Some basic help here and there

[webstage]

How can I keep this type of text from displaying on the product pages?

This product was added to our catalog on Thursday 07 July, 2005.

Also,
In the product description (there may be another way to do this or another place to add it) I want to make a 'list' but each time I try the list becomes a paragraph. It does not keep the 'list' format. Is this possible? Wold I have to go into the php and add HTML code to make it keep the format or would there be another way to add a chart or picture of a table or chart in the product area? (note:each product would need a slightly different characteristic chart or 'list'.

Also,
When I click on Enlarge Photo the picture comes up way too big. It even goes out of the Window frame to where only the top left corner of the picture is seen. Is this a setting in the admin/images section?

Also,
I'm trying to add the wish list contribution. The first step says to update the MySQL. I think I can do step 2 and on...but how do I do the first step?

And lastly....
When adding a new product there is an option to add a URL (without the http:).
What is this for?

Thanks in advance for any help...and I know I will return. Whoever invented discussion forums have saved my *** many times. :rolleyes:

[stevel]

1. You can delete the code in product_info.php that writes that text.

2. Product descriptions can be HTML. Define the HTML as you want and just copy in there, complete with list tags.

3. When you "enlarge photo", it displays it as the original size as uploaded. I would guess you need to resize your photos before uploading.

4. http://phpmyadmin.powweb.com/ Specify your SQL server name, SQL username and password. Click on your database name, then the SQL tab. Either paste the SQL commands in the window or browse to the file containing the commands and click Go.

5. By default, product_info.php adds a line that says "For more information about this product, go to (URL). This is useful if you sell products whose manufacturers provide a description on their web site. On my store, I removed the code from product_info.php that writes this. You can then just enter an X in admin (as it wants something there.)

I was using online discussion forums back in 1973. I don't know if they were around before that.

[webstage]

Thanks so much for the VERY quick reply.

On the enlarge photo problem, could you give me the proportions on this?

1973....would that have been USENET?

James

[stevel]

You'll want to resize the photos, using image editing software, to whatever size you think is appropriate for "full size". Keep in mind that the larger the image, the longer it takes to download. Typically, 400 pixels wide is sufficient for most products.

As for the online forum, this was pre-USENET. It was the PLATO IV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_System) CAI (Computer Aided Instruction) system, a network of bitmapped plasma-display terminals across the US and Canada connected to a central server (CDC 6600) at the University of Illinois (via a high-speed 1260 baud modem line). It was a very sophisticated and user-extensible system that operated a lot like the web does today, including e-mail, chatrooms, forums, multiplayer games, and much more. (No porn that I can recall, though, the admins would have quashed that.) Many of the social issues people see today on the Internet we saw back then as well - including pimply teenage boys pretending to be girls and trying to seduce other boys. But there were also many helpful people and friendships formed. I and a friend drove about 600 miles to Champaign-Urbana one summer to meet other PLATO users in person. It was a blast.

One of the developers of Lotus Notes got his start as a system programmer for PLATO IV, where their forum software was called NOTES. (All programs had upcased names.) Later, at DEC, he reimplemented it for the VMS OS and then left to form Iris, which was then bought by Lotus.

I spent too many nights on the PLATO terminal, chatting with others and playing (and writing) games, as well as writing utility software. One of the forum aliases I use (not here) was my PLATO IV username.

Just found PLATO People (http://www.platopeople.com/index.html) - wow, does this take me back!

Before Microsoft. Apple. The Web. AOL. The Internet. Before everything, there was PLATO: the first online community. The network that time forgot. The birthplace of instant messaging, chat rooms, MUDs (multi-user dungeons), personal publishing, screen savers, flat-panel plasma displays, one of the first spell-checking/answer-judging mechanisms, and countless other innovations.

[webstage]

wow.

That would make a good movie. Throw in a few plot twists...

Thanks for the info and help. I'll be back with questions I'm sure.

J

[stevel]

Oh, and if you want the prehistory of online forums, look here (http://thinkofit.com/plato/dwplato.htm).