Tuesday, November 29, 2005

MT Help Needed

Ok, this is for all the billions of people out there who are smarter than I am at diddling Movable Type.

Yes, I have been to the MT forums and they didn't help me. Everything is over-complicated in its presentation and that gives me an itchy rash.

I have a lot of categories. I would really like to customise each category archive page. Nothing overly busy, I'd be keeping the basic layout .css the same. All I want to do is to be able to:

**Add a unique description for each category archive page
**Add the category image to each category archive page. Once, just to id the category.
**Add different sidebar content for each category archive page. I'd really like to have category related sidebar stuff.

That's it, nothing huge but for the life of me I cannot find it in simple English.

If anyone out there who happens to pass by this place knows how to do this in a way the simple common mind can comprehend, I would be deeply deeply appreciative if you would share this bit of wisdom.

Many thanks in advance.

1. I’ll have a look about - I recall wanting to do it myself a while back, though I’m not sure if I ever got it to work.

    on  11/29  at  05:50 PM

2. I think I did get it to work. If you check out my category archives (you’re welcome to browse the templates), I have the category description (set when you edit the categories) at the top of each archive using .

   The image for each category I think you’ve already set got working. You could move the image code from where it is inside the MTEntries tag to between the and .  That should give you one category image at the top of the archive.

   The sidebar category is a neat idea, but I haven’t come across anything like that myself. I’ll have a look about.

    on  11/29  at  05:58 PM

3. Damn.  It worked in preview… Apologies for a broken post.

   Please pretend all the () are the angled brackets in the following:

   The category description uses the tag (MTCategoryDescription).

   The category-image code can be moved from just after the (MTEntries) tag to just before it, which will give you one category image per page.

    on  11/29  at  06:05 PM

4. GAHHH

   That’s exactly what I’m running from!

   I have one cat archive page, if I do what you
   said it still doesn’t tell me how to change
   the desc for every cat archive index.
   GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

   WebKittyn  on  11/29  at  06:10 PM

5. Diddling is a problem. I just wish I had an answer.

   Milt  on  11/29  at  08:06 PM

6. I used to be so good at diddling.  I think I’m
   sorely out of practise.

   WebKittyn  on  11/29  at  11:42 PM

7. How comfortable are you with php scripting?

   I have an idea.

   I can email you, or better yet, do it on the Mango Radio page if you’d like so you can see it.

   Mango  on  11/30  at  06:57 PM

8. I’m so-so with php scripting, I can hold my
   own unless something bites me..

   Either way would be awesome, I’d really
   appreciate it.  It’s a detail that’s been
   making me nuts for a while now.

   You are indeed the Great Gazoo.

   WebKittyn  on  11/30  at  07:32 PM

9. OK, I’ll try and work on it during your show tonight.

   If I don’t get it complete, I’ll have it up by this weekend.

   Mango  on  11/30  at  07:42 PM

10. Jebus, like you don’t have enough to keep you
    busy..  Thank you for taking the time to even
    bother with it!

    WebKittyn  on  11/30  at  08:34 PM

11. I blogrolled you and now want you to link back to me. Is this how I’m supposed to ask?

    margalit  on  12/24  at  06:33 PM
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