Where did you install b2evolution? You need to copy everything from the blogs folder to your web root, or copy the whole folder to your web root. The former would give you an url of

http://www.chemical-x2.com/index.php

to view your blog. The latter will show up at

http://www.chemical-x2.com/blogs/index.php

I put it all on my server, www.chemical-x2.com/b2

The first thing you need to do is set one of your blogs to be the default blog on index so it stops showing that page. Log into the back office, go to the blogs tab, click on "Blog B Title", then click on 'Default blog on index, then click 'Save'. Now your blog should show at

www.chemical-x2.com/b2

personman wrote:

The first thing you need to do is set one of your blogs to be the default blog on index so it stops showing that page. Log into the back office, go to the blogs tab, click on "Blog B Title", then click on 'Default blog on index, then click 'Save'. Now your blog should show at

www.chemical-x2.com/b2

ok, i got that far, but i want the blog to show up inside of my website, like with my Nav and banner around it

Do what personman said, then read [url=http://b2evolution.net/man/2005/06/18/make_a_skin_based_on_my_proper_layout]the manual[/url]. It's for an older version, but 99% of it is right.

I haven't actually installed the program yet, as am still doing some research about which one will be the easiest to integrate into my html site. So far it seems like b2evolution has the best documentation a la the manual you refer to.

Now my question is this...

If only 99% of it is right, will it work? I know that you can break something with a misplaced comma so 1% seems like a high margin to me. Could you possibly (and gently, as I am not ignorant of my own choice but only because I haven't learned yet...same as you once were) explain this to me?

Is it going to be sooooo hard to integrate with my site? right now it does seem a bit overwhelming.

tia
Jo-Anne

What do you mean by 'integrating' it with your site? Usually people have a blog either on the main page or in a subfolder. You can edit a skin to make it match the rest of your site. If you make your blog your front page, then you can edit the skin to add in any links or other content that you need to. You should be able to do most of what you need to do just by editing skins. No need to mess with the core code. In that case you don't really need to worry.

like the quote...Dave Barry is hilarious.

Anyway, by integrate i mean have it show up in the content area of my site with existing nav, header and footer around it.

The reason I am having trouble, is that I built my site with FrontPage ( I know, I know...but I'm running my own business, don't have the time to learn .css right now and DEFINITELY don't have the cash-ola to pay someone reliable)

So, the shared borders thing means that I don't actually have a header.inc file or anything like it, neither do I have a footer file or a nav file.

I do want the blog INSIDE my site.

you can check it out if you want... http://www.studioopal.ca

maybe I'm just missing something really obvious, and if so you can hit me with it. ;)

Jo-Anne

I don't know anything about frontpage (on purpose), but it shouldn't be too hard to convert your layout into a b2evolution skin. There is a very helpful guide about [url=http://b2evolution.net/man?p=44565&more=1&page=3]how to convert an html layout into a skin[/url].

I don't know about the latest and greatest from the idiots er um staff at FrontPage, but FP is pretty much bloatware. They use TONS of 'behind the scenes' code to build your top and side and bottom nav links. That's why you have to enable frontpage extensions on your server: without those extensions you get NOTHING from the bloat front page builds in. Tons of extra folders starting with an underscore. Tons of them!

Anyway here's what you do. First you decide to get away from FP and into real coding stuff. Assuming you pick b2evo as your web generating tool you're in the right forums. Visit your web's main page and save the source file. IT is your web: not the thing you see when you open front page!!!

Now begin working with b2evolution in a folder on your domain and see about using personman's link to turn your page into a skin or template. I'm into skins, but whatever works is what works.

It'll take some learning - of course. FP is all about not learning though, so you're behind the same 8-ball I was when I first got away from FP. It's tough, but you end up with much more power and ability than FP ever dreamed of giving you, and you have cleaner code that delivers to each visitor faster. Gotta love good code eh?

I was going to suggest the same thing (view your web page in a browser, save as a regular html page, then uninstall front page). You can get some helpful syntax highlighting from something like Notepadd++ (or better yet: Vim if you have shell access). It does take some work, but learning to use Vim and the *nix command line has saved me hours upon hours. I can just edit the files right on the server. Good luck!

stop being newbs ;)
Use Dreamweaver 8 :D

Vim 4 lyfe!! ;D

alright, you've pretty much got me convinced. Just so y'all don't think I'm stupid and lazy I want to clarify: I'm just stupid...not lazy. The old site was all pretty and nicely coded, but it was built for me. Here's where the stupid part comes in. I didn't know that backing up the site on the server wouldn't be sufficient, and when the server crashed they successfully wrecked the backup drive by accidentally formatting the wrong drive. Then major router upgrades and software problems and blah blah blah.

anyway, I needed a site pronto and fp was definitely the only way that was going to happen. I knew at the time that it was a temporary solution, and have been putting off the inevitable for several weeks now. :(

So, if I can extract a promise that this forum will remain as friendly and helpful (and patient...very very patient) as it seems to be then I will spend my christmas holiday getting bombed on spiked coffee and rebuilding the website properly.

