the site.

rifa00 · #58 (**permalink**) 07-07-2008, 12:32 PM

Lisa,

If I start a site with SBI can I later convert my site format by using Dreamweaver? I have no knowledge of Dreamweaver and how to create a website from scratch, but the thought and challenge does intrigue me.

lisa · #59 (**permalink**) 07-07-2008, 01:21 PM

rifa00, yes you can. That's exactly what I did. My site used to use the standard templates but I bought DW and learned how to use it. Then I converted my site over. SBI! provides step by step instructions on how to make the transfer but it's up to you to become familiar with DW or whatever software you want to use. And I would highly recommend you learn to use the software program (or hand code) before making the transition.

alpha7 · #60 (**permalink**) 07-13-2008, 12:47 AM

I just started and I am ready to break away.

I love the SBI tools, but I feel like I'm trapped in a box.

I am use to having lots of freedom since I mostly hand code all of my pages.

Once I get everything going, I will definitely "Break Away".

But I must say this so no one gets the wrong idea......... SBI is the best thing I have learned since I started building sites. Now if i can just get out of that box!

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