Directory Insider

5 - phpLD Template Tutorial - Final Blank Template

So the long awaited blank template has arised, well sort of. I have something maybe not what I first invisioned but it sort of like a clean CSS 2 column slate to work with for those wanting their own customized directory and know a little CSS/XHTML.

By the way, I had a bit of a problem with my oh so wonderful web host named godaddy that had “misplaced” my database. Atleast I had a backup that I was running nightly as a script. I never trust shared web hosting for backups or for anything for that matter. I moved to DreamHost and they’ve really have been a Dream ;). All in all I apologise for the wait and I planned to finished this tutorial so I have. So let’s get it over with.
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Quality Directories to Your Inbox

I found this site today, Directory Inbox. It is a very unique and interesting idea. What it essentially does is takes 10 free and 10 paid directories and sends them to yur inbox. These direcotries are ranked as quality directories based on PR,PS, design, listings and reputation. I’m always looking for good quality directories so why not sign as it is free.

New Addition: Directory News Section

The new addition to Directory Insider is a directory news section. It features blogs and news from SEO and directory sites. It is a one stop place to find out what is happening in the directory world. If you would like to have your site or blog featured please comment with a link to your site and I will review it for addition.

We’re backup and running

After many troubles with our old hosting company godaddy we decided to move to a new host, dreamhost.com. THey exceded my expectations as a hosting company and I’m extremely pleased I moved. It took a while to move the databases as godaddy had “misplaced” my database but we are backup and running and will be reviewing links for submission that were delayed during the process.

Directory-Owners.com Forum

I just wanted to post about this directory owners forum, excellent friendly community. Everyone is welcome and you can ask almost anything about directories with lots of honest helpful feedback. Great if your just starting a directory or if you’ve made ten already and need to pick up on something a little extra.

4 - phpLD Template Tutorial - The 2 column CSS layout

In this tuorial we will are going to build a basic 2 col layout using CSS and XHTML. We will then integrate this layout with the main.tpl file we produced in our last tutorial. After that we will cut this up to reproduce the original header.tpl, top_bar.tpl and footer.tpl files.
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List of websites with lists of free phpLD Templates

I decided to create a list of websites that had lists of free phpLD templates because a lot of them go offline and such so it is good to keep tract of as many as possible. Who knows when you’ ll need it.

So hear is the list for now:

• Script Debate’s free phpLD Template list
• BlueRaccoon’s free phpLD Template list
• Style My Directory’s free phpLD Template list - not yet up but hopefully soon
• Directory-Onwer’s free phpLD Template list - an ongoing forum post for all directory scripts but predominantly phpLD

I will try to add more as I find them.

3 - phpLD Template Tutorial - The blank phpLD Template

In this tutorial we will develop the most basic template for phpLD. This will serve as our backbone for the rest of the design process. We are going to start with just main.tpl and develop the basic output of our design, strip of everything except the “necessary” components. Later, in another part of the tutorial we will start a basic 2 column layout and divide this file up to produce the header.tpl, top_bar.tpl and and footer.tpl files.

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2 - phpLD Template Tutorial - Default Template Explained

In this part of the tutorial we will explain what each of the .tpl files in the default template is responsible for. This will focus on the output of each template file, when these files are displayed and how this relates to the structure of the template. This part of the turtorial will serve as the foundation for the rest and give us a little insight into how phpLD works.

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1 - phpLD Template Tutorial - Valid design and smarty templates

In this series of articles we’ll be building a valid PHP Link Directory (phpLD) template. phpLD is the most widely used directory script on the internet and a free open source version is available, phpLDv2. The template will be designed using this open source version so all can follow. This article will be a several part series in a step-by-step fashion showing you how to design your very own valid phpLD template. Before diving into the design process we will need to cover two things: Valid Wed Design and Smarty Templates - the template engine used by phpLD.

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