CMS Made Simple Forums

Hey all,

I'm a total newbie here, first time user of CMS made simple. Have to say that it's superb though, seems I can actually create what I need for my client then allow her to manage content simply!

But I'm also a newbie to CSS sadly. Up to now all my sites have been pretty basic HTML tables (done with Fireworks/Dreamweaver) and all have worked in every browser on both Mac and PC with no problems.

So, I fire up CMSMS and start tinkering, just basically. And before you know it I've got pretty close to the look I want only, and here's the problem, everything I do to the stylesheet I'm using seems to be totally ignored by IE (v5.2.3 Mac, though I'm guessing it'll be the same on any version/platform).

For instance I changed the body font to the serif family and it worked fine in FF, Safari, Netscape but Explorer - nope. Stayed the original sans face.

I've read a little about IE hacks - is this what I should be trying to find more about? Or is there something I'm missing to make IE see my stylesheet?

Oh and my designs are, so far, made up by trial and error editing of the default installation layout/stylesheet templates. Have a look, if you need, here but please don't laugh - it's only the bare bones!

Many thanks in advance ...

site looks good so far, i notice you seem totally weened off of tables,    very lite weight pages,
as far as the 'font' i would try using lower case letters and '  ' ,notice single quotes, around 2 or more word fonts, note that 'Times New Roman' and 'Times' i believe need Caps, i noticed 2 of these in the source,,



do you have the {stylesheet} tag in the template twice?

    mark

Hi Mark,

Thanks for taking time to look at this for me.

Starting from the end of your message, no, I don't see {stylesheet} twice in my layout template, however I do have two

Reason for that is two fold. Firstly I read about a problem with Explorer displaying text for CSS based designs for a brief moment (can't remember where) and that a line like that fixes the problem. Secondly it was an attempt to fix my main problem of IE not 'seeing' my desired styles. Half worked - after I added that line the body copy went serif but still doesn't use the same leading (print term I know, not sure of web related equivalent) in IE as it does in all other browsers plus the footer text remains wrong in IE - it's still white. In all other browsers it's grey.

I'll try adjusting the font names in the source now, we'll see! Hmm, if I did what you suggested correctly then it hasn't made a blind bit of difference. Whilst IE is showing serif body copy still it isn't leaded the way I want.

Another thing I've noticed is that the nav bar has a rollover colour in Safari etc., but none in IE - no rollover effect at all.

I think I may start from scratch tomorrow - perhaps I broke something with my tinkering!

Oh, and thanks for the comment about being weened off tables. I've been meaning to get my head around CSS for ages, but not had time. Curiously in trying to set up this site I've actually learnt more about how CSS styled pages work than in any other reading I've done!

One question - on a related, but slightly parallel track ...

Would there be any mileage, do you think, in my trying to set up the site template externally, in Dreamweaver, and at the same time create a single .css stylesheet file for it? One thing I find a little confusing about CMSMS is how it seems to use a dozen different stylesheets then, looking at the code for my site, seems to 'bang them together' into a single big file. Or would I be better off, as a beginner, to continue down the path I've started - editing the supplied templates?

Cheers!

Maybe it's something in your version if Internet Explorer? I have IE6 on WindowsXP, and I get the exact same "look" to the page as in Firefox. Complete with mustard color rollovers on the menu.

I love the work you're doing on the template, especially the rounded corners and the "floating" look to the menu.

ok sorry if i got you going when i said 'Caps' i meant the first letter like i had Times,,,
one thing if you want all words to be the same font put,,

body {font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;}

in the top of style sheet and delete any other 'font' tags in the style sheets unless you need a certain font somewhere then call it out for that section such as footer {bla bla bla font-family: somefont, somefont, somefont, sans-serif;, usualy there is a CSS called 'Typo' with the install it might have a line at the top like the blue one above,, the reason for more than one 'font' choice is that if the 'visitor doesn't have that 'font' installed on their machine you can try for another untill it finds one you asked for or just use the default for the browser.
i've learned a lot from just messing around with what i found and here http://www.w3schools.com/default.asp ,, it really helps when i can't remember things and they have a lot of 'try it' things where you can,, try it

      mark

Cheers Mark, see what you mean about fonts now - should have known that already! Doh!

Hotaru - interesting and useful info there mate, thank you. It could well be my IE version. 5.2 is the last Mac version (I believe MS won't be making any newer IE versions for Mac). To know the site looks right, and works properly, on a PC is very helpful. Perhaps I need to get a cheap PC or even Virtual PC so I can proof stuff on that platform too.

I'm happy with the template too, so far, though the 'floating' nav bar isn't supposed to be hanging outside of the main border! But thinking about it ... I kind of like it! Maybe it'll stay that way!

Thanks again for the help folks.

Greg

Hello!

Would there be any mileage, do you think, in my trying to set up the site template externally, in Dreamweaver

I have a similar setup at home where I use a combination of DW, a css editor and hand coding. It's easy to set up a single stylesheet - I did it for www.bridges.org.au but I was starting completely from scratch and I'm used to css (DW chucks a bit of crap in - even with DW8 I still have to edit it a lot).
If you are beginning with CSS or if other people are editing the stylesheet (like if you hand the site over to clients), it is probably easier to use multiple sheets like they are set up in the backend. That way the colours for example can be changed easily without having to sort through one area. Also IMHO it's easier to hunt out bugs if you separate them out.
But as I feel comfortable with css, then I find it easier to use one stylesheet.

Thanks sydneysunshine, good advice.

I have managed to get the site to a stage I'm happy with - just waiting on client approval and I think she'll be happy.

So for this one I'm going to leave the multiple sheets within CMSMS for the very reasons you suggest. Next one I do maybe I'll go the single sheet route just to save my own confusion!

BTW I like your bridges site - very nice work!

Greg

Got Link 

    mark

Interesting site Mark. Some nice templates there mate, if I may say so.

Don't know if you're aware though the pull out menus don't work in Safari - they appear behind the breadcrumbs line and part of the top of the main content area plus they are unselectable.

They work fine in FireFox though.

And sadly the whole design falls apart completely in IE 5.2 (Mac). Though that's to be expected I reckon, plus unlikely to be of concern as I doubt many Mac owners use IE.

Annoying, this web design stuff, isn't it!