Customization Tool
The Photo Album Customization tool was created to give more advanced users precise control over the design of their albums. So whether you want to tweak an existing photo album builder template or furnish your album with an entirely new design, the Photo Album Customization tool can help.
The best way to get started using the Photo Album Customization tool is to think of your album in sections. Your album comprises a number of separate pages, some of which are in turn composed of individual elements. For instance, your main album page contains both photos and site navigation, each of which is its own editable element.
The Photo Album Customization tool is made up of separate templates that each correspond to your album's pages and elements. If an album page features more than one component, the Photo Album Customization tool offers a template for the page as well as a template for each individual element on that page.
For example, to alter the main page of your album, there is a template in the Album Customization tool that lets you change the design of the page as a whole (the Main Page Layout template), and there are templates that let you change the design of the individual elements that make up the main album page: the Entries on Main Page template (which controls the design of the entries themselves) and the Links on Main Page template (which controls the design of the navigational links).
Pages and Elements
Here's a breakdown of what changes you can make on each of these pages and elements:
- To alter your style sheet, use the Stylesheet template and click Edit to launch the editing environment.
- The Main Album page (main.btpl) features your thumbnails and one large photo view along with various navigational elements that point users to the various pages of your album, as well as to any outside websites you opt to link to.
- The Slideshow Page (slideshow.btpl) is an alternate view of your album in without thumbnails. Visitors can navigate through a large view of each photo.
- Image Component (image.btpl) consists of the large image which is displayed on your main album page and your slideshow page.
- Thumbnails Component (thumbnails.btpl) is the layout and display of thumbnails on your main album page.
- Links Component (links.btpl) controls the way the links in your link manager are displayed.
- Comments Component (comments.btpl) is the layout and display of your visitor comments.
- Add Comment Page (add_comment.btpl) controls the layout and display of the form that your visitors fill out to leave comments about your pictures.
To use the Photo Album Customization tool, select the template corresponding to the page or element that needs modification, then click Edit. This calls up the editing environment.
Components and Variables
By following the instructions in Pages and Elements you should have the Main Page Layout open in the editing environment of the Photo Album Customization Tool. You should see a main editing window on the right with links to explanations of Components and Variables on the left. The main editing window is populated with the code for your main album page.
The best way to get comfortable with the tool is to try a little experimenting. Change the labels on the Next & Previous links, or change the padding of the thumbnail box, then click "Preview" to see what it does to the overall design of the page. Next try commenting out one of the components (using <!-- and --> tags), such as <PHOTO_CMP LINKS>. Notice how that removes the links component completely from the main album page. You can also shuffle the components to change the order in which the elements appear on the page.
You can even use the Photo Album Customization Tool to implement an entirely new design.
Designing from Scratch
Implementing an entirely new album design is easy to do with the Photo Album Customization tool. For instance, if you want to match your album design to your existing webpage design, simply paste the code for the new design in to the editing environment, then plug in the component codes where they belong in your layout.
To change the appearance of one of the elements on the page, for instance, the Links element on the Main Album Page, return to main page of the Photo Album Customization tool and select Links on Main Page. To return to the main page of the Photo Album Customization tool, click Save if you'd like to keep your changes, or Cancel if you'd prefer to leave the layout unchanged. Note that saved changes will not appear on your live site until you publish them (more on that in the Publish/Unpublish/Delete section).
If you've built your new blog design using style sheets, make sure you include the <BLOG_CMP STYLESHEET> component in the <head> of the page. To edit the style sheet itself, select the Stylesheet template and edit the style sheet in accordance with your design.
While you can hard-code elements such as colors and font sizes, your design remains much more flexible if you use the Photo Album Customization tool Variables, followed by the Photo Album Management tool (found on the main Album Control Panel) to fine tune your design.
Once you've implemented all your design changes using the Photo Album Customization tool, you have the option of saving the changes or canceling them and starting over.
Publish/Unpublish/Delete
After you finish making all your tweaks and changes, you can choose to publish them or you can delete them and start over. You can even revert to your previous specifications. To publish or unpublish your changes, use the panel of buttons at the bottom of the Photo Album Customization tool:
The Photo Album Customization Tool panel of publishing options.
- Edit lets you alter a template. If you save your changes in the editing environment, it makes a copy of the file in your photo album directory.
- Preview lets you see how your changes affect the appearance of your photo album.
- Publish makes all your changes appear on your live site.
- Unpublish restores your site to the original template. Note: your customized version is still available for editing and republishing.
- Delete removes your customizations and reverts to the original template settings.
- Upload lets you replace the selected file with a file you specify.
- View Source gives you a clean copy of the source code for the specified file. This can be useful if you prefer to edit your template locally and upload it later.
- Cancel leaves your templates unchanged and returns you to the main Photo Album Control Panel.
Note that when you edit and save a .btpl page, a copy is created in your photo album directory (home_directory/album_publish_name). You can then upload or download it using Photo Album Customization tool's built-in functions, or via FTP. Remember, file changes will not appear on the live site until you publish them.
Once you've perfected your design using the Photo Album Customization tool, use the Photo Album Management tools (located at the bottom of the main Photo Album Control Panel) to put the finishing touches on your site.