Layout
This section modifies the overall page layout in the profile. We will go through the options one-by-one.
Profile Name: Specify your profile name in the box. (We recommend using something descriptive to distinguish it from the other profiles.)
Profile Description: Enter a relevant description of the profile. For example, if you were creating a profile for the member's section of the website, you could enter the following description: 'Private member's section, opening page'. This helps you keep track of profiles easily.
Measurements: Specify the measurements of your page header, footer, and body. It can be specified in pixels or as a percentage of the screen size. A good rule of thumb is to limit your screen width to 800 pixels and the length (where possible) to 600 pixels. The margin is the space around your page from the edge of the window, in pixels.
As you change the values, the sample screen shot will adjust to show you the effects of your measurement input.
Next, you must specify small measurement adjustments such as padding and sidebars.
- Left Pad changes the amount of space between the edge of your page and any text you have in the sidebar.
- Left Sidebar specifies the width of the sidebar at the left. If you are planning to have a menu along the left side of the page there must be a left sidebar of at least the width of your menu boxes.
- Left Buffer specifies the amount of space there will be between any content of the main area and the left sidebar.
- Right Buffer specifies the amount of space there will be between main content and the right sidebar.
- Right Sidebar, like the Left Sidebar, indicates how wide the right sidebar will be (if there will be one). Note: If you plan to have polls or questionnaires on your page, or if you plan on showing sub menus on the right side, this must be set to at least a value of 1.
- Right Pad changes the amount of space between the edge of the page and any content of the right sidebar.
You can play with these values until you have found a layout that works for you.
Align Site: Choose to align your site either to the left or the center.
Page Titles: Changes the visibility of your titles at the top of each page. Choosing "Visible" will result in having the page title at the top of every page opened.
Location Path: You may have a visible location path at the top of your page. This will show the path of pages which leads directly to the page you are currently viewing.
Status Bar: The bar at the top of the page where you can access administrative options and other main sections of the site. It is recommended to have this set to visible on most pages.
Sign-In Box: Fields to insert your username and password to access the private side of the site will be visible in the left sidebar if this is set to visible.
Status Bar Style: Select a status bar style or use custom settings (we will be looking at the custom settings later in Status Bar Settings).
Menuing: Choose between a standard menu, a dynamic menu (menu items will change upon rollover), or no menu at all. The dynamic menu is a script-based menu that allows users to view site heirarchy from any location on the site. When the mouse is placed over a link, a sub-menu appears for that page (slides out). Sub-menus will appear down to 10 levels deep.
Standard Sub Menu: Choose to show all pages under the page a user is currently on. You can choose to have them show on the right, on the left, or mark the checkbox if you do not want them at all. Note that you must have a sufficient amount of padding on the right/left to have your submenus show.
Custom Style Sheets, Designs and Sections will be explored in further depth later on. These should be set to "Yes" if you are planning on creating specific font styles, custom headers, footers, backgrounds or sidebars.
Once you have filled out the General Settings page, click "Update General Settings" and they will be applied to your profile.