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Sandbox theme issues

  1. gmaletic
    Member

    Sorry if this is answered elsewhere...I've been searching for a while and haven't found much concerning how to customize the Sandbox theme, aside from everyone saying how flexible it is (which indeed it is.)

    I find that no matter which Sandbox skin I choose--zero sidebars, one, or two--the resultant blog still has HTML for two sidebars. Worse, both sidebars always have content in them, even if I clear out all of the content on the "customize sidebar" screen.

    What I really want is a skin with one sidebar. How do I get that?

    Thanks very much.

  2. gmaletic
    Member

    Well, I just figured out the "display: none;" CSS command, so I can make the sidebars disappear.

    I'm making good progress, but is there a good tutorial online on how to customize the Sandbox theme with CSS? I haven't found much.

  3. wank
    Member

    I think the assumption has been that because of the relative complexity of Sandbox (it was designed for maximum flexibility, so there are a lot of classes and IDs) there wouldn't be any beginners hacking away on it :)

    What I tend to do if I'm coding a new style is build on top of the existing layout skins, rather than selecting 'no style' and doing the entire thing in custom CSS. So if I wanted two columns, I'd select one of the 2-column minimalist layouts and then add my custom CSS.

    The advantage of this is that all the boring basic structural stuff is already done for you; it should work across multiple browsers and resolutions, and you can concentrate on making your site look pretty. The disadvantage is that you may find yourself using !important a lot to override settings in the base stylesheet, but then I find that's the case even when 'no style' is selected.

  4. greatwarfiction
    Member

    I'm more or less a CSS beginner, and I've been hacking away happily, tweaking existing skins till I get something I like the look of. Apart from the Internet Explorer problems I moaned about on another thread (and which I think I've solved by switching to a one-sidebar layout, which is OK) it's been fun. And I keep on finding new things to tweak.

  5. wank
    Member

    That's great. I think what the staff have been overlooking when they say that the CSS upgrade is for advanced users only is that it doesn't actually take that long for a motivated beginner to become advanced enough to get their blog looking the way they want it. Most people don't learn CSS from books or classes; they cut their teeth playing around on their own sites. That's how I learned, anyway, and it was much more enjoyable that way.

  6. atthe404
    Member

    I did a lot, and I mean a lot; of RTFM.

  7. brentroos
    Member

    I suppose, although using a book for reference isn't a bad idea, nor a bad investment. Places like Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com have many good books on this subject. Also, you might be pleasantly surprised what you will find in your local library.

    Those who are serious enough about learning this might find that a $30.00 investment of a decent book like this will be well worth it. A lot of good books are written with beginners in mind, and advance chapter by chapter.

    Not to mention, it might impress your friends when they see it in your bookcase. :D

    There is also W3schools, which is an excellent resource on the Net. To each his own. Folks like myself who read books frequently might like the printed approach rather than trying to Google for solutions.

    Just a thought.

  8. timethief
    Member

    CSS Learning Resources

    http://www.htmldog.com/guides/cssbeginner/
    http://www.cssbasics.com/
    http://www.w3schools.com/css/

    Every Day Reference:
    http://www.westciv.com/style_master/academy/css_tutorial/

    Advanced:
    http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/

  9. engtech
    Member

    When I started learning CSS in dec my only resource was Google and searching for "css keyword" + looking at other people's CSS designs.

    Of course, Google almost always brings up the w3schools CSS link first, so it really is a good starter.

  10. cornell
    Member

    Eng

    That was exactly how I learnt the basics. I looked at a CSS file and tried to figure out what went to what. Then I looked up on w3schools what the hell they meant. I still regularly break my blog with CSS changes but, damn it's fun!

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