As you can probably tell from the thread title, I'm having issues with themes.

I have downloaded Geeklog 1.4.0sr5-1 and the installation went very smoothly. The only problem arose when trying to install new themes. Basically, the default theme (professional) works fine, but when installing any other themes and changing the theme in account preferences, I encounter the following error



As you can tell, that was when using the "Yahoo" theme, though I've encountered the same errors with numerous other themes.

I have searched these forums before posting, and I came across a couple of people who had similar problems. The suggested solutions were that the themes in question were very old, and that the best bet would be to copy the offending files (header.thtml in my case) from a theme that actually works (such as "professional"). In most cases, this appeared to do the trick.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to help in my case. See, the themes with which I'm having trouble include themes that claim to be "updated for 1.4.0". Examples include "Tabular Dynamics 1.4.0" , "!WhitePointer1.4.0" and "Yahoo" among others.

Despite the fact that these themes should be working for me "out of the box", so to speak, I still tried to copy the header.thtml file from the "professional" theme directory, but to no avail. I also tried recursively chown'ing and chmod'ing the themes' directory with permissions 777, but this also failed to help.

I have also changed the default theme in my config.php, but instead of loading the new theme or bringing up an error message, it just loads the "professional" theme again. Note, this was still happened even after flushing my browser cache.

I've read and re-read http://www.geeklog.net/docs/theme.html but I couldn't find anything there to sort out my problem. I'm pretty certain that I've done something wrong somewhere, and am just desperate to get this issue sorted out as it is somewhat frustrating for me.

Thank you very much in advance.

Keep in mind that the case of the theme name is important on many filesystems. I.e. check that the theme name and directory name match in upper/lower case letters.

In your case: Is the theme's directory named 'Yahoo' or 'yahoo'?

bye, Dirk

Thanks for the reply, Dirk.

The theme name's spelling and capitalization is consistent throughout the system. So yes, in the case of, for example Yahoo, it is spelled as "Yahoo" everywhere.

Cenobite,

Seems to be a matter of path



Find the way to remove geeklog/public_html in this path.

::Ben

---

I'm available to customise your themes or plugins for your Geeklog CMS

That is actually the correct full system path. In the "fnord.za.net" directory I created a "geeklog" subdirectory wherein the entire geeklog 1.4.0 installation resides. Inside the directory named "geeklog", there is the "public_html" directory. My document root for the fnord.za.net domain points to the "public_html" directory, thereby keeping the rest of the geeklog installation outside of document root, as per the recommended installation instructions.

Thank you for the replies so far

Cenobite,

Check twice your path because

http://fnord.za.net/layout/Yahoo/header.thtml is ok

but

http://fnord.za.net/geeklog/public_html/layout/Yahoo/header.thtml is not.

::Ben

---

I'm available to customise your themes or plugins for your Geeklog CMS

The reason http://fnord.za.net/layout/Yahoo/header.thtml displays the file and http://fnord.za.net/geeklog/public_html/layout/Yahoo/header.thtml does not, is because - as I've stated in my previous post - my document root points to the public_html directory. Therefore



is the correct full directory path to the file on the actual disk, whereas http://fnord.za.net/layout/Yahoo/header.thtml is the URL to the file.

Trying to reach the file via http at http://fnord.za.net/geeklog/public_html/layout/Yahoo/header.thtml won't work because you're specifying directories that are outside of the document root.

Furthermore, correct me if I'm wrong but if this was a path issue, wouldn't I have the exact same problem with the default "professional" theme, considering that it resides in the exact same "layout" directory as the other themes which are giving problems? As I've said, the "professional" theme works perfectly, both when setting it as the default theme in config.php, and when selecting it via the user preferences menu.

Errr...

According to my HTML knowledge, there is no such thing as a .thtml file?

Could that be your problem?

You should look through the layout directories of Geeklog. There are .thtml files all throughout it. It is a GL specific extension.

Right now I'm finishing up an update for most of the original themes. You'll be able to download them from www.geekdownloads.net as soon as I upload them. It should be by the end of the weekend. This also includes the before mentioned Yahoo theme. These themes will be fully updated to version 1.4.1.