I'm not a moron (if you want proof, I installed ralfchat all by myself! Thought it was pretty easy, actually), and am perfectly willing to try and try again, but I won't kid myself that I can do it without some help.

Whadda ya say???

Jo-Anne

(I'll also have to change my nick!)

yes, I promise to read the how-to's and use the search function of the forum.

This forum is friendly and the people are quick to respond.
Except i'll be leaving these holidayz for my own holiday... :D so i won't be responding that much :( :)

But there are still around 5-10 gurus that constantly post.

b2evo is surrounded by good development, good developers and good people, so don't be scared ;)

I say go for it. I'll help out however I can. Playing around with b2evolution skins is a great way to learn more about html/php/css.

Hi,

I'm interested in putting a blog inside my frontpage also, but I'm confused.

1. I don't know which installation to download because there's quite a few.

2. I completely forgot how to do databases.

Could someone help me along this process?

Nawt,

I recommend using the latest stable version, which is 0.9.1. You only need to create an empty database. If you're not sure how to do that, then check with your web host.

personman,

I found the databases, but it asks for a username, password, and an access host below the databases.

Should I ignore this or make up some username, password, and an access host?

No, you can't ignore it. You have to have a host, user and password. Every web host does this differently, so you'll need to ask them.

I now have the user, password, and host all fixed.

I also created a database named something like "username_b2evolution." I'm still confused.

I was reading a manual and it told me the steps to take into putting b2 on my server, but now I can't seem to find it.

I'm not sure, but the manual I read in this thread isn't the same as the one I read about creating a database called "b2evolution".

Since I want my blog on my homepage, should I just stick to the manual inside of this thread?

I'm not sure what manuals you're talking about, but read this one. It should help:

http://manual.b2evolution.net/Install_b2evolution

Question...

I'm uploading the "blogs" folder and, I'm getting a popup menu asking me to overwrite, skip, or abort the same filenames I had before I began to upload.

Should I overwrite them?

Yes, overwrite them.

I've uploaded the folder, but I don't see the "blogs" folder. Although, I see all of the subfolders from inside of it.

Is this correct? If so, why aren't all the all the subfolders inside the "blog" folder?

Btw..sorry to be asking so many questions. lol

You don't actually have to have the blogs folder. You can just put all of its contents into another directory (even your web root). You should be able to go ahead and install now if you want to.

Back with a few questions. I'm on this [url=http://b2evolution.net/man/2005/06/18/make_a_skin_based_on_my_proper_layout]manual[/url] and I was wondering do I have to do any of the first steps 1-6? I have no idea what they're wanting me to do.

Also, could my "main.php" to take over as my "index.html"?

You're absolutely right. You can skip the first six steps and use a _main.php instead of making a template. That's the way I use that guide. In fact, my bookmark for that guide goes straight to [url=http://b2evolution.net/man?p=44565&more=1&page=3]page three[/url]. That's the code you really need.

Alright. Thanks.

Another question. I don't want any comments, a search, or a calendar.

It it possible to just have the archives?

Sure, anything's possible. Just edit the _main.php file for the skin you're using and remove those parts.

Just a comment on FP. I cannot start to understand the fight bet coders and frontpagers-n-such. If you are a designer, you definetely want to see what you are doing so this is where WYSIWYG come in handy. I think the best option for a designer is to know how to code and yet to be able to use FP or EW or DW whatever. It is not stupid it is just plain common sense. For the "purists" of coding vs wysiwyg, I would say that 99.99 % of people visiting your site would look at the design and hardly ever look at the code behind, the code in itself is not the reason why we code in first place. In any case, why would we despise a designer who uses wysiwyg? He or she needs to "see" what they are doing. I cannot imagine an interior designer having to start from scratch by creating and manufacturing his own paint, and then do the actual painting without seeing it. I think wysiwyg is an advancement and not a back-sliding from pure code. As I said, we should do both, working with wysiwyg while knokwing what the program should be writing in the back, so that we do not allow it to make mistakes is rather good, not bad.

Ego Dixit

JC

I edit php, html and css in a text editor (TextMate). I absolutely monitor what the page is going to look like as I go along. For that I use a web browser. That way I'm editing code with the best tool possible and rendering the page with the best tool possible. The two work together perfectly. That also allows me to test in multiple browsers as I go along. The big problem I have with things like FrontPage and DreamWeaver is that I don't have control over the code they spit out. It may be slopy, invalid, inefficient or just wrong for what I need. But if a visual editor works best for you, then use it.

By the way, welcome to the forum!