Upgraded to 1.4.3, FAQ looks like hell now...

[sgodun]

So I upgraded from 1.3.12 to 1.4.3, and I couldn't get the FAQ to display properly for love nor money. Spent about a week trying to get it looking somewhat like the old faq to no avail, so I reverted back to the previous version. It would have been nice to have those new features, but trying to figure out this new version is just a pain in the ass and I have better things to do.

Please let me know when the program can again be customized by people who don't bleed in code. Thanks.

[Thorsten]

Hi,

where do you have problems with displaying the FAQ? I agree that the new XHTML/CSS based templates are a little bit harder to change when you've know nothing about CSS.

bye
Thorsten

[sgodun]

It's more like where didn't I have problems. Absolutely every part of the FAQ had rendering problems in every browser I tried. The vertical menu on the left side of the page (return to home, topics, etc) would routinely overlap the horizontal navigation bar on the top (search, ask question, etc) thus rendering both at least partially useless. The column where information appears (news, a FAQ entry, etc) routinely starts about 50-60% from the left of the browser window, thus showing about an acre of empty white space on the left side. Paragraph spacing is absurd everywhere; there are seemingly extra carriage returns after every paragraph. The "Top 5" table is about 2" wide but contains what seems to be 14pt type, so the question comes up as a column of type rather than a paragraph.

It
shows
up
like
this
which
is
really
silly.

I don't think I found anything that rendered correctly, and I tried to fix it for a few days then just gave up and went back to the previous version. It may not be as flexible, but at least it works and doesn't require a PhD to modify.

[Thorsten]

Hi,

which browser did you used? What have you changed in the CSS file? Without any screenshots I can't do anything.

bye
Thorsten

[sgodun]

I tried Safari 1.2.4 on Mac OS X, and Internet Explorer 5.2.3 on Mac OS X. I also tried Internet Explorer 6 on Windows 2000. All are most up-to-date versions. The only thing I changed in the CSS file was the font selection and a couple of colors.

The only way for me to get screen shots is to install the whole thing again. Sorry, ain't gonna happen -- at least not with me. Like I said, I'll wait and hope that the program evolves to a level where it it can customized by someone without a PhD. I figure eventually FAQ software will be written that can be as easily customized as, say, the message forum software I'm using now (WowBB) or have used previously (UBB.threads, MercuryBoard), or Gallery, or any other program I've used and successfully modified.

Not to sound ungrateful for the work that has been put into this program, but... I recognize that XHTML-based templates offer the potential for more features. I'm hoping that it's also recognized (by people other than myself) that a given program could be as modern and technologically powerful as possible, but if it doesn't render on 100% of the browsers correctly and/or if it can't be customized with reasonable ease, the program becomes virtually useless. This is the boat I'm in now.

[Fishwaldo]

Hi,
I have exactly the same issue. The faq page is at http://www.neostats.net/faq/

Screenshot is http://www.neostats.net/faq/faq.bmp

This was also after a upgrade from 1.3.12
The only thing that looks half decent is the actual admin pages. Everything else is as the above poster describes.

[Thorsten]

Hi,

I have exactly the same issue. The faq page is at http://www.neostats.net/faq/

this looks corect like the default layout for phpMyFAQ 1.4. There's no visual error.

bye
Thorsten

[Fishwaldo]

Then I have to say, I really feel this is a step backwards from the 1.3 days. The 1.3 days looked pretty slick, this looks horrible in my opinion.

Are there any other "sample" or user contributed templates available, as I don't have the time or patience to go and learn XHTML and CSS to make this look nice.

[Thorsten]

Hi,

there are some nice templates out there. You can also put a table over the current layout.

bye
Thorsten

[AIVAS]

If there are templates out there, I can't find them. I google'd and came up dry.

Has anybody found them???

[Thorsten]

Hi,

you can ask Jens, who did the templates. You can find his contact on our imprint page on phpmyfaq.de.

bye
Thorsten