Newbie V9 design help

[masterrud]

Hi everyone,

This is my first time using actinic V9 software so you'll have to bear with me with this one.
I am currently creating a website for the company that i work for and have run into a few problems whilst designing the website, i have tried to search my way through actinic to solve these problems but i am not yet fully clued up on the software.

Basically i have got to to the image below



The problems i have are:-
How can i centre the banner at the top?
Along the bar underneath the banner i am wanting to add in buttons such as delivery, branches, returns & contact us. I am wanting to remove the buttons Site map, Search & Store Top
Down the left hand side is our product list sections, i have made some buttons for these to match the ones at the top (Home, T&C's, Contact us) Is there any way i can add these instead of the boring writing?


Any information would be greatly received
If its possible then step-by-step instructions would be even more greatly received

Thanks

[Rich Brady]

Welcome to the community.

Do you have any html experience, because if you don't you are asking an awful lot from a designer/user to take time out of their day to help.

Have you searched the forum, knowledge base or used the help files to see if they can direct you?

Have you searched the internet for "How do I center and image in html"?

All of the changes you want to make can be done in the design tab of the software, but if you have limited/no experience then you may do more harm than good.

A simple fix for the header image would be to make it as wide as your nav...

[masterrud]

I have managed to get the image centered now by making it the same width as the page.

I have limted experience with html (it was around 7 years ago the last time i used it)

The main concern for me would be converting the text from the product catalogue into the buttons as I described so any help on that would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Rich Brady]

Go to Help | Help Topics | Search

Enter the search term "How do I add my own navigation icons" and have a read. There is also a section on "How do I change the appearance of my store navigation icons?" in the results that may be useful.

Remember that with text that Search Engines will not understand what your links refer to unless you use an alt text, etc.

You've be better of styling the navigation with css and background images, but I feel this may be beyond your experience?

[masterrud]

I have tried the two help links you mentioned but these only change the sections such as home, site map, login etc.

It is the section list down the left hand side that i am wanting to change if thats possible? Also with me messing around with it i have managed to delete the section list by accident and haven't a clue how to get it back up.
So as you can imagine i am a tad stuck.

The css and background images may be out of my depth at the moment however i am a quick learner so i will look into it.

[Rich Brady]

All of the changes you want to make can be done in the design tab of the software, but if you have limited/no experience then you may do more harm than good.

I did warn you...

Just revert to your previous back up.

It may be worth you getting a designer in for a day to make the changes, but also teach you about of the software works and where to find certain things.

The alternative is an awful lot of reading & learning I'm afraid. What you are trying to do is straight forward if you are familiar with html and actinic, but this may end up taking you a lot of time and not give you the result you intended.

[leehack]

Changing those to images would be detrimental to the site. Take the time and learn how to do this in the best and most efficient way, css background images as Rich points out. It will actually save you time in the long run, you'll only need to create one button once.

I think you need to learn snapshots though before you learn anything else, so get yourself a drink and read the tutorial on my site. It will be the best 15 minutes you can spend learning, at this stage in your site design.

[masterrud]

@webD - Yea you did and its my fault, have reverted to the previous back-up and sorted that now.

I will have a word with the bosses and find out if we can get a designer in for a day to give me the low down on the site and change a few bits for me, how much are we looking at for a designer for a day?

@leehack - I will have a read of the tutorial tomorrow as i will probably be able to take more in with a clear head

[Rich Brady]

The price will vary from designer to designer. I don't know of anyone in Yorkshire off the top of my head, but perhaps someone else will post.

You may also want to look at the training days Actinic offer...