Very basic question but can't find the answer:

Noddy

1.Disclaimer: I have zero knowledge of php, css, jquery or any other technical aspects of zenphoto.
2.My knowledge of web sites is limited to writing pure html over 10 years ago and using Frontpage, also 10 years ago.

I want to make basic changes to Zenphoto and every time I search for what I want to do I'm drowning in technical terminology, instructions that are way beyond me and a learning curve so steep as to force me to just abandon any attempt at all at moving ahead.

Example: I'm using the Garland theme. How do I add content to the left sidebar which is currently vacant? I simply want to add a company logo and a couple of links to new pages and when I try to do this I'm baffled by references to tiny_mce, ajax, zenpages, and 20 other things that are just beyond me. Seems like it should be pretty simple but it is just overwhelming.

Is there some editor that I can install that lets me edit pages based on clicking on an area of the page and inserting an image and then clicking another point on the page and adding a link to a page? What I want is Frontpage for zenphoto or what we used to call wysiwyg.

I don't want to be a web designer or a programmer I simply want to make some very minor cosmetic changes to my gallery theme.

Can anyone help me in simple English terms? Thanks very much!!!

acrylian

Sorry, but pure HTML will not get you far. Zenphoto is a flexible tool and based on PHP. Theme are tied into that so you will need to get into PHP basics to learn how to do that.

s there some editor that I can install that lets me edit pages based on clicking on an area of the page and inserting an image and then clicking another point on the page and adding a link to a page? What I want is Frontpage for zenphoto or what we used to call wysiwyg.

Sorry, that is not possible. With Frontpage you create static pages using HTML. Zenphoto is a tool running on your server so there are no real static pages. There are generated on the server before you see them in the browser.

Themes are predefined with design and functionality and a suggestion so any changes you wish beyond that you need to do yourself.

They are however of course HTML files with PHP placeholders for Zenphoto's function calls. Look at the theme files for Garland and you will find div elements for the sidebars (leftsidebar). There you can insert your logo. For new pages you will have to insert a function that does this.

I strongly recommend to read the theming tutorial for the basics of Zenphoto theming.
I am sorry but there is no easier answer.

Noddy

Thanks very much for responding Acrylian!

I did understand that pure html was not going to be very useful anymore - it was mentioned just as a clue to my having no current web design skills!

Zenphoto is a marvelous thing - the fact that I could create 30 albums and have all the thumbnails and so on done for me is wonderful - with a few minor annoyances - like not being able to figure out how to turn off any and all date references.

Having said that, unfortunately, Zenphoto is not going to work for me any longer. I don't even know what a "function" or placeholder is let alone how to add any to div elements whatever they may be.

Finally, and not in any way to be rude, the theming tutorial is useless to a layperson. Sorry just one man's opinion - but there is no way that a non-technical person can do this when almost every term used in the tutorial needs to be looked up separately. Unfortunately I have neither the time nor the inclination to learn the necessary skills so I will have to find another solution. Perhaps some commercial product would be more appropriate.

BTW, prior to posting on the forum I did place an ad on Craigslist trying to find someone locally with the skills to do what I need and got no response whatsoever.

Thanks again for your response and for making Zenphoto!

Noddy

PS: also prior to posting I attempted to decipher what was going on behind the scenes with at least 3 different tools including the web development plugin for Firefox along with Firebug and Phoenix.

acrylian

Finally, and not in any way to be rude, the theming tutorial is useless to a layperson. Sorry just one man's opinion - but there is no way that a non-technical person can do this when almost every term used in the tutorial needs to be looked up separately.

Yes, that is so and we say it right at the beginning of the tutorial that creating Zenphoto themes requires knowledge or the will to learn such. But that is very same case with all other CMS out there (and believe me, Zenphoto is rather straight forward compared with other and bigger ones out there). The advantage is a flexible tool free of charge and being selfhosted under so called full control about the content.

Unfortunately I have neither the time nor the inclination to learn the necessary skills so I will have to find another solution. Perhaps some commercial product would be more appropriate.

I do understand but as they say "you can't have it all"...;-) The commerical CMS can cost you quite a fortune. Maybe look at ready made hosted services first then, there are several popular ones. But of course they don't look individual and have even more limits regarding the look.

BTW, prior to posting on the forum I did place an ad on Craigslist trying to find someone locally with the skills to do what I need and got no response whatsoever.

Zenphoto is a smaller project so there might not be loads of specialists like there are for Wordpress for example. But any web programmer should be able to get into that.

Just to note, we also have a "paid support" page.

Noddy

Thanks acrylian. I had noticed and considered the paid support page but was convinced that what I need is so simple that it would be somewhat beneath the actual developers of Zenphoto!

acrylian

Of course we do like bigger projects but we respectively I try to help with anything if asked and having the time.