Thanks for the reply, ironmax. I'll hold out until early next week and then try downloading a few good looking (and updated) themes off of geekdownloads.net. If that doesn't work, I'll just swallow my pride and reinstall geeklog and dump everything into the base directory - it may not be as secure as separating the public_html directory, but at this stage my priority is just to get everything working.

If, after going through all of that it still won't work, well then I'll be as stumped as a one-armed man.

Cenobite,

Can you copy and paste your config.php (path part) in reply to this post to try to see where is the problem?

::Ben

---

I'm available to customise your themes or plugins for your Geeklog CMS

cordiste,

Here follows the "paths" section of my config.php:

Mystery is complete...

Have you try?



in your config.php

::Ben

---

I'm available to customise your themes or plugins for your Geeklog CMS

That's from my first post, so yes, as you can see I have tried that on more than one occasion with the same result each time. Besides, I really don't want to have to edit config.php each time I want to use a new theme, I want to have users be able to select themes "on the fly" from their user preferences section.

So great mystery it is

Can you try to install a new theme as Garden 1.4 ?

::Ben

---

I'm available to customise your themes or plugins for your Geeklog CMS

Okay, I downloaded that theme cordiste linked (Garden 1.4). I didn't expect it to work because I've tried 1.4.0 and 1.4.1 themes and all have given the same problem. As I expected, it did not work.

When selecting it in http://www.fnord.za.net/usersettings.php?mode=preferences I get the error

Which you can see is exactly the same error I've been getting all the time.

As before, I tried chown'ing and chmod'ing the directory recursively with perms 777, and still got the same error afterwards.

I tried copying the header.thtml file from the "professional" theme into the "garden" directory. It didn't work.

I tried copying the "admin" directory from the "professional" theme. It didn't work.

I tried setting "garden" as my default theme in config.php and cleared my cookies. When trying to access the site then, it just quietly loads the "professional" theme again, even though "garden" is specified in config.php.

I have also tried changing the directory name to "Garden" and even "GARDEN", but still it wouldn't work.

Currently I have a few options remaining:

1. I can downgrade to an older version of Geeklog to see if it'll work. I think you'll agree that this is a bad idea, because using an older version of the software is silly and insecure.

2. Install the 1.4.1 beta version of Geeklog. This is not ideal, because I want to have as stable and secure a site as possible, and obviously if the software is "beta", there will be bugs.

3. Reinstall Geeklog 1.4.0 and dump everything into one directory, then limit access to the directories outside public_html using .htaccess. According to the documentation, this is not the recommended way to do it.

None of these options really seem that great, but as I'm going bald from pulling out my hair and feel like crying, option 3 is starting to look all the more attractive.

I really like Geeklog and I'm hoping I can sort this problem out ASAP, as I would be very disappointed to have to switch to a different CMS.

Cenobite,

So we are fixed, the problem don't come from themes.

Geeklog core or path? I would need an ftp access to look more closer. If you are interesting you can send me a MP...

::Ben

---

I'm available to customise your themes or plugins for your Geeklog CMS

Okay everyone, after a hell of a lot of effort and frustration, I've reinstalled geeklog dumping everything inside webroot and limiting access with passwords via .htaccess - as per this document.

Unfortunately, I encountered the exact same errors as previously. This is after, once again, chow'ning and chmod'ing, and copying files to and fro. I encountered the problem with the 1.4.0 themes which I listed earlier in this thread, as well as with a couple of the 1.4.1 themes that ironmax mentioned also earlier in this thread.

So, after sleepless nights and countless hours of frustration, I have unfortunately reached the end of my tether. I am switching to a different CMS which I am using on another one of my sites, and which works 100% for me (and is also hosted on the same server).

I hold no negative feelings towards Geeklog, and especially not the GL community. I'm grateful for the responses to my posts, and I wish Geeklog and its community the very best for the future.

I'm sure that one day I'll be drawn back by the allure of Geeklog

Adieu.