Hi!

Not sure if I'm saying this correctly, but I want to convert my VSD site to RSD and CSS. I'm looking for...

• A fairly classic 2-column theme/template, with the site menu/page buttons running down the left side, taking up 3 widths and the right side mostly for text by having a single column taking up 9 widths.
  
• Header and footer running 12 widths for stuff like site title, copyright date, and footer.
  
• There will be some photos on the site, but those would only be for adding some graphic flair to the pages; it's not really intended to be a photo or art site (more on that later).
  
• There are about 8 or 9 subject matter pages directly off of the main page, including one that starts a sequence of FAQ article pages (can't wait to have this all converted to CSS).

My reason for having the menu items on the left side is that I think it still works well for sites that are mostly "reference" in nature. This is a homeowner association site, and this is where we keep our legal documents, past newsletters, articles about community rules, board meeting info, board policies, community information, and so forth. It does have a contact form page and it does have links to county, city, and other local websites, but all in all, it's a very basic site that does not (and does not need to) change very often.

Most pages follow the same form factor as the main page. The menu buttons are present on the left side of all pages so that the user can go anywhere in the site from anywhere else.

As I become more competent with RSD, then I'll take liberties with the right 2/3s of the page, but for the moment, this will get me up and running quickly.

So I looked in the theme store, but the "tag" function does not seem to work well. It whittles options down to either zero or 1 for all of the "Tags" I've tried, so it's not possible to find anything meaningful. Then I looked at the first 15 pages of themes, and there seem to be no themes with that classic look that I'm seeking. It's mostly themes of forms, and the site themes I've seen all seem to just have that newer, massively wide appearance that's more and more popular but not what I'm looking for. I want the user to see the menu on the left side of the page.

I can't believe that I'm the only one in the world who still likes the classic left-side menu look. Is there a user-supported theme library? Maybe that will help me.

Also, a question: It's not at all obvious when to use RSD vs. Responsive Layout Maker Pro vs. Responsive Foundation Framer. And once I start with one, can I still use the others? If so, why don't these products just have bridges/plugin access to the others? I'm very confused.

Anyway, thanks in advance!

BIF,

There are a couple of people in the forum that I'm sure will show you how to get the 'look' you want. Just remember that they are doing this because they want to and don't get paid.

Things have changed in the last decade and a half so the classic look is just about gone. You will want your site responsive and it doesn't have to go 'all the way across the monitor'. You can still have it wide with your menu on the left (or right) side.

Responsive Layout Maker Pro is used to build wire frame layouts which can then be converted into full websites.

RSD does the same thing but you don't have to convert, just export and upload.

RFF is just another building platform like RBB. You can do what you are looking for in RSD.

Bif,

If you are looking for a vertical menu down the left side, take a look at the Flux theme that comes with RSD. It looks a bit tricky because of the fixed positioned first row, but it is fairly straight-forward.
Just a couple of days ago I replied to someone else about the same theme:
http://www.coffeecup.com/forums/respons … post268941

Hey, thanks Ernie!

Yep, I'm fully aware of the community nature here and I know that most of the responsibility of learning the software (and good design habits) is all on me, so I've been doing some of the tutorials to get myself up to speed.

I will say that RSD is very powerful once one has learned where all the controls are. I'm thrilled about it, for sure. There are tons of tutorial resources available throughout the Coffeecup site, so for this I know I can be patient. And I'm VERY excited to be finally redoing my site in CSS, and getting rid of the antiquated way of having every button and every element stored as a separate JPG or other graphic element, even though that button is present (and does the same thing) on every page in my site.

Only about 30% of my community have a computer, but probably 80%+ have a smartphone or tablet with web capability, so having a "Responsive" website that looks good on multiple-width devices will be a big bonus, as long as I can support a clean menu structure.

It is that kind of site, because people come to it usually for one or two things: to find the community bylaws and other legal documents, or to read about upcoming events. A lot of today's websites (not Coffeecup, per se) seem to make it difficult to find the most important things because they're so cluttered up. That of course is not a fault of the tools, but of the designer. I'll change my layout in time. But I'd rather take this methodically.

I've been building my main page by adapting the tutorials to my site's look and feel, and so far it's going well.

Anyway, thanks again!

Thanks, Inger! I'll check it out...

I, for one, agree with you about most sites today making it ridiculously hard to find the information for which you are looking. Very frustrating indeed! However, I also understand that comes from trying to accommodate the mobile devices and their small screen.

Your first consideration must be your audience and their needs. A menu down the left, in my opinion, is great for a desktop but is not good on a smartphone. You said that a large percentage of your visitors are going to be wanting to use a smartphone or tablet. Therefore, regardless of whether or not you like the links down the left, first consider how to arrange the page for the mobile device at a size that is visually easy to read. If you remove a 1/4-1/3 on the left, it doesn't leave much room in the page body for readable content.

You might consider specifically how many links you are considering down the left and how they will be organized. Once you have that, consider how they might appear on the small screen of a phone. Armed with that knowledge, then decide if you still want to line them down the left, put them as a drop-down menu at the top or perhaps use another method of presentation entirely.

So doe's the new RSD not have an off canvas component yet ? which could be used for the smaller devices

The RSD 2.0 will have components.

You mean the ever elusive RSD2.0. Is it really real or a pipe dream. Been hearing about it for months.

Hello!

After much playing around with RSD, I decided to move my menu items to the top of the pages and let them "go vertical" as the screen width gets smaller.

Done.

On to the next two items...new threads coming soon.