paulae

Thanks for your comments. AS I said my expertise is more in C, C++ and Visual basic but I have found that I can navigate around php code. My problem in using Atahualpa is that I can use the ATO but when a problem occurs and i would like to try and modify the php code I am finding difficulty in finding where the ATO inputs have been placed.

Here is a typical example, something you responded to above:

You referred to Atahualpa Options, Style and Edit Header Area which I have used. But you mention the following code.

%image <?php bfa_widget_area('name=top760_ad'); ?> %pages %cats %bar2

Where is this code? In what php file?

I find it difficult to find where Atahualpa has placed code although I have tried reasoning and if that doesn't work searching. However I have found that frequently neither technique works.


Although Atahualpa has been extremely rewarding - when problems occur I often find myself helpless. Whereas in languages like Visual Basic (object oriented systems) I felt more in control.

I suspect that the internals of Wordpress and Atahualpa and how they work together are not spelled out clearly.

Ah. Well, this is where Atahualpa is so nifty for non-programmers.

That 760_topad is a new widget area. In most themes, you'd have to edit the functions file to add a new widget area. Flynn lets us do it through the ATO interface. If you click on the Add New Widget Areas part of the options, you can read up on how to do it.

I wanted a new widget area between the header image and the menu bars, so I created a new widget area, then populated the new widget with content from a plugin that cycles through several ad banners.

wordpress.org's codex does spell out the PHP stuff if you care to dig in.

I appreciate the aid of the ATO interface. Even with a programming background "its nice to have a little help from my friends". However the problem is that I have come across several critical incidents where what i wish to accomplish doesn't exist and I must dig in myself. In order to do this i must understand the wordpress/Atahualpa achitechure to navigate the code. I have noticed that ATO options do not necessarily appear in the php files. Where are they? It can be one other place and that is in the MySQL database files. I've looked but still could not find them. I admit it's a mystery.

Initially i was looking for a system that would minimize the time necessary to create CMS systems. I thought I found this with wordpress and Atahualpa. But it seems that if i don't stand on my own two feet I'll fall flat on my face. When I used a combination of C,C++ and Visual Basic I always seemed to find a solution.

To sum it all up. I'd like to minimize coding and save time with great tools but be prepared to avoid being stumped. Sometimes even friends don't know the answers.

Are you looking at your dashboard? Under Appearance, find Atahualpa Theme Options.

When you save an option, it's saved in the mySQL database.

Our paths seemed to have crossed in another thread "Page and Category menu Bars / scrolling clickable category marquee.

I continued our discussion there.


It appears to me that references in a theme are automatically saved in an options database and then restored when the code refers to it. (Tests it) In standard programming the programmer actually saves the variable and then tests the variable as part of the code.

You've lost me, I'm afraid. I'm not a programmer, just a user of Wordpress and Atahualpa.

Maybe you're making this harder than it is? Did you go to wordpress.org to understand how Wordpress and its database work? Wordpress.org is pretty full of information for the dunderheads like me, who don't know much about databases and PHP, and also deeper knowledge for experts with more experience.

Alfie baby, wordpress is not like C or cobol or basic. or most other web design programs. Wordpress DYNAMICALLY builds a webpage when it is requested. You need to change your thinking and do due dilligence and do your research and read up about wordpress.

there is the code wordpress code and then there are add on's like themes and plugins. If a theme or plugin needs to store something so it can do it's work, the only place that it can be stored is in the wordpress database.

Some themes and programs create their own tables in the database, others (like Atahualpa) store information in the wp-options table and every one of them store the information they need. Even wordpress stors things in the database like the content of a post. the code reads the database, uses the data to construct the html for the page and then presents it.

If you want to use these products then you are going to have to know php and CSS and then dig in and look at the code. Just be careful that you have backups incase you mess something up.

and it's juggledad not juggledaddy

p.s remember that people - Flynn - the author of Atahualpa - and myself are not being paid except for donations. So if I don't respond to you ask youself how much time you will spend helping another for free....

@Alfie: What Juggledad said.