Make Your Own AP2

Aieee! Take me away from all this!

(We assume you know about stylesheets and frames. They're dead easy to pick up if you don't; you can probably work it out by inspecting the relevant AP2 files. We also assume you're using the offline archive as it's slightly trickier to change things around otherwise.)

VISUAL STYLE
One of the effects of AP2's digital remastering is that each of the over 20 pages is now stylesheet-compatible. This makes it fairly straightforward to twiddle AP2's appearance. Pop over to the "brain" folder in the main "AP2" one to find the "AP2(whatever).css" stylesheet definition files. They're packed with convenient notes about which def refers to which bit of AP2, so hopefully you'll be scampering around maniacally with an electric paint gun in no time.

(The standard AP2 archive comes with six ".css" files - "AP2a.css," "AP2b.css" and "AP2c.css," which are the preset styles, and "AP2x.css," "AP2y.css" and "AP2z.css," which correspond to the three "Your Style Here" links on the layout page so you can have up to three of your own styles without spoiling the originals or crashing about in the HTML to add things explicitly. The easiest way to start is to pick x, y or z and start experimenting. If things go horrendously wrong, throw away your test sheet, duplicate one of the presets, rename it and start again.)*

A quick look at the preset styles.

"AP2a.css" - this is the Original Style; big, serif fonts and pleasingly attractive colours, or blinding primaries, we forget which. (Initially copied to "AP2x.css.")

"AP2b.css" - this is the Rounded Edge style; big, sans-serif fonts and the same colours. (Initially copied to "AP2y.css.")

"AP2c.css" - this is the Verge Style; boring plain whiteness, most pics eliminated, a few semi-random boxes drawn around things, black and white and red all over. (Initially copied to "AP2z.css.") An ideal one to leaf through to see how a few twiddled defs can sweepingly change the overall look.

LAYOUT
AP2's famous frame-y layout can also be changed, though you're slightly more limited here as you have to accommodate at least three sections. (It'd be a bit hopeless if there were no place for the comments, for example. You can drop the logo oblong, as, er, the No Logo layout does, but it'd be puffingly brave or stupendous folly to omit the main menu, we forget which.) Pop over to the "brain" folder in the main "AP2" one to find the "index_(whatever).html" custom layout files.

(Quick tangent: don't go fiddling with "index.html" in the main "AP2" folder; everything's carefully arranged so you don't need to go outside the "brain" folder with your super-impressive new layout. Also, we'll have you killed if you touch it.)

Frames can be a bit fiddly, so it pays to think ahead (ie, fail to think ahead then end up kicking things and swearing a lot). Your new design may require jemmying only a single "index_(thing).html" file, but is likelier to require a bunch of further frames (as, for example, happens with the Reverse). Be sure to keep everything INSIDE the "brain" folder; you can't go adding files elsewhere, or changing AP2's pages, because that destroys the whole point of having the mag peasily updateable; also, we'll have you killed.

(The standard AP2 archive comes with eight index files - "index_no_logo.html," "index_reverse.html," "index_2.1.html," "index_zub_128K.html" and "index_zub_48K.html," which are the preset layouts, and "index_custom_1.html," "index_custom_2.html," and "index_custom_3.html," which correspond to the three Your Layout Here links on the layout page so you can have up to three of your own layouts without spoiling the originals or crashing about in the HTML to add things explicitly. The easiest way to start is to pick 1, 2 or 3 and start experimenting. If things go horrendously wrong, throw away your test layout, duplicate one of the presets, rename it and start again.)*

(NB: do NOT try fiddling with "index.html" in the main "AP2" folder. The relative links are non-standard. Stick to the bits inside "brain.")

A quick look at the preset layouts.

"index_custom_1.html" - a copy of the untouchable "index.html," adapted to work from the "brain" folder. This is the one you'd want if you're looking to tweak the Original Layout.

"index_no_logo.html" - part of the Verge combo, this drops the AP2 logo oblong.

"index_reverse.html" - the standard layout, backwards. Demonstrates how some layouts require extra files even though the sections are exactly the same, because of the way frames work. (The extra bits are "reverse_comments_logo.html" and "reverse_menu_titles.html.") (Initially copied to "index_custom_2.html.")

"index_2.1.html" - an adaptation of S Campbell's phenomenally giant layout for his computer the size of a bus's upstairs. Note the permanent looming Cyclists on the right-hand side for the heck of it.

"index_zub_48K.html" - a completely different layout, using explicitly sized iframes instead of self-adjusting frames. The 128K version is the same, scaled up for larger screens. (Initially copied to "index_custom_3.html.")

Don't forget, you can only add files to the "brain" folder if your layout requires extra bits. (And then only ".html" files - no sticking in fifty thousand new pics or something.) That way, sending new layouts to chums and pals is a piffling matter of exchanging a tiny zip of a single self-contained folder of plain text easily bunged in one place. Sorted! Respect due.

If you're jauntily pleased with your new layout and/or visual style, you can send it in and it may officially be added to the roster of preeny looks for AP2's words, most of which are reasonably less disappointing than at first you might have imagined.*