I'm trying to edit my WordPress sidebar. I'm not getting the usual PHP code in the edit Themes window for any of the template files. I get the code shown in the snippet.
I'm mystified.
Help!
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I know how to edit the theme. I didn't explain clearly enough.
:(
Usually, the PHP files can be edited in the WordPress Dashboard editor.
I can see and edit the normal PHP script if I open the relevant file (see new snippet) in cPanel on my host, but when I try to edit it from within my blog's Dashboard Theme Editor I get totally different code as shown in the first snippet.
Weird.
I think.
FTP to your theme folder and look for a folder named _vti_cnf. Delete it.
(That's one of the folders that Frontpage creates when working in it. It duplicates the filenames and puts it's own code in them - then if you upload that with a theme, wordpress editor grabs it instead of the real file.)
Once you delete that, leave the editor - even log out and back in your wp-admin. Then you should see the php code in the editor area again.
Thanks Dzynit. You're a legend.
Renamed the vti folders in the theme directory, did the same for vti files in the next 2 levels up.
Logged out, checked that my sites were still working, logged in, deleted the files.
Voilà! Worked a treat.
What I don't understand is where those vti directories came from. I retired FrontPage before this blog was created and I've used that editor successfully since then. I see that there are vti directories in the WordPress default themes as well. Are these part of WordPress's default setup?
They shouldn't be part of the default install, unless at one point the wordpress folder had been opened using frontpage.
But I know what you mean - I started running across the same thing recently just on some sites. And I've not used frontpage for a couple years either.
I found that some of the older sites that I edit once in while - when looking through My Documents were showing the frontpage icon. So at one time or another I must have opened the directory in FP, it added those, and when I ftp'd files, didn't pay attention that they uploaded too.
I find them once in a while too on sites that we have extra help or the clients themselves doing some minor edits. I assume that they must use FP.
Glad it fixed it for you.
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by: sirbyPosted on 2009-11-06 at 20:00:14ID: 25764930
To customize the theme, you need to go into the root of the themes folder, and there you will find html files and CSS files that make up your site to be what it is. I've used wordpress only a few times, but its fairly straight forward when it comes to working with files, but it can be a pain to customize.