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// Edelweiss Textpattern Template //
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This template was designed to fulfill the needs of a weblog. It features some basic blog functionality in a clean, simple vintage/retro design. Of course, if you want to add some extra features, feel free to do so in any way  - this is released under the GPL!

The name came across my mind because I wanted to have a look that reminds me of the alps, and winter sport. Actually, the "Edelwei" flower looks a little different but I thought the name would be more common internationally than "Silberdistel", for example :)


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// Credits //

All work on this template was done by me, but there are a few spots I want to mention as great resources:
The comment URL hover effect was first seen on Dan Cederholm's site and slightly modified for easy integration into TXP. Check out his website simplebits.com! 
The icons are partly based on the icons at famfamfam.com. It's a great resource for free icon sets!
The font I used for the header typography is called Aardvark Cafe, made by Harold Lohner (www.haroldsfonts.com) and found via 1001freefonts.com. Be sure to check out these for a giant amount of free fonts.


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// Installation //

Ok, so you've installed your TXP and are ready to go. Let's see how we can put some decent style on your site!


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// Images and CSS ////

First, set the chmod of your images directory to 777 to be able to upload images.
I like to upload my basic design images via FTP to preserve the original file names. I also recommend you to do so. Upload all the images from the 'images' folder to the 'images' subdirectory of your TXP installation. Also upload the file "undohtml.css" of the css folder to your installation directory.

Next, login to your Admin interface and go to the 'presentation' -> 'style' tab. Save a copy of the default stylesheet as 'default_backup'. Then go back to the 'default' stylesheet, paste the content of 'css.txt' in the css folder into the textarea and save.
You will probably have to change the paths of the images in the stylesheet to the correct path of your installation, so don't forget to do that, or otherwise you won't see any of the images at all.


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// Forms and Templates ////

Then go to the "forms" subtab and backup the form "default" (I always use the form name, followed by _backup to save backups). Open the file "default.txt" from the forms subfolder, paste its content into the form "default" and save. Do the same thing for all the other forms in the folder. Back up the original forms if necessary.

Ok, now follows the default page template. Go to the "pages" subtab in Textpattern, backup the "default" template and save the contents of the "default.txt" from the pages folder as new "default" template. Do the same for the "error_default" template (I didn't use the "archive" template so you can leave this as it is for later use).


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// Plugins //

Plugins are a great way of customizing your TXP installation to fit your needs. However, I decided to use only one plugin to keep this template minimal. The rest is up to you :)
In order to make this plugin work properly, you'll have to install ede_beginning (download it at http://www.bombsites.co.uk) and activate it. It's used to display the beginning of an article in the list view if there's no excerpt for that particular article. I modified it by commenting out a conditional so it will always display the article's beginning, no matter if there is an excerpt or not. You should know some basic PHP if you want to do that, too...


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// The "About" section //

Almost done now.

Go to the sections subtab. There you'll see the "about" section. I used this section for the short "about" paragraphs in the sidebar. 
Settings should be like this:
* uses page: default
* uses style: default
* Selected by default: no
* On front page: no
* Syndicate: no
* Include in site search: no.

When you write an article for the "about" section, it will be displayed on all pages using the "default" template in the top left area. This is to write one or more short statements about you and/or your website, so do write only a short line. If you save more than one article in the "about" section, they will be changed randomly. If you want to change the appearance of this, modify the "about_sidebar" form.


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// Customize the footer //

In the forms subtab, you'll find the "footer" form. Insert your own stuff here to be displayed in the page footer.


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// Start blogging! //

What's left to do now, is to create some categories for articles, links and images and fill them with life. I'll leave it to you to find out how to do that with the textpattern documentation. Besides, it's always good to have a look at the textpattern forum if you need help.

If you have any questions or just want to drop me a line, feel free to contact me at ice-horse@gmx.de

Have fun!

Birgit Zimmermann
http://ice-horse.de