Easy question about editing tpl

What program do you use to edit your tpl files? I'm new to OC and still trying to get my site up but this is driving me crazy! Firebug seems great, but the changes aren't live. Notepad++ seems to change some of the characters - same for wordpad, Word, etc. I know what I want to change, but can't find an editor to change it in. My cpanel will only allow me to download the file, and whenever I do it changes the file to xxx.....tpl.htm. So what do people use as editor's?

notepad++ is all you should ever need. it even has its own FTP client plugin so you can do it all from there.

You might want to also have a look at the Tools of the Trade thread for the various coding IDEs people are using. Basically, any general IDE that supports syntax color-coding, built-in FTP, and perhaps code completion for php and html, would be good. As Q mentioned, Notepad++ should be perfectly fine...maybe you can clarify the 'characters are changing' bit?

So, here's an example of what I mean.

I'm trying to use Notepad++. When I look on-line at my home page I see...my home page. When I use the viewer in Notepad it shows me what looks like just some php lingo that means nothing to me... <?php echo....etc Now, I know that at one point I could view the page as it looks using Notepad++. And I also imagine that this is something really basic but I have no idea what...!

I'm not sure what you're looking for. Notepad++ is a coding IDE so of course you're going to see all the code—all the php, html, and css that makes your site work the way it does when on the live server. When it's live, the php is executed on the server and rendered in the browser. For local development, you typically install something like WAMPserver or XAMPP which are basically all-in-on distributions of apache/php/mysql. Once you install them and set them up. You just turn them on whenever you need to develop. They'll have a folder where you put all your web projects. So you just create a local version of your site and preview the pages using: http://localhost/mysite (the path being however you have your web project's directory set up).

You are looking for a wysiwyg html editor like kompozer or dreamweaver. But if you don't know how to use them with intermixed php them it won't help much

What I meant is that in Notepad++ there's a "Run" option that opens the browser of your choice so you can see what the code looks like. So when I moved a copy of the original Header.tpl to replace the one I messed up, it didn't display 'correctly' in Notepad++ even though it displays correctly 'live'. That's why I was so frustrated. I don't want to move files to the live directory without first seeing if it is correct by a visual inspection like you can do in Firebug for example. Yes, I don't know what I'm doing, but I recently decided to move to OC because I thought the way I was doing things was too difficult without a CMS and I wanted to focus on my business and not have to train myself with technical skills. And God only knows what other issues I'll find after I finally go live. Doesn't anyone make a system for idiots? (I don't even know what an "IDE" or WAMP is! If someone figures out how to make a system that can let people like me create and maintain a web store without having to run to technical folks every 10 minutes, they will make a fortune and a half!)

Does any of this make sense or does it just sound like I'm whining?

NitroLiq wrote:I'm not sure what you're looking for. Notepad++ is a coding IDE so of course you're going to see all the code—all the php, html, and css that makes your site work the way it does when on the live server. When it's live, the php is executed on the server and rendered in the browser. For local development, you typically install something like WAMPserver or XAMPP which are basically all-in-on distributions of apache/php/mysql. Once you install them and set them up. You just turn them on whenever you need to develop. They'll have a folder where you put all your web projects. So you just create a local version of your site and preview the pages using: http://localhost/mysite (the path being however you have your web project's directory set up).

Exactly! I wish someone grabbed me by the shoulders initially and said to me, hey Larry, if you want to use OC and really be able to manipulate it, you need to learn php, css, etc. I think the initial attraction was the ability to easily add and manipulate products, but I didn't realize all of other skills required. I guess bigger businesses just hire technical people! (Or maybe this explains why I'm not a bigger business!)

Qphoria wrote:You are looking for a wysiwyg html editor like kompozer or dreamweaver. But if you don't know how to use them with intermixed php them it won't help much