Textpattern Grasslands, Version 1.0

Backup Your Files Before You Start!

Introduction

TXP Grasslands is a template for Textpattern CMS (of version 4.0.4+), designed for simplicity. Made by Carl T. Holscher .

Credits

Features

• valid, tableless, semantic XHTML 1.0 Transitional & CSS code
• great browser compatibility (renders correctly in Firefox, Safari, Camino, Internet Explorer 6 +7)
• search term highligthing
• year/month archives page and contact form (very easy to customize)
• well organized template pages structure (many reusable chunks of code are separated into forms)
• simple 1 column beauty that fits into 800x600 and isn’t too hard on dial up users.
• integrated spell checking (provided by a plugin)
• persistant navigation (you always know where you are)

Installation

The installation shouldn't take much time. It is just a matter of how fast you can do copy and paste. :-) If you are a bit familiar with Textpattern already, just follow the steps below. If not, I recommend reading at least a couple of these wonderful introductory articles before proceeding with the installation.

Each set of files is in a directory corresponding to where they need to go. Pages are pages, forms are forms, styles are CSS, etc.

1. Upload images

   Login to you account using an ftp client and upload the “core” directory of the template package to "images" directory in your textpattern installation.

2. Set up pages

   Every text file in the "pages" directory of the template package corresponds to a template page with the same name. Go to presentation -> pages in your Textpattern admin interface, then create (or replace) all appropriate pages, using the contents of that directory.

   Note that the contact page is optional.

3. Set up forms

   Every text file in the "form" directory of the template package corresponds to a form with the same name. So go to presentation -> forms, then create (or replace) all appropriate forms.

4. Set up CSS

   Go to presentation -> styles, then replace the default stylesheet with the contents of "default.txt" file in "styles" directory.

   If you were unable to access your Textpattern installation through FTP, rename every reference to image in the stylesheet according to filenames you've got after uploading images through the admin interface.

5. Set up sections

   Go to presentation -> sections, create "archive", "about", "search" and "contact" pages (the latter is optional, of course). Set the following settings:

   • "about" section uses "about" page, misc. settings are set to "no"
   • "archive" section uses "archive_list" page, misc. settings are set to "no"
   • "contact" page uses "contact" page, misc. settings are set to "no"
   • "search" page uses "search" page, misc. settings are set to "no"
   • "words" page uses "default" page, misc. settings are set to "yes "

   Don't forget to save every section you adjust.

6. Install plugins

   Go to admin -> plugins, then install plugins by copying the content of each file in "plugins" directory into an appropriate field and clicking "install" (exclude zem_contact_* if you don't use the contact form).

   • ako_spellCheker is used to provide spell checking. (optional)
   • rss_admin_db_manager is used to backup/restore and manage the database. (optional)
   • rsx_word_count, rsx_total_word_count provide the word counts in the post titles. (optional)
   • zem_contact powers the contact form and is easily edited.

   • Do a final bit of editing

     Go to presentation -> pages -> contactform if you have one and change the attribute "to" of "zem_contact" tag to your real e-mail address. I have provided detailed instructions below.

You've done it! Congratulations! Now your website should work fine, but be sure to check everything at this point. The final step would be to customize it a bit...

Customization

• Header Image

  Go to presentation -> forms -> header and swap out the image there for something of your own choosing.

• Contact Form

  Go to presentation -> forms -> contactform. On the second line you will find < txp:zem_contact mailto="YOURNAME@YOURDOMAIN.TLD" Insert your email address where the placeholder is and you’re all set.

• Word Count

  Go to presentation -> forms -> word. Alter or remove the code: ”< txp:rsx_word_count /> words” to get your words counted.

Changelog

• Version 1.0, 6-25-07

  • Initial release of TXP Grasslands