using images in product sections

[Turtle37]

HI,
Im new to actinic so im a bit of a novice. Im wandering if it's possible to to use company logo's in the product section instead of just text. If you look at my website www.toolbox37.com you will see that on the left hand side i've just got the brand names there. I just think it would look good if i could put the company logo's there instead. Or failing that how do you alter the text so i can make it bigger or in different colours.

Many thanks for your time

[jont]

Do you mean under departments where you have Bergen Tools, Franklin Tools etc? If so then you will need to edit the Act_Primary.html template in the root of the site 1 folder and you can add the company images in there and then create a link through to the correct pages.

[Turtle37]

Thanks Jont.

That is what i want to do. The trouble is im new to all this. Do you know which part of the act_primary.html i need to edit and what do i need to type in to link the picture to the page.

Sorry for bothering you

[jont]

Hi Rob,

looks like you are using the Best Seller theme - or a similar derivative.

Take a copy of the Act_Primary.html template first before making any changes. Look for the following (or similar) line in your template:

<td width="170" valign="top" bgcolor="NETQUOTEVAR:PALCOLOR1CSS"><img src="menu_bottom.gif" width="170" height="91"></td>

It is the menu_bottom.gif part you are looking for in particular. The image is 170 pixels wide so probably best to make your images that size (or use the same colour background as menu_bottom.gif if they are going to be smaller)... put your new images in above the menu_bottom.gif so you will still have the blank coloured spacer at the bottom of the menu.

To link through to a specific page the best way is to have the browser open on the page you want to link through to and simply copy and paste the URL so you get the correct syntax. The code for the Franklin will look something like:

<td width="170" valign="top" bgcolor="NETQUOTEVAR:PALCOLOR1CSS">
<a href="http://www.toolbox37.com/acatalog/Franklin.html">
<img src="franklin_logo.gif" width="170" height="91" border="0"></a><br />
<img src="menu_bottom.gif" width="170" height="91"></td>

You will need to change the image name and dimensions accordingly. The <br /> tag forces the next image onto its own line.

Check in Actinic under Design | Options | Layout as to which templates are being used elsewhere in your site as you may need to add the images and links in their also (if you need them) - just click on edit next to each template to see which is being used.

Don't forget to keep the images in the root of the site 1 folder - you might also have to put a copy into the PreviewHTML sub-folder for the offline preview to work.

HTH

[Turtle37]

Once again many thanks Jont,

Thats looking a lot better. Can i just ask one more question?.

In the same section i want to list the different types of tools. For example on my website there is a socket set section. I've been playing around in the act_primary.html but i can't work out how to change the font and colour of this list.

Once again many thanks for lending me your expertise.
ROB

[jont]

Do you mean against say the 26pc socket set you want to list what is included?

If so you are probably best using a bullet list. In the product description field against the product enter the following:

!!<<ul>
<li>1 x 6" handle</li>
<li>1 x 10" handle</li>
<li>12 x 1/4" sockets</li>
<li>another item here etc</li>
</ul>>!!

That will give you a bullet pointed list highlighting the tools that are included.

HTH

[Turtle37]

Sorry i don't think i explained it very well.

In the department section on the left, underneath where i have now got the company images as links (once again thanks for your help on that) the rest of the list is just in plain text. I was wandering how i can delete the brand names as i now have the images instead. and alter the appearence. For instance the last two say "socket sets" and "misc" in boring black text. I've tried messing around in the act_primart.html but i can't find how to do it.

Thank for the info on bullet points i'll use that next when i update all the info on the tools.

Once again thanks for your help and sorry for being a pain

[jont]

Oh OK,

the text for the sections is created and added in automatically via Actinic. In the Act_Primary in the <head> section you will see the YahooSection function - this controls the text you are after.

You will see two references such as

[span class="actxxsmall"><b><font color="NETQUOTEVAR:FGCOLORCSS">' + ar[i].sName

the first is for the main section and the second for any child sections - change the font color="" accordingly... you can also set the size by changing span class="actxxsmall" to actregular or any other sizes specified in the acitinic.css file

[jont]

You can't selectively remove sections from that list but if you want them all removing find

<script language=Javascript1.2>
document.write(YahooSections(section_tree)) 
</script>

and delete.

If you want to link through to just a selected few then probably easiest to hardcode the links to the sections - but if you add new sectins in the future you will need to remember to manually add the new links in again.

[Turtle37]

thanks for that Jont,

You've been a great help

[jont]

Rob - may be worth removing the Ebay branding from some of the images (Bergen Tools) to add extra credibility to your store.

[buspassjohn]

Might be an idea to make the products 2 or 3 across to reduce the scrolling.

[Turtle37]

Once again many thanks,
I've got rid of the ebay water mark and i'll look into putting them into columns next. I've just got one more question to ask:

Im looking into writing the meta tags. For the keywords i've read not to repeat words, so i was wandering if i should write air, hand, automotive, power, tools. or air tools, hand tools, automotive tools, power tools etc.

Many thanks
ROB

[jont]

Lots of debate over keywords but you should not repeat the same word more than 3 times - even if part of a phrase.

Use something like car, automotive, tools, car tools, air, engine, power tools, sockets, spanners, uk

Make the keywords focussed to the page but more importantly put lots of content and description against each product.

Google et al also use stemming which you can use to effect - check out the Google Webmaster sections.

Do a search on the forum for keywords and metatags there are so very good posts and Actinic specific advice