November 23, 2008 Using MySpace Layouts with your Snapp Profile
I thought that I’d take this opportunity to briefly touch on the use of CSS and MySpace layouts with your Snapp layout in case some of you missed the Administrative email that went out about it a few weeks back. You can use many of the popular MySpace generators, some work better than others, with a few minor modifications to the code. There are hundreds of sites out there offering layouts for free, all you have to do is Google “MySpace Layouts” and you’ll be given a list of URL’s that you can spend days going through to find a look that you like.
Since Snapp has given us the ability to use custom CSS in our profiles, many have taken advantage of the new ability and have produced some gorgeous profiles. If you haven’t done so already and would like to give it a try, go to your admin page, then "Change your design". You will see three boxes, the bottom box (a large, open text field) is called “New! Paste in "Layouts" code” and is where you paste the CSS code provided by the MySpace layout you’ve chosen to use. Paste your custom CSS into that box and click Save. DON’T FORGET to also save your code in a text or Word document for safe keeping. If you should ever need to refer to that code again you will need to keep it saved on your local hard drive.
Many times unfortunately I will see the standard Contact Me, Add Me, Message Me... graphic that is used with MySpace profiles stuck on your pages. That bit of code which places that unfortunately will not work with SLS as our Contact Me box is considerably larger, so the little image does not line up correctly with the links and floats in the background. For those of you who are ok with looking at code and editing it, here's what you'll want to look for to remove that box. Look for a line that references a background image in the .contactTable code block.
Another bit of code that is a little harder to pick out is the code that puts a banner for the creator or site which you’ve downloaded the CSS from. Sure it’s nice to give them credit, but to have to live with a large, obnoxious banner hovering over your page is not acceptable. To remove that, look for code that looks similar to this and remove it.
The trick with CSS layout editors is that not all of them will work; you may have to try several different ones until you find the one that you like. Please feel free to share the URL of a favorite site with the other members here at SLS. Some good ones can be found at http://www.myspaceoryours.net/, but you’ll need to be sure to remove the Contact Box code as has been stated. They have beautiful layouts that everyone will enjoy.
Remember to test you code and preview it. Save your code for future use too. You can save your code in something as simple as a text file or by pasting it into a Word document. But above all else, test and preview. Sometimes the layout you’ve chosen simply will not work with our layout or will require a tremendous amount of editing that may be out of your ability to edit.
A tip for the code geeks among us, the CSS standards your page follows can easily viewed and saved by clicking View CSS Code in the “New! Paste in "Layouts" code” box. When you click that link, your pages default CSS coding will show. If you wish to write your own CSS based upon these standards you can do so and there will be absolutely no conflict whatsoever with the Snapp layout. So in theory, if you wish to mix the code given to you from a MySpace layout and apply it to the code provided by Snapp, then you can write non conflicting code that will give you a unique look and style.
If what you’ve heard hear frightens you then Snapp has provided excellent tools that will allow you to edit your designs that work with your profile design and will not cause problems to you. You can edit any aspect of your profile to give your profile a distinct look. To do so just choose the Create My Own Design link and the Snapp CSS tool will load which will allow you to set colors, fonts and background images.
And if you don’t wanna mess with none of that, you can choose from a list of created Skins that others have made and submitted by clicking on the Choose a skin link.
For those of you who may still not feel comfortable with modifying code after having read this, please feel free to contact Devil or myself and we will happily assist you.
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