Set Up Backlight for New Look to Existing Bluehost-hosted Website

TBC · 2018-02-04 22:19:51

I bought the Backlight full package with a view to giving a fresh look to our website:

www.BCphotoadventures.com

It is an extensive site with much information that people rely on. There is a combination of verbiage and galleries, and I am trying to find out if Backlight will do this for me. I completely designed the current site, but Dreamweaver is now driving me crazy, and Backlight seems the way to go. Yes? No? I would like to give the site a new, yet familiar, look.

Second question: I don't mind changing links later, so I am proposing, as suggested elsewhere, creating a subfolder, perhaps called Backlight, into which I create the new website.

Sorry to be such a dummy.

TBC

rod barbee · 2018-02-05 02:43:41

you certainly could use Backlight to rebuild your site. And developing the revamped site in a sub-domain or sub-folder is a good idea.

Some thoughts:

You'll have a lot of work ahead of you. The current site is not responsive and the page content of most, if not all, of your pages will need to be re-worked. For example, you're using a lot of tables for design. I'd suggest reworking all of that, using divs and floats instead of tables. The TTG Responsive Grid Framework is really really helpful for page text layout too.
You'd need to write all of your content in html.
I suppose you could try copy/pasting the existing html, but those table layouts might be problematic.

I also see that you have some content that appears at the bottom of many pages. Phplugins would be very helpful with inserting this automatically so you didn't have to place it in every page yourself. (think of a WordPress widget areas.)

Frankly, since you're already using WordPress for your blog, it may just be easier to find or create a new theme (Backlight can create WordPress themes using the WordPress add-on) and rework all your existing page content into WordPress pages. (I'd definitely use a WordPress contact form plug-in for your sign up forms)

TBC · 2018-02-05 05:45:30

Thank you, Rod. For the items top, bottom, etc. I have made liberal use of ssi for just the reason you indicate. Change it once, and it goes across all pages. I know about div, and I can certainly teach myself about floats. And I was writing html long before php came along, so I can manage that, too.

So, again to be a dolt, if I do go with WordPress for the site itself, you are indicating I can do it through Backlight? So, where would I install Backlight? Still in Lightroom? Still in a subfolder called Test until I have it looking the way I wish? Once I get going, I'll be on a roll; I just want to start on the right path.

A couple of sample URL paths would be useful for both our website and for WordPress. I obviously don't want anything to go live until the revamped/reworked site is ready.

Would I still use Publisher in LR to accomplish much of the gallery content?

Again thanks,

Margo

rod barbee · 2018-02-05 08:10:25

Backlight can export a WordPress theme. it can also install that theme in your WordPress installation.

Backlight itself is installed on the server. The only part of it installed in Lightroom is the Publisher plug-in. And all your albums and album sets will be controlled in Lightroom.
See the documentation for details on installing Backlight: http://backlight.theturninggate.net/docs/doku.php

If you're site is based on Backlight (pages, galleries, etc) then the folder structure in the root would look like this:

backlight/
galleries/
blog/ (where WordPress would be installed)
index.php
.htaccess

Plus any folders you might be using to hold images for use inline in pages, etc..

If you wanted a site based on Wordpress, then the folder structure would look like this:

backlight/
galleries/
index.php (from WordPress)
all the rest of the WordPress installation....

For one WordPress based site I have that uses a Backlight theme, I first installed WordPress in the root of the site and then installed just Backlight (not Backlight + Pages).
For designing, I simply created an album or an album set and published it. I then designed in Backlight, using the album or album set as the visual reference for the design.
Once I was happy with the design I created the WordPress theme and exported it to the WordPress installation.
After that, when any design changes are needed I'd make them and just refer to the test album or album set to confirm the design and then just save the page template and/or export it to WordPress. (this depends on your settings.)

Backlight is all about Page, Album, and Album Set templates. More on that here: http://ttg-tips-and-tricks.barbeephoto. … templates/

TBC · 2018-02-05 08:23:10

Amazing response and detail, Rod. Thank you. I will nudge around. Your offer of installing a WordPress theme is generous. I had better figure out what the theme is or if a use a theme that I already have purchased and go from there. Input from your end, or am I thinking incorrectly?

All new and a bit overwhelming after around 20 years the old way (always evolving, of course) and I could not have done a lot of that without TTG that I found early on. Thanks for your patience. My server guru said he could get me set up on WordPress for the site itself. I need to explore that without making it all live.

