I have worked very hard to provide you with this original template that you may use and modify as you wish. The only condition is to keep me credited both in the bottom part of central pages and top of the CSS stylesheet.
However, if you use a picture that is not yours for the header background and do not make a private use of this template, please, know that, unless specified, graphics are subjected to copyright and you must therefore obtain permission from the photographer or artist first.
Just copy the program folder of your installed AMC into Program Files directory and rename the duplicate folder Ant Book Catalog. Then you also need to rename the executable MovieCatalog.exe into BookCatalog.exe and create a shortcut on your desktop, Quick Launch bar or whatever to launch the program more easily. Your MovieCatalog still exists and should only be used to open movie catalogs. Now you can empty the "Languages" subfolder in your Ant Book Catalog folder (ABC) and copy the provided language file in it. Launch ABC, select "Books" in the Language submenu, and there you are – now you have a Book Catalog program !
To edit both CSS stylesheet and HTML pages, you can do so using the notepad program provided with Windows, of course, but it may turn out to be a rather tedious task since all lines of code will be the same color. Therefore I suggest you use a text editor that has colored syntax options (there are many available for free). I have tested quite a few and my preference goes to PSPad. Since recent versions are buggy I personally have come back to earlier version 452 build 2241. So if the latest version crashes on you PC as well, you can download this older version on the PSPad website as it works really fine and you won't miss any important feature anyway.
Also, avoid using WYSIWYG programs such as Dreamweaver, Frontpage, NVu or KompoZer as they may alter the code and corrupt it. You can also see what you're doing using a text editor. You just need reload your page in your browser anytime you make a change either to CSS or HTML files. You only need to know the basics of coding but it's not really hard, especially if all you need is to change colors or fonts.
All style alterations must be done in the "book.css" stylesheet located in the "styles" subfolder. You may change colors and sizes (only for advanced users). Should you need to modify some height or width, here's another handy tool called Cool Ruler which is, as its name says, a screen ruler.
To change colors you will also need to use a graphic editor to colorize the background of both spacer frames (bgspacer.gif) located in the "styles" subfolder or use another picture to replace this one (just overwrite it). The most commonly used are Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro (the one I use) but there are some free ones which can handle layers and transparencies like The Gimp or Photofiltre.
The site will load by opening a file in the root folder called "index.html". It consists of five differents frames (spacerl, header, sidebar, main, spacerr) contained within three frame sets (A 3 columns in black, B within A made of 2 rows in white, and C within B made of 2 columns in grey) as show below. Both height and width of header frame is fixed, same as the width of the main and sidebar frames. Therefore the height of main and sidebar frames will adapt to your browser window and the spacer frames are just there to keeep the design well-centered whatever the width of your browser window.
All links featured on the page loaded in the header frame in orange (header.html in the "navigation" subfolder) will open in the main frame. All links featured on the pages loaded in the sidebar frame in purple (search.html by default in the "navigation" subfolder – but if you select a category in the form, a new page featuring a list of books you will have exported will load there) will open in the main frame as well. All internal links featured on the pages loaded in the main frame in green (INDIV.html by default in the "pages" subfolder, but you need to change that – it will be explained later on) will open in the main frame while all external links will open in a new window or a new tab if you use Firefox or IE7. The spacer frames in red and yellow must not contain any data since they're only there for designing purposes.
Now, unless you want to get a bigger header, you still will need to edit the "index.html" file to change the name of your site (by default it is calles "My books") between "title" tags and to specify the page that should load by default in the main frame instead of "INDIV.html" (ie. if your exported individual pages start with "books_xx" and let's say you want the first book to be the default page, then replace "INDIV.html" by "books_1.html"). Don't worry, I have included comments in the page so that you can find what to edit more easily.
Featured below are a few screencaps to show how my site looks like in Firefox 2.
Book page loaded from the list by categories on the right.
Almost the same as previous but here you can see that only the part meant for book contents (in grey) will scroll if field data exceed the fixed height. Also you can see how the form looks like when you click on it to select a category.
Here I've loaded the "Readings" page from the related link in the header frame. This page can be generated with ABC just like a list file with a special list template called "READINGS.html" where you'll have to select the unread books you want to export here. A click on the cover thumbnail will load the related page. It doesn't use a table so there can be an odd number of movies, it won't create an empty cell like a table would. Also with a table you couldn't have two columns using an exportation script. Note, the heading and footer do not scroll.
