crack open _main.php and find a section that looks like this :

<?php
	// ------------------------------------ START OF POSTS ----------------------------------------
	if( isset($MainList) ) $MainList->display_if_empty(); // Display message if no post

	if( isset($MainList) ) while( $Item = & $MainList->get_item() )
	{
	?>

	<?php
		//previous_post();	// link to previous post in single page mode
		//next_post(); 			// link to next post in single page mode
	?>

	<?php 
		$MainList->date_if_changed();
	?>

	<div class="bPost bPost<?php $Item->status( 'raw' ) ?>" lang="<?php $Item->lang() ?>">

and change it to look like this :

<?php
	// ------------------------------------ START OF POSTS ----------------------------------------
$toggle = false;
	if( isset($MainList) ) $MainList->display_if_empty(); // Display message if no post

	if( isset($MainList) ) while( $Item = & $MainList->get_item() )
	{
	?>

	<?php
		//previous_post();	// link to previous post in single page mode
		//next_post(); 			// link to next post in single page mode
	?>

	<?php 
		$MainList->date_if_changed();
	?>

	<div class="bPost bPost<?php $Item->status( 'raw' ) ?> <?php echo ( ( $toggle = !$toggle ) ? 'odd' : 'even' ); ?>" lang="<?php $Item->lang() ?>">

Then in custom.css add the new classnames :

.odd{
background-color:#fff;
color:inherit;
}

.even{
background-color:#ddd;
color:inherit;
}

¥

Ahhh thats Fantastic ¥åßßå, it worked like a charm! Thanks so much

[url=http://www.akdingo.com/blogs/]My page is here...[/url]

Now that I have fixed the backgrounds, I would like to put all the posts from one date into their own div tags, to add a gap between one date and the next.

I tried adding a few divs and styles in css but it broke the whole design.
I imagine it's got something to do with $MainList->date_if_changed();

If you only want a gap then you don't need a div :

<?php
if( empty( $first_post ) )
{
        $MainList->date_if_changed();
        $first_post = true;
}
else
{
        $MainList->date_if_changed( '<h2 style="margin-top:2em">');
}
?>

Just change the 2em until you get the gap you want.

¥

thanks. That looks much neater, but I would prefer to end the current div tag and start a new div when the date changes... to look similar to [url=http://www.akdingo.com/dingoes/index.php]here[/url]. I still have to figure out the css to keep those div tags lined up on the right too... but thats not a prob for here

<?php
if( empty( $first_post ) )
{
        $MainList->date_if_changed( '<div><h2>');
        $first_post = true;
}
else
{
        $MainList->date_if_changed( '</div><div><h2>');
}
?>



.........

	<?php
	} // ---------------------------------- END OF POSTS ------------------------------------
echo ( empty( $first_post ) ? '' : '</div>' );
?>

Should do it

¥

Thanks. I've played with it without success, but it's late so I will try again tomorrow. The code you gave does work, I saw the page source. I'm just having probs with the css.

I got that div trick to work, thanks. but I came up with another error and ended up starting from scratch. will post in a new post

How about comments? How would I make the comments alternate background colors? Or make my own comments look different than the rest?

For comments it's pretty similar, crack open _feedback.php and add the new bits :

	<?php
$toggle = false; // add this line


	$CommentList = & new CommentList( 0, implode(',', $type_list), array('published'), $Item->ID, '', 'ASC' );

	$CommentList->display_if_empty(
								'<div class="bComment"><p>' .
								sprintf( /* TRANS: NO comments/trackabcks/pingbacks/ FOR THIS POST... */
													T_('No %s for this post yet...'), implode( "/", $disp_title) ) .
								'</p></div>' );

	while( $Comment = & $CommentList->get_next() )
	{	// Loop through comments:
		?>
		<!-- ========== START of a COMMENT/TB/PB ========== -->
		<?php $Comment->anchor() ?>


<!-- amend the following line -->
		<div class="bComment <?php echo ( ( $toggle = !$toggle ) ? 'odd' : 'even' ); ?>">

To style your own comments differently just change this line instead :

	<div class="bComment <?php echo ( empty( $Comment->author_user_ID ) ? '' : 'author_'.$Comment->author_user_ID ); ?>">

And then add the styles for each author to your css :

.author_1{
background:#fff;
color:#f00;
}

Change 1 to tally with the actual author id.

¥

Awesome. You rock! Thanks for the help...