Margo

rod barbee · 2018-02-05 08:41:00

Sorry if I wasn't clear. You need to install the WordPress theme (typo on my part "I" instead of "it"), Fortunately, with Backlight, it's just a matter of one or two clicks.

A caution about setting up a WordPress-based test site. It's certainly possible but you'll have to take steps to transfer the WP database to the new location. There are plugins that can do that.
Personally, I develop any WordPress sites locally on my PC using Desktop Server. https://serverpress.com/
It makes it easy to develop a WP site and then transfer the whole thing to an existing WordPress installation on your server.

TBC · 2018-02-05 22:00:52

Splendid and very useful information, Rod. I installed DesktopServer Premium (had to do manually, but no big deal). My inclination is to not worry about any plugins as this point, adding as needed, unless you have found some invaluable.

Again, thank you so much, Rod,

Margo

TBC · 2018-02-05 22:04:36

Woops, one final - for now - question. I assume that all the Backlight files will go into this test site rather than into my live one.

Margo

rod barbee · 2018-02-05 22:44:33

TBC wrote:

Woops, one final - for now - question. I assume that all the Backlight files will go into this test site rather than into my live one.
Margo

Right, Backlight needs to be installed at the root level of any site you create

rod barbee · 2018-02-05 23:09:10

TBC wrote:

Splendid and very useful information, Rod. I installed DesktopServer Premium (had to do manually, but no big deal). My inclination is to not worry about any plugins as this point, adding as needed, unless you have found some invaluable.
Again, thank you so much, Rod,
Margo

I use a number of plugins for WordPress that I find invaluable.
One is Contact Form 7 along with Contact Form 7 DB, and Contact Form 7 Honeypot
Another is Beaver Builder. It’s great for page content layouts.

An FAQ plugin is nice to have, especially for a site like yours. I use one in my own WordPress-based workshops site.

TBC · 2018-02-06 02:16:22

So far, so good, Rod, until I went to publish my first gallery (had to start somewhere). I also would also like to implement a WordPress theme I have already bought.

Perhaps mistakenly, I used the API key I have for my WordPress blog. I figured that since the blog runs off the regular website, that they might share the same API key. The instructions indicate: "the API Key, you will have set on the Quick Settings page when installing Backlight" ... but I never saw this Quick Settings page!

Secondly, when I went to publish the first gallery to my local test site, on an external hard drive, I got the following error message (wish I could just include the screen shot):

An internal error has occurred: JSON.lua:458:JSON.lua:197: can't parse JSON at char 1 of: Backlight is not yet configured. Please <a href="/backlight/">login to Backlight</a> to continue.

Directions also say, log in at "yourdomain.com/backlight with username admin, password ttg8888" but since my local test site is not live, rather on on that external hard drive, I am at a loss.

Clearly, I botched something up or missed something critical on the installation.

Last edited by TBC (2018-02-06 05:35:50)

rod barbee · 2018-02-06 06:12:58

Your API key for Publisher is unrelated to any API key needed for WordPress.

Set your API key in Backlight > Publisher Settings (I think the setup documentation is a bit outdated--maybe not, it's been a while since I set up a site from scratch--but there used to be a Quick Settings link when logging in for the first time)
set the same key in the Publisher plug-in. You can get the API url by going to the site you created and adding /backlight/publisher/ to the site url. For a local install it might be something like http://localhost/yoursite.com/

Secondly, when I went to publish the first gallery to my local test site, on an external hard drive, I got the following error message (wish I could just include the screen shot):
and
An internal error has occurred: JSON.lua:458:JSON.lua:197: can't parse JSON at char 1 of: Backlight is not yet configured. Please <a href="/backlight/">login to Backlight</a> to continue.

You can include screen shots with the IMG tag: http://community.theturninggate.net/vie … hp?id=7046

You need to go through the Backlight Settings and set the API keyand other things first.

Directions also say, log in at "yourdomain.com/backlight with username admin, password ttg8888" but since my local test site is not live, rather on on that external hard drive, I am at a loss.

