Converting Andreas08 to 3 columns

Ianardo · Post by **Ianardo** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 6:33 pm

Hi, does anyone know of a quick way to convert the Andreas08 template to 3 columns? At the moment you can only put plugins on the right or left - I need to do both.

Cheers
Ian

carl_galloway · Post by **carl_galloway** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 8:42 pm

The quick and dirty way would be to add an additional wrapper div for the existing two columns, then insert the extra column within the new wrapper, floating it to the left or right, and the wrapper for the original two columns gets floated the opposite direction.

It should take about 5 minutes to add the html code, then you'd need to play with the styles to make it look pretty. Question is, how urgently do yo need it done, and is there a demand for a three column andreas08 template?

Give me a day and I could upload a new version with the three columns but it's going to take me away from other work so this needs to be something you really really want

Ianardo · Post by **Ianardo** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 11:44 pm

Carl, as always you are a star!

I really do need the three columns but it can certainly wait a few days as I have plenty of other things to do - really swamped at the moment.

As usual there will be a full credits page acknowledging your help.

I've been away from Serendipity for a while, at a client's request, trying to get my head around Joomla - a bloody nightmare that was! He then turned around and said it was too complicated for him to use so could I please go back to Serendipity - which I suggested in the first place!!!

Ho hum!

carl_galloway · Post by **carl_galloway** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 8:12 am

Ok, I'll start working on this but I'll take my time instead of sacrificing other projects, so will hope to have it uploaded by the end of the weekend.

I have a very important question. How wide do you want the template. The existing andreas08 is 760px, and the sidebar is 175px using a background image to give it the full height background color. a 3 column template at 760 means the sidebars have to be much narrower so it would be better to increase the width of the whole template, and by my calculations adding the extra sidebar would effectively make it 930px wide, is this what you want?

Ianardo · Post by **Ianardo** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 10:02 am

Cheers Carl
I've answered fully in a PM.

carl_galloway · Post by **carl_galloway** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:11 am

Thanks Ian,

And for the unadulterated pleasure of other s9y users, Ian's request means that I'll be releasing a new version of andreas08 soon, within a couple of weeks that will handle 3 columns. I don't just want to release a basic update, so this will be a comprehensive upgrade of andreas08.

Ianardo · Post by **Ianardo** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:20 am

Cool

carl_galloway · Post by **carl_galloway** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 4:31 pm

The first draft of the andreas08 template has been worked out, it will remain a tableless content first design, and is now working in 3 column, and Ian seems happy.

Now what I need to do is completely overhaul the template so that other users get the most from it. So, what do you want?

I notice that the vast majority of users prefer the blue colorset, I haven't seen any examples online of the green, pink or purple colorsets being used, and only one of the nuclear, so, has anyone got any suggestions for new colorsets for andreas08, and what other features would you like to see added to the code base?

Let me know asap so I can start adding things.

Ianardo · Post by **Ianardo** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 4:49 pm

I'm very happy thanks Carl.
Suits the job I need it for perfectly.
I'll post a link when the site is finished.

Cheers
Ian

carl_galloway · Post by **carl_galloway** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 5:33 pm

So it looks like nobody has anything to request for the andreas08 template. Are you all sure about this? Speak up now or forever hold your peace.

Neut · Post by **Neut** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 11:39 pm

Hey Carl, Nuclear was my favourite version.

carl_galloway · Post by **carl_galloway** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 8:31 am

Hey Neut,

I love what you've done with the template, do you want to contribute a colorset? I'll give you full credit in the footer. It is possible to change the footer text based on the colorset being used so the footer could say

"colorset by neut, original design by Andreas Viklund"

All you need to do is send me the stylesheet, the images, and any .tpl files you've changed.

carl_galloway · Post by **carl_galloway** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 11:41 am

Ianardo, if you're reading this thread still, I'd love to include a cartoonish colorset, are you up for the job?

Ianardo · Post by **Ianardo** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 10:26 am

Absolutely - but I'm a bit tied up in deadlines for a week or so.

carl_galloway · Post by **carl_galloway** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 10:44 am

That's fine, looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

@all, the three column version needs to be a bit wider than the original andreas08 template to make sure all sidebar plugins play nice, especially things like AdSense blocks etc, and I don't want to squash the content too much. Any objections to making the template 800px wide instead of 760px?