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Site Owner: Sasha
Layout & Coding: Sasha @ SGO
Version: 8.0 Hypnotize ft. Garrett
Lurking: online
Contact Me: @

SGO Premades Installation Instructions

For those of you who think they don't know how to install a skin because it's in php format, don't worry! PHP files are literally html, but you save them with a .php extension in Notepad. You know a lot more than you think. And, because I want to help you, I've made this easy-to-follow tutorial so that you can install my premades. However, it is quite long and precise, but don't be daunted by the length of it. This is a bit more in-depth than the install instructions given as a .txt file in your .zip download, so if you're more familiar with this kind of thing, bear with me.

Also, before we go any further, something to note: this is an installation tutorial for my premade skins only. If you are do not know what an FTP client is or how to use one, you might as well turn back now or figure out how to use one first, because this tutorial does not tell you how to use it.

Installation Step-By-Step

Coding

  1. Firstly, congrats on installing an SGO Premade! If you haven't already done so, unzip your folder to a place in your documents where you will find it. Don't delete your .zip folder just yet-- if you make a mistake with your coding and want to start over, it's a good idea to have the original blank copies at hand.
  2. Open the unzipped folder. It should be titled something like "Basic - (Layout Name) Premade." Inside should be the following files:
    • READ ME FIRST.txt
    • header.php
    • header.png
    • style.css
    • sgofooter.php
    • bg.png
    • button1.png
    • button2.png
    • and, depending on how many dailies files you have, anywhere from dailes1.png to dailies10.png
    Please take a moment to check that these are all there. There might be some extra files thrown in there for extra stuff, such as "recent.png" or something, but don't worry about the files not listed.
  3. Read the "READ ME FIRST.txt" file first, please. It contains a more watered-down instructions guide for those of you who feel like you can handle it from here. Also, it contains Terms of Use rules that you should read fully before installing your skin.
  4. Finished reading? Okay. Go to your FTP upload program (I use FileZilla, which is pretty darn awesome, being free and all) and open your root directory, the one that is there when you first log in. For FileZilla users, the "Remote Site" bar should say "Remote Site: / ". Make sure to back up, I repeat, back up any old files and folders in this root directory, whatever they may be, to your documents, and then DELETE them all. We want to start fresh. We'll deal with your old files later.
  5. Upload ALL the Premade files (except "READ ME FIRST.txt") to your server.
  6. Now open up your web browser and go to the following: "http://YOURSITEURLHERE.COM/home.php" and you should now see your basic layout. Awesome, right? Right. But we've only just started.
  7. Now you want to go to wherever you unzipped the files in your documents and open "header.php" in Notepad.
  8. Ctrl+F and search for "Navigate" (without the quotes). Wherever it says <a href="http://YOURSITEHERE">LINK</a> is where you're going to add the places in your website that people visit. You can employ your old web pages here, such as "Home," "Art," "Icons," "Goodies," and so on.
    • For instance, if you wanted to point to your art page, you would replace the coding with <a href="http://mysiteurl.net/art.php">Art</a>
  9. Next, it says "Recent Art" this is where you can put thumbnails of any recent works. You can skip this one for now... some skins that I make might not even have this one in your "header.php" file. Don't worry about it right now.
  10. Ah, "Dailies." There should be 10 "Dailies" links, for linking to elite affiliates or just people who you visit on a regular basis. Replace "http://SITELINK" or "http://SITE URL" with the person's url, and replace "SITENAME" with the site's name.
  11. "SOTM," or Site of the Month, should be next. Where it says "SOTM here" should be where you put their banner, and as usual, replace "http://SITELINK" with the appropriate links. For the "view" url it should be your SOTM's homepage, and for "why?" it should be the link to the page where the review or award is held. For instance, <a href="http://mysiteurl.net/sotm.php">why?</a> If you don't have a SOTM, just skip all this.
  12. "Featured" is all the stuff you're reading, listening to, or watching right now. Some people like to pictures of the books they're reading, the TV shows they like, or what have you. This is the section to do this in.
  13. "Tagboard" is next. Put your tagboard code here, but be sure that it matches the dimensions of the sidebar. Tweak it a bit on the site where you use your tagboard so that the color and dimensions match, if that's what you want.
  14. "Link back"s are the affiliate buttons. You will edit these soon.
  15. "Site Information". Replace "YOURNAME," the "People online" with coding if you wish, and update the "YOUR EMAIL" stuff.
  16. SAVE EVERYTHING, then exit out of "header.php". Now you should open "home.php".
  17. "home.php" is your template for all your other webpages. When you re-do your old pages that you saved to your documents before you deleted them, this is the format that you're going to use.
  18. Ctrl+F "Welcome" and edit the welcome text to whatever you wish.
  19. Replace the Lorum Ipsum with cutenews coding or whatever updates you want. Save and exit. Re-upload the files you have edited to your server and refresh your browser to see the changes.
  20. Open "home.php" again, go to "Save As" and save it as "index.php." Upload this to your server.
  21. Open "home.php" again. This time, go to wherever you saved your old web pages and open them up. Copy and paste the main body text and coding from your old web pages into "home.php" and save the document as whatever your web page's name was. For instance, if you're pasting your old Art coding into the document, re-save the file as "art.php". Do this for all of your files and then upload the other pages to your server.
    • *****NOTE:***** If you used a "style.css" document before using this premade, there is a very good chance that you can just re-upload your old, original files as they were and they will follow the new "style.css" document's format. Try this FIRST before going back and re-doing all of your old files in the "home.php" format.

Graphics

  1. Open your graphics editor, such as GIMP or Photoshop.
  2. Open "header.png" and add your site's logo somewhere to it. Avoid placing it on the colored rectangle-ish sections, as that is where your text will go. Save and close the file.
  3. Open "button1.png" and "button2.png" and add your logo. These will be your affiliate button files. Save and close files.
  4. Re-upload new files to your server.
Okay, now, take a deep breath! WHEW! You're done! If you have any simple questions, feel free to ask, but keep in mind that for Basic premades I don't offer technical support, so you're pretty much on your own. Enjoy your new layout!

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