About two years ago I purchased two separate scripts for two domains I have that are basically full functional websites that just need content edit, settings changed etc. At the time I was foolish and did not realize that both scripts, purchased from two completely separate companies, were developed using smarty templates, or .tpl files. All I would like to do is change the look of these two scripts/ designs to be custom. I primarily use dreamweaver and was hoping to be able to edit the look of these sites in dreamweaver. I was sadly mistaken. I do not know smarty code nor do I intend to learn it. I have been told by both companies that I will have to pay to have a custom design put into the sites, which as a web designer, is unacceptable to me as there will be little changes here and there that I would like to make. Does anyone know of any editors or ways I could go about implementing custom designs on these sites being that all the template files are smarty? I have tried an add-on for dreamweaver (two actually), for smarty templates, but they did nothing to actually display in visual terms, what I am editing, and merely highlight the smarty code in different colors. Any guidance anyone could give me would help me tremendously.
All I can say is this “problem” is in no way a reflection of the company which you purchased the script from but your own lack of understanding PHP. Smarty really has nothing to do with it, its merely your lack of knowledge. That said, smarty is nothing more then PHP with HTML. You shouldn’t be using dreamweaver design mode in the first question and that is likely to f**k up any server side code.
While I’m not a fan of Smarty, or templating systems like it – I really have to side with Oddz on this one. You have a CMS – trying to redesign it with a wysiwyg is just asking for a miserable steaming pile of /FAIL/ so far as web development is concerned. The mere notion of a WYSIWYG for developing a website is 100% nonsense and runs entirely contrary to what the Internet IS and what HTML is FOR.
See oddz signature, and toss on a few more gems.
WYSIWYG’s are to web development as l33t is to English.
The only thing about Dreamweaver that can be considered professional grade tools are the people promoting it’s use.
Basically, if you are even THINKING about using a WYSIWYG for doing a website, you’ve already put rounds through your foot, knee, the elbow of the arm not holding the gun, through one lung, and have the barrel pressed tight against one temple.