If you're developing on a local drive, you need to be working in a virtual hosting environment like MAMP, WAMP, or Desktop Server.r

If you're using Desktop Server, try creating a test site. It will set up WordPress for you using the default theme. Once that' set up, you can install Backlight. On Windows, I believe the default location for test sites is Documents/Websites/
So just install Backlight in Documents/Websites/your-test-site/

I know Desktop Server will transfer your WordPress site to your online server. But I think you'll probably need to move Backlight manully. That's just a matter of FTPing the backlight/ and galleries/ folders to the root of your site.
You'd then need to log into Backlight and make changes to things like Site URL and WordPress URL in the Backlight Settings.

TBC · 2018-02-07 01:47:02

Rod,

Thanks for your infinite patience as I muddle through all this - nothing like feeling like a total idiot...

/////"Set your API key in Backlight > Publisher Settings (I think the setup documentation is a bit outdated--there used to be a Quick Settings link)
set the same key in the Publisher plug-in. You can get the API url by going to the site you created and adding /backlight/publisher/ to the site url. For a local install it might be something like http://localhost/yoursite.com/"

That explains why I could not find the oft-referenced Quick Settings link.

I bought DesktopServer, so am all set there and did, in fact, get that set up. Then, I followed your instructions and copied Backlight to the path above. When I sign in to my new DesktopServer Premium generated test site, it looks the part of a starter WordPress site.

But I cannot figure out for the life of me, in spite of extensive research, where/how to log in to Backlight or to access Backlight Settings. Ditto with the whole API key thing. It ain't happenin'.

May I hire you for an hour of your valuable time to get me through this increasingly frustrating mire? I am usually really good and patient with tech stuff, but this time, the more I "learn", the more I am falling behind and getting more confused. In trying to find answers online (through TTG), the more I get caught in endless loops that lead nowhere useful, and I am getting bald from tearing out my hair! ;-)

An hour of of one-on-one phone time should set me straight and get me going. After that, I should be able to research and figure most of it out.

Take care,

TBC/Margo

Matthew · 2018-02-07 02:25:20

Margo, to log in to Backlight, simply go to yourdomain.com/backlight. I don't know what "yourdomain.com" should be on your local server, though; whatever you've set up. The Quick Settings screen will greet you immediately upon your first log in. If you haven't already, his the "First Steps" section of the docs and watch the video overview.
http://backlight.theturninggate.net/docs/doku.php

TBC · 2018-02-07 03:51:04

Rod and Matthew. Thank you both. That was really helpful, and I got to sign in. However, the API key is still eluding me. Where do I get it? And as I understand it, it must be the same in Backlight as well as in LR. When I have tried to get this information, I get thrown into an endless loop, so I could use more help here. Unless an API key is arbitrary, as long as it matches LR. I am geussing that something of 32 characters will work?

And I did read the first steps carefully, but there were missing pieces, such as the path you just gave me to sign in. I did not understand that I had to physically type in the slash backlight into the address. I was looking for some link.

Thank you,

TBC/Margo

Last edited by TBC (2018-02-07 04:10:15)

rod barbee · 2018-02-07 06:07:43

You don't need to go anywhere to get your API key, just make something up. I don't think there are any special character requirement so use whatever you want.

In the installation docs, the log-in path is number 3 under Install Backlight on this page: http://backlight.theturninggate.net/doc … tion_setup

TBC · 2018-02-07 07:05:43

Again, thank you. I am beginning to get the hang of this and apologize for the problems I was having. That API information might be useful to put into the documentation.

Since I am setting this site up from scratch, I want to get the design elements more or less right before creating pages. I have accessed the design portion, but I have not been able to discover how to see it in WYSIWYG. It would be useful as I make potential changes. I understand that I can create different templates for different uses, just have to label them appropriately. I saw in one of the discussions that someone had to use Firefox rather than Chrome.

Second question ... for my WordPress.org blog I had bought and customized Bueno. Is there a way for me to work with that through Backlight? It would certainly save some time at my end.

Thanks,

TBC/Margo

Last edited by TBC (2018-02-07 07:07:03)

rod barbee · 2018-02-07 07:18:30

the way to see what you're designing is to publish and album or create a page on the site and then look at it. There's even a feature that will automatically refresh that page while you're working on its template.
Matt covers that at about the 9:00 minute mark of this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtzGfUiC6kU
(link is under "First Steps" on the main docs page: http://backlight.theturninggate.net/docs/doku.php in case you need to find it again)

So just publish an album. Make a change in the page template and refresh the album page (or turn on autorefresh). It's a lot faster than the old CE4 plug-in in Lightroom's Web Module.
When I'm designing I often put Backlight in one monitor and the site in another.

for my WordPress.org blog I had bought and customized Bueno. Is there a way for me to work with that through Backlight?