Here I've loaded the "Writers" page from the related link in the header frame. This page cannot be generated with ABC as the catalogs do no contain such information so in the "pages" subfolder is a template called "writers.html" which you can fill up with your desired data. Do not forget to change Your Name in the copyright footer. Pictures must be put in the "images" subfolder.
Here I've loaded a writer's bibliography from a link in the previous page. Again a blank template called "bibliography.html" is provided in the "pages" subfolder where all copies should go. It must be filled manually but using the cut-and-paste method is not too bad. As you can see, I've also linked the books I have in my catalog to the related book page that will load in this frame (target="main"). I'm afraid there is no automated way that I know of to create each link so you'll have to do the whole thing manually. Hope you don't collect too many books ;). And again, do not forget to change Your Name in the copyright footer.
I have used different colors and different background pictures for my header and spacer frames than the ones provided with this template just to keep a personal touch. But believe me, the choice was hard for I do love both styles ! The picture I've used on the captures is an illustration of Treebeard in the Lord of the Rings triology painted by John Howe.
As for the logo, just enter the name of your site in the "header.html" page. If you would prefer a more sophisticated logo, you should create a graphic and replace the <h1> tags with an <img> tag including the name of your image. For my own logo, I've used a font called Shohl Fold.
Note: With IE, the link tabs on the right won't have rounded edges since it's a border style that only Mozilla-based browsers will recognize.
Finally, I've called the last link in the header "Articles" but you can change that and delete it.
All pages generated with this template should be exported in the "pages" subfolder.
Fields used in left part (fixed)
$$ITEM_PICTUREFILENAME (.jpg) in "images" subfolder
$$ITEM_COUNTRY used for category (ie. fiction and all non-fiction categories)
$$ITEM_CATEGORY used for subcategory/genre
$$ITEM_ORIGINALTITLE
$$ITEM_YEAR used for copyright year
$$ITEM_LANGUAGES
$$ITEM_TYPE used for book format (ie. paperback, hardback, etc.)
$$ITEM_LENGTH used for number of pages
$$ITEM_PRODUCER used for publisher
$$ITEM_NUMBER
$$ITEM_APPRECIATION (.gif) in "styles" subfolder 1 to 5 stars, transparent if no rating
Fields used in right part (fixed)
$$ITEM_RESOLUTION used for cycles or series
$$ITEM_FORMATTEDTITLE
$$ITEM_DIRECTOR used for author
$$ITEM_DESCRIPTION
$$ITEM_COMMENTS used for book contents (scrolling)
Fields used in bottom part (fixed)
$$OWNER_NAME for your name (which must be entered in the catalog properties in ABC)
All pages generated with this template should be exported in the "navigation" subfolder.
Javascript Form
Each option refers to a genre/subcategory (one book list to generate per genre). I have included options linking to nowhere (optgroups would have been more appropriated but IE6 doesn't recognize them) for categories. All these are mine and only featured here to serve as a guide. Yours might be different of course so a bit of editing will be necessary there.
IMPORTANT: Do not forget to mirror any change between the <form>and </form> tags in the "search.html" file located in the "navigation" subfolder.
In order to get complete book list without categories and genres, delete form (tags and options) and script reference between the head tags <script language=language="JavaScript" src="../scripts/cat.js" type="text/javascript></script>). Also delete part refering to Category and Genre in the line just above the list.
Book list
Category - Genre – edit this line accordingly everytime you export
$$TOTALMOVIES
$$ITEM_DIRECTOR, $$ITEM_FORMATTEDTITLE
To export by genres, you first need to group your movies by genres, then use the Search bar in ABC to isolate one category and finally select the first genre group, making sure the option "selected" is checked in the export dialog. Don't forget to edit the "Cagegory - Genre" line accordingly before clicking "Export" and do not save changes when asked.
Note: To get a "lighter" list, I've used an unused field (MEDIA) where I've entered each movie title the way I want it to appear in lists.
Example:
"The Lords of The Rings - The Fellowship of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien
thus becomes
"Tolkien J., The Lord of The Rings 1"
You can use a script to fill this chosen field automatically and then edit manually what needs to be changed. Then in the list template you also need to replace $$ITEM_DIRECTOR, $$ITEM_FORMATTEDTITLE with $$ITEM_MEDIA.
If you have any questions, please, use the forum to ask them and I'll try to connect regularly to provide the answers or others will. And if you come up with ideas to improve this template, do no hesitate to share them, that's how we can all get better. Have fun !
© 2008 Eyael