layoutlounge | Making a Custom Layer to Customize Sidebar (Reply)

Account Status: Paid
Actions: Adding Boxes to Sidebar, Tag Cloud, Putting them in order
Theme: Flexible Squares

Making a Custom Layer:
1. Go to Your Layers.
2. Create layout-specific layer. Type: THEME Layout: FLEXIBLE SQUARES
3. This will generate a Custom Theme. Click Edit
4. You will want the beginning to have this coding (you can change the name of the theme:

5. Sidebar Customization: Adding Boxes (You can change anything in CAPITALS.

6. To add more boxes, simply copy and paste:

Put these in their respective places amongst the code and change the numbers.

7. To add a tag cloud or tags into the coding...

####   TAG CLOUD CODE   ####

###### Configuration ######

var int tag_category = 4; # The number can be changed if you want more or fewer categories.
var int basefontsize = 90; # size of the first tag category in percent of the default font size of the page
var int increment = 10; # The difference in size between tag categories.
var string tag_title = "Tags"; # Title of the tag box.

###### End Configuration ######

var Page p = get_page();
var string list = "";
var int max_use_count = 0 ;
var int min_use_count ;
var int x ;
    
if (size $p->visible_tag_list() > 0) 
{

# Define a maximum and minimum number of uses of the tags:
 var TagDetail[] visible_tag_list = $p->visible_tag_list();
 if($visible_tag_list) 
 {
      $min_use_count = $visible_tag_list[0].use_count;
      foreach var TagDetail td ($p->visible_tag_list())
      {
       if ($td.use_count > $max_use_count)
       {
        $max_use_count = $td.use_count;
       }
       elseif ($td.use_count < $min_use_count)
       {
        $min_use_count = $td.use_count;
       }
    
  }
 }

# Avoid a division by zero
 if ($max_use_count == $min_use_count)
 {
  $max_use_count = $max_use_count + 1;
 }

# Put the tags into categories according to the number of times they're used,
 # then use it to determine the size of the tag:
 foreach var TagDetail td ($p->visible_tag_list())
 {
  # Create different categories according to the number of uses of the tag
  $x = (($td.use_count - $min_use_count) * $tag_category / ($max_use_count - $min_use_count));
  if ($x == $tag_category) { $x = $tag_category - 1; }

# Convert those categories into sizes
  $x = ($x * $increment) + $basefontsize;
  $list = $list + """<a href="$td.url" title="$td.use_count" style="font-size: $x%">$td.name</a> """;
 }

# Enclose the entire list in an li tag as required by the layout.
 $list = """<li class="tagBox">""" + $list + """</li>""";

# Add styling to box title.
 $tag_title = """<li class="sbartitle">$tag_title</li>""";
}
####   END TAG CLOUD CODE   ####

Don't change anything.

8. Putting the boxes in the order you want them to show up in on your sidebar.
Say you want your links first and then all your boxes and last your tags...

As long as you have the boxes or features in the order you want them in that is how they will show up.

9. When this is all done your coding should be something like this...

layerinfo "type" = "theme";
layerinfo "name" = "TITLE OF CUSTOM THEM";

function print_sidebar()
{
var string extra1_title ="";
var string extra1_content ="";
var string extra2_title ="";
var string extra2_content ="";
var string extra3_title ="";
var string extra3_content ="";
var string extra4_title ="";
var string extra4_content ="";

$extra1_title = """<li class="sbartitle">TITLE</li>""";
$extra1_content = """<li class="sbaritem">
TEXT FOR BOX
</li>""";

$extra2_title = """<li class="sbartitle">TITLE</li>""";
$extra2_content = """<li class="sbaritem">
TEXT FOR BOX
</li>""";

$extra3_title = """<li class="sbartitle">TITLE</li>""";
$extra3_content = """<li class="sbaritem">
TEXT FOR BOX
</li>""";

$extra4_title = """<li class="sbartitle">TITLE</li>""";
$extra4_content = """<li class="sbaritem">
TEXT FOR BOX
</li>""";

####   TAG CLOUD CODE   ####

###### Configuration ######

###### End Configuration ######

var Page p = get_page();
var string list = "";
var int max_use_count = 0 ;
var int min_use_count ;
var int x ;
    
if (size $p->visible_tag_list() > 0) 
{

# Avoid a division by zero
 if ($max_use_count == $min_use_count)
 {
  $max_use_count = $max_use_count + 1;
 }

# Convert those categories into sizes
  $x = ($x * $increment) + $basefontsize;
  $list = $list + """<a href="$td.url" title="$td.use_count" style="font-size: $x%">$td.name</a> """;
 }

# Enclose the entire list in an li tag as required by the layout.
 $list = """<li class="tagBox">""" + $list + """</li>""";

# Add styling to box title.
 $tag_title = """<li class="sbartitle">$tag_title</li>""";
}
####   END TAG CLOUD CODE   ####

print_sidebar_linklist();
 print_sidebar_box($extra1_title, $extra1_content);
 print_sidebar_box($extra2_title, $extra2_content);
        print_sidebar_box($extra3_title, $extra3_content);
        print_sidebar_box($extra4_title, $extra4_content);
        print_sidebar_tags();
}

More box coding...

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30

Layout Lounge

Layouts, Tutorials, Help, and more

Making a Custom Layer to Customize Sidebar

About

Links

Tags

April 2025