No. Backlight can only control themes made within Backlight.
If using Bueno, you'll probably want to design your page template to match the Bueno design the best you can. That way your albums and album sets will look as consistent as possible with the design of the rest of the site.

If you opt to use Backlight to create your theme, you can simply create a theme and export it to Wordpress.
In WordPress, activate the theme and visit the site. You'll see the standard Backlight design.
Go back into your Backlight page template and make a simple change, like changing the background color. Save the template.
If you've enabled the "Export on Save" feature (under WordPress in Backlight Settings), the changes you've made will automatically be exported as an updated theme to WordPress.
Go back to the tab or window that's displaying the site and refresh. You should see the changes.

rod barbee · 2018-02-07 07:54:47

Since I am setting this site up from scratch, I want to get the design elements more or less right before creating pages.

Here's the cool thing about Backlight. If your pages are all using the same template, you just need to make the change to the template and save. The changes will propagate to all pages automatically.
So even if you're design isn't perfected, you can still create pages (whether these are Backlight pages, albums, or albums sets, or WordPreshttp://community.theturninggate.net/help.php#bbcodes pages using a Backlight WordPress theme)

rod barbee · 2018-02-07 08:01:19

for my WordPress.org blog I had bought and customized Bueno.

I'm not familiar with that. From what I can tell, it's an old Woo Commerce theme? Is it still supported up to the current version of WordPress?

TBC · 2018-02-07 08:55:49

Thanks on borh counts, Rod (you are amazing).

I will need one template for pages, one for student galleries, and one for instructor galleries. That is no big deal. I am having troubles applying the templates I have made to galleries, but I think I shall win in the end.

Yes, Bueno is fromm Woo, and yes, it does still work.

Thanks,

TBC/Margo

rod barbee · 2018-02-07 09:04:42

What sort of trouble?
You can apply any of the album templates you've made. Just edit the album in Lightroom Publisher and choose your template. The drop-down is in the Basics tab.
You can also assign templates from the Backlight interface. Publisher > Top Level Galleries. Click on the name of the top-level gallery. Scroll down to Assign Templates.

If you're keeping your site design consistent, you probably only need one Page template. This template will be assigned to any album templates you make.
If you need the albums to each have a different design look (colors, fonts, etc.) then you'd need a Page Template for each album template.

TBC · 2018-02-08 02:24:26

The concept of different templates is one that I have been using since the 90s, so that is easy, and I ahve started along that path.

I have been watching Matthew's YouTube (don't know how I missed that in my searches before), but when I go to our website and I click on Contact or About, I get

OOPS! THAT PAGE CAN’T BE FOUND.

I am not sure how I achieved that! How do I get those back so they at least look the way Matthew's do before any design changes I might make?

Meanwhile, I am researching sending Backlight's theme to my WordPress.org test site.

Thanks,

Margo

Daniel Leu · 2018-02-08 02:55:46

TBC wrote:

The concept of different templates is one that I have been using since the 90s, so that is easy, and I ahve started along that path.
I have been watching Matthew's YouTube (don't know how I missed that in my searches before), but when I go to our website and I click on Contact or About, I get
OOPS! THAT PAGE CAN’T BE FOUND.
I am not sure how I achieved that! How do I get those back so they at least look the way Matthew's do before any design changes I might make?

There are some benefits to do this type of work in a sub-domain so we can see what you are doing.

rod barbee · 2018-02-08 02:57:37

TBC wrote:

The concept of different templates is one that I have been using since the 90s, so that is easy, and I ahve started along that path.
I have been watching Matthew's YouTube (don't know how I missed that in my searches before), but when I go to our website and I click on Contact or About, I get
OOPS! THAT PAGE CAN’T BE FOUND.
I am not sure how I achieved that! How do I get those back so they at least look the way Matthew's do before any design changes I might make?
Meanwhile, I am researching sending Backlight's theme to my WordPress.org test site.
Thanks,
Margo

Did you first create those pages? The navigation menu may have links to them, but you need to create them first. Look in Designer > Pages

Community @ The Turning Gate

#1 2018-02-04 22:19:51

Set Up Backlight for New Look to Existing Bluehost-hosted Website

#2 2018-02-05 02:43:41

Re: Set Up Backlight for New Look to Existing Bluehost-hosted Website

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