Topic: Custom Portal layout

[hyxer]

Greetings fellow SP & smf users. This is my first post.  i hope i didn't post in the wrong section.

i was planning to make my homepage as in the picture using custom html/css. (i'm going to learn that later)

the white blocks is the planned place for the portal blocks. maybe i'll go learn some php to call the block functions from within the page.

my questions are:

1. How can i make the Home page to be the custom html page i'm going make instead of the default SP page?
2. Which css file store the style for the blocks?
3. Do u guys think my idea is doable?

oh btw im using SMF 2 RC 3& SP 2.3.2

[AngelinaBelle]

Assuming you've already got a theme like the one in the mock-up, I think you can do this using a combination of standard SimplePortal blocks (which would make this a support question) and some custom coding to display blocks within blocks (which would make this a custom coding question). It looks like you also wish to simplify and rearrange your navigation menu. This could be a very simple step, and does not involve SimplePortal very much at all -- you'll probably get better support on modifying your buttons in Subs.php over at simplemachines.org.  You may not need to do any theme modification just to support SimplePortal, but if you do want to do other types of theme modification, you can probably find better support in the appropriate board at simplemachines.org.
 
So I'll briefly answer your 3 questions and move the topic to support.
 

1. How can i make the Home page to be the custom html page i'm going make instead of the default SP page?

SimplePortal's home page is always the portal page.
You can lay out your portal page to look very much like the one you mocked up by turning all the default blocks off, then adding a custom HTML or php top or bottom block to the portal page (no title, no body). You can use variations on some of the "Blocks in Blocks" tricks from [SiNaN]'s recent blog post to get blocks layed out the way you want them -- http://simpleportal.net/index.php?topic=5332.0
 

2. Which css file store the style for the blocks?

portal.css, in the default theme, has the styles.  You can also individually re-style blocks using the custom Style options at the bottom of the block edit http://simpleportal.net/index.php?action=docs;area=block_editor

3. Do u guys think my idea is doable?

Assuming you've already got a theme that looks like the mock-up, then yes -- you can create a custom php block-of-blocks with your desired layout. It will take a lot of fiddling with the HTML and the CSS to get the heights and widths just the way you want them.

[ccbtimewiz]

my questions are:

1. How can i make the Home page to be the custom html page i'm going make instead of the default SP page?
2. Which css file store the style for the blocks?
3. Do u guys think my idea is doable?

1.) Change the associated action that loads 'home' to something else through index.php. Eg you could load a custom page that would be considered 'home' to SMF. Fairly simple to do.

2.) portal.css contains the rules for blocks.

3.) Fairly doable, considering you load the proper blocks on the custom page using PHP. You can call specific blocks inside blocks using SiNaN's Block Inside Blocks method, or you could hardcode the custom page itself.

[hyxer]

wow. thanks for the replies.

I've never thought of the block in block idea, definitely gonna try it.

the picture was from a rough design done in .psd. not a real theme yet. going to move slowly towards that final view. hope it can be done by this weekend.

[AngelinaBelle]

I suppose you'll be doing something like:
1) Theme customization -- simplemachines.org
2) Menu button simplification -- simplemachines.org
3) Lose the current blocks -- http://simpleportal.net/index.php?action=docs;area=the_blocks_list
4) Create the 5 new blocks you are going to use, plus a custom php block that will (eventually) contain them -- http://simpleportal.net/index.php?action=docs;area=adding_a_block
5) Write some php for the HTML to layout the spaces your blocks are going to be in
6) Use Blocks-in-blocks to put the blocks in the right spots http://simpleportal.net/index.php?topic=5332.0
 
Enjoy!

[hyxer]

promised update. the block in block is working. but still lots of work left to do.

[AngelinaBelle]

You've made good progress already!