Questions regarding Django CMS

Hi, can you please tell me how I can format this page in such a way that the text appears either in both columns or that the right of the two columns which is now empty is remove so that the text appears in one column only? https://english.best/interview-with-rod-hinn/ Many thanks, Torsten

Are you sure that link is correct? I see only a 404 page.

that’s strange. I opens fine when I click on it: https://english.best/interview-with-rod-hinn/

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It’s working for me now, too. Must have been a temporary glitch.

That’s good to hear. So what do you think I need to do to solve the problem?

Your divs that are the columns have the class large-6 which gives them 50% width. If you want the column full width remove that class.

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Hi Sam, thanks a lot for your explanation. Believe it or not, I don’t know how to take the steps you describe. Is there a manual where I can see screenshots for example? Thanks a lot. T

You might take a basic fundamental HTML/CSS course. It covers things like <div>s, classNames, and many more such basics of web page construction.

You might also look for an instruction manual for the framework that you have chosen to use.

And finally, frequently during the process of developing a web page, examine the code in the HTML and CSS validators. IF used frequently, they are a tremendous help when it comes to identifying problems before they become catastrophes that require a mountain of rework:

Forum POSTING BASICS:
Forum Posting Basics

https://validator.w3.org/nu/

https://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/

EDIT: A personal note. Look at the layout of your code in your browser window. It is almost randomly indented. Such code is difficult to read. Throw in 64 errors identified by the HTML validator and I’m not usually interested in taking the time to indent it just so I can work on it for someone else. That’s just me. Fortunately, everyone doesn’t feel the same.

https://validator.w3.org/nu/?doc=https%3A%2F%2Fenglish.best%2Finterview-with-rod-hinn%2F

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Hi ronpat, thanks a lot for your response. Are you saying you recommend I learn basic css and HTML so I can create simple text pages although I have hired a web developing company to create a site for me that I can use in a similar way like a WordPress site which doesn’t require any knowledge of HTML? I mean, I do want to learn new things but I also need to concentrate on what I’m best at and that’s creating content. The web developers I hired and paid did not tell me I need to take a course in HTML and css in order to become able to create new pages.

Hi Openmind,

Do you have the ability to access that html page in question?

If you’ve got a copy of it on your computer you can make the edit Sam mentioned very easily.

If you can open the page in your text editor you will find the opening div on line 247 - 258 which will look like this.

<div class="
            
             large-6
            
                                                       
             columns"
    
    >

It’s a rather strange way that it was written, normally one would write it like this…

<div class="large-6  columns">

All you need to do is remove the large-6 class and your text will expand to 100%

<div class="columns">

Then save the page and upload it back to your server.

You may be able to make those edits through your CMS control panel if you can access the html

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That’s very useful, many thanks. I’ll check it out. By the way, how valid is the HTML validator? I ask because I ran a couple of pages through it and they all came back with lots of errors. For example, sitepoint.com returns 64 errors. What does this mean?

If you’re talking about the forum - Discourse - there are 3 Warnings
https://validator.w3.org/nu/?doc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sitepoint.com%2Fcommunity%2F

The 61 Errors and Warnings you are seeing
https://validator.w3.org/nu/?doc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sitepoint.com%2F
is - WordPress - I’ll say no more about that :speak_no_evil:

errmm, you did ask how you could fix the HTML. If you want to do more than writing content, then yes, you should at the least learn the basics.

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Then why are you here? It sounds to me like you want to modify the site somewhat but don’t know how and I assume that you do not have an ongoing maintenance contract with the developer with whom you contracted to develop your site. There is no such thing as a web site that does not require some knowledge of HTML and CSS. A good CMS can minimize the need for such knowledge, but there will always be the desire to fine tune a page. If you need help with your site, which you do at this time, an understanding of the basic language of HTML/CSS and page layout will help you communicate better with coders and them with you.

If you were promised a quality coded site that you could maintain with no need for any knowledge of HTML and CSS, you were misled and overcharged, period.

Errors:
(1) "id"s are unique to a page. There can only be one idName on a page. This page contains 50 copies of this <b id="docs-internal-guid-6f35ec11-b5d8-2756-a5bd-ad910d999f3e"> (that accounts for 50 of the errors).

(2) <p> </p> as spacers between paragraphs? I believe this is a WordPress generated error. The validator does not flag this as an error because the “p” tags are balanced, but is inappropriate code, nonetheless. A WordPress person who is familiar with the WP code generator can help with the solution.

(3) Most tags (elements) such as <p> and <div> tags are required to have a closing tag. Thus, <p>...</p> and <div>...</div> is the way they are found in the HTML>. Certain tags are known as empty tags, such as <img> and <meta>. Empty tags do not require a closing tag because they are not containers in the normal sense of the word. The validator shows one closing </img> tag on your page. Also, HTML does not require empty tags to have closing slashes. (Closing slashes on empty elements is a carry-over from XHTML). They do not trigger an error in the validator, but again represent a dated code practice.

(4) HTML tag attributes must use straight single or double quotes. NO curly quotes allowed. One can use curly quotes in content, but not around HTML/CSS keywords.
One of the 10 invalid meta tags identified by the validator is <meta name=”keywords” content=””/>, which also includes a useless closing slash.

Although you are not planning to write a web site, I still recommend taking an introductory class in HTML and CSS. Familiarize yourself with the basics. Since your site is based on WordPress, you might need to read the instruction manual for coding WordPress so you will gain more knowledge of the WordPress way pages are built or at least read some tutorials. A WordPress person can offer better recommendations that I. I’ve already harped about indentation. To that let me add the many empty lines (white space) in the code. They should be eliminated as much as reasonable. This is just a waste of space:

<div class="row newsletter-header
            
            
            "
     
     >
    
        
<div class="
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
             columns"
    
    >
    
    
        <h1>Learning languages effectively </h1>
    
    
</div>
    
</div>




<div class="row newsletter-bg
            
            
            "
     
     >
    
        
<div class="

it goes on.

Finally, it’s just human nature… when you need help, the better you can present some knowledge of the language of HTML and page construction, the more enthusiastic volunteers will be to help you work through issues.

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The validator is very “valid”, in the sense that if it finds an error, then there is an error. Sometimes, one error in coding has a “knock on” effect that causing multiple errors to be reported, so fixing one thing can clear many errors. For example, the first eleven errors reported on the page in question on your site all stem from the use of angled quotes ” rather than straight quotes " in the meta description. Fix the quotes and all those errors will disappear.

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The OP is not using WP, the CSM is Django, but that kind of code anomaly are commonly the result of the so called “wysiwyg” editors found in CSMs.

This too may be due to server-side scripting, the server-side code (the stuff the dev has to work with) may be perfectly indented, but the resulting html may not.

But getting back on topic, this being a cms, making the simple edit I suggested may not be as straight forward as making an html edit in a static html page.
A cms will use templates where some html will be generated by the server side scripting, which in this case is Python.
It could potentially be further complicated if the pages vary, say one page may want the two columns, but another just the one. That would require some logic to determine which html is used.

With no experience of Django or Python I have no further answer. But with the OP not being a developer, I suspect it will take someone familiar with the Django and/or Python to give an answer.
Delving into the back-end workings of an unfamiliar cms can be confusing even for a developer who knows the languages concerned.

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I’m moving this to the CMS & WordPress forum, in the hope of a better response.

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