*shameless n00b thread* what's the difference between a style and a template?

[Mikhailtech]

So ... umm ... yea. What does each one do? What's the difference? I'm new at customizing VB.

[BillaBongUSA]

A style is a theme that a board has as a whole, and a template is a single part of the board that...um... Wait, nevermind, I can't think of a way to explain it.

[Mikhailtech]

Well, let's say I wanted a certain part to appear the same (like a banner rotator) on every style but don't want to edit every style every time I change something. Would I edit the template? Or would I need to use some sort of include file?

[BlueBear]

A style is the combination of a template set and a replacement set. You can mix and match the two sets and edit the style to create a new style.

Depending on your site and the amount of skins (styles) you are making available to users, you could have one template set (with the banner rotator) and one replacement set that you use with each style. For example:

Replacement Set 1
Template Set 1

Style 1 would include Replacement Set 1 and Template Set 1
Style 2 would include Replacement Set 1 and Template Set 1
Style 3 would include Replacement Set 1 and Template Set 1

You would then edit the CSS values and color schemes in each of the different styles.

Hope this wasn't confusing.

[tsubo]

banner rotators

Been reading your post here on templates. Where do you get a good banner rotator? Would I have to modify the Vbulletin code manually or is it a separate script that I run like install.php that will modify the code, or is it a TPS (Third Party Software) that works in conjunction with vBulletin?

Would like to set up banners on my site... looking for suggestions.

[Joshua Chance]

you check vbulletin.org for banner modifacations, or you can add your own script on your forum. You can try dynamicdrive.com or http://www.cgiextremes.com/Scripts/Banner_Rotation/ that should help you out.