Using a custom theme - next steps

[tjobbe]

Hi,

I had someone create me a custom theme and it looks just like I want it to, barring a few minor adjustments.

The problem I have now is when I imported the new theme it overwrote my site as it was, and now I need to import all my products from sage yet again.

As he set up an acd file for me, he also created categories and a test product, do I need to overwrite these yet again when importing the site from sage line 50?

I'm really very confused, and also a bit frustrated as this really isn't the easiest piece of software to get to grips with.

If someone can point me in the right direction I'd be most gratefull, all I want is to get the site to where I can start testing it!

[jont]

A theme should not overwrite your existing data - a standard snapshot will.

I would try removing all the new theme site to a temp location - re-instate your snapshot you took (hopefully) before installing the "theme" and then copy over the Act_Templates from the temp site into your actual site - that will update the layout etc with the new theme.

Hopefully the designer has used standard Act_TemplateNames so you don't have to specify these throughout the site. If he has modified any of the scripts these wil need to be copied over also.

[tjobbe]

When I imported the new snapshot (which is what it was, i couldnt remember - thanks!), it did a backup automatically, how do i then rollback to the previous version before I imported it?

[jont]

You need to install the ACD backup from before you installed - this should be in the SiteBackups folder in the site. Or import the latest manual ACD backup as Duncan suggested you take in the other current thread

[tjobbe]

I have an OverwrittenSite.zip file in my SiteBackups folder, but theres no ACD file inside there, just the files themselves?
I'm sorry for testing your patience, I'm extremely confused with this!

[jont]

Yeah - think that is a straight copy of the site1 folder which you can reinstate by copying using Windows Explorer.

Did you not take a snapshot of the site before installing the new "theme" as Duncans advice? These are often the best ways to get back to "as was" as they contain some info a straight copy misses.

[tjobbe]

Did you not take a snapshot of the site before installing the new "theme" as Duncans advice? These are often the best ways to get back to "as was" as they contain some info a straight copy misses.

That would have been a good idea, but I didn't do it as I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing anyway.

So to re-instate the old site, what do I do? delete everything in folder X and replace it with the OverwrittenSite folder?? (which fodler is folder X then?)

[tjobbe]

Would it not be better for me to start from scratch?

I'm pretty fed up with it, I'm very gratefull for all your help but it looks like it might be easier to just start from scratch, install the snapshot provided to me, and then import the products yet again via sage.

OR would it be better to get the actual template theme, and then import the products?

To save me any more head banging or confusion, If you have any advice on what I should do next, please tell me!

[jont]

I would speak to your designer and see what he has to say - you have paid them so they should offer installation support for you. The "safest" route would be to keep the installed ACD and import all the stuff back in again - but this could be a difficult and timely task as you have to input all the business settings, network settings etc. You could also try copying the database into the new ACD site to see what happens (it will not pick up the image paths but if your designer has kept the same Act_TemplateNames you could be laughing)

The site folder is located at c:\program fils\actinic v7\sites\site1

I would be inclined to copy and replace rather than delete and copy

[tjobbe]

Thanks Jont, you've been a great help along with Dave, cheers!

[chris ashdown]

My understanding is that you should be able to just unzip the overwritten .zip file back to the site 1 folder and you should be back to where you started

Only problem is its easy to overwrite the overwritten file