Making a Band Layout, Version 2 Options

[YDG]

MySpace Band Layout Tutorial

Welcome to Version 2 of the Band Layout Tutorial! This tutorial will help you out in making those professional looking layouts that graphic designers are making for these rising bands. A lot of people are getting into this kind of thing, and resources for Band Layouts are very slim, so I hope this topic helps anyone out that needs the help and resources.

Rules:

• Do not spam this thread.
• Please look through other posts to see if a problem similar to yours is resolved.
• If you see a broken link, unavailable screenshot, or non-working code, please report it to me.
• If you are having any trouble, feel free to ask in here or PM me.
• If you leave me a PM, please give me a week to reply before sending me more PM's.
• If you have any requests for my tutorial, please post in this topic.

Table of Contents:

1. Getting Started
2. Changing the Look & Feel
3. Adding a Top Banner
4. Slicing Images
5. Working With Image Rollovers
6. Creating A Custom Left Side
7. Adding Headers
8. Moving Blogs to the Left Side
9. Adding a Shows Header
10. Finishing Up
    --------------------
11. Frequently Asked Questions

[YDG]

Getting Started

Here is a list of things you might want consider using to make your layout:

Adobe Photoshop CS4
Adobe Illustrator CS4
GIMP
Notepad

Some of this tutorial will be based on Adobe Photoshop CS4, but the steps are optional, so you don't have to follow those steps.

Before we even start making the layout, make sure you have everything prepared for the layout. Make sure you get rid of all of your current coding on your MySpace, but make sure you do all of your editing in Safe Mode. If you don't do editing in Safe Mode, you will not be able to save your changes.

Also, make sure you have your images ready to put on the layout. You will want to have your pictures all uploaded, unless you are looking into slicing images, then you'll have to upload as you go along. Here are some websites you can use to upload your pictures.

• Webs
• PhotoBucket
• ImageShack

In my opinion, I would recommend using webs, because Photobucket and Imageshack aren't that reliable.

[YDG]

Changing the Look & Feel

Once you're all prepared to start your layout, now you're ready to start changing the look and feel of your layout. Feel free to use this stylesheet. I recommend that you use it because using generated layout stylesheets make it much harder for me to pinpoint a problem / fault in your layout.

CODE

<style type="text/css">

.orangetext15 {display: none;}
.whitetext12 {display: none;}

table table div embed, table table div object {position:relative; z-index:9;}

table, tr, td{
background-color:transparent;
border-style:none;
}

body {
background-color: 000000;
background-image:url();
background-position: top center;
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-attachment: scroll;
}

table table table table, table table table td{
background-image:none;
background-color:transparent;
}

body, div, p, strong, td, .text, .blacktext10, .blacktext12, a.searchlinkSmall, a.searchlinkSmall:link, a.searchlinkSmall:visited{
color:FFFFFF;
font-size:9pt;
line-height: 10pt;
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none;
text-transform:none;
font-family:Helvetica Narrow, sans-serif;
}

strong, .lightbluetext8, .btext, .redtext, .redbtext{
color:666666;
font-size:9pt;
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none;
text-transform:none;
font-family:Helvetica Narrow, sans-serif;
}

a font, a:link, a:visited, a.navbar, a.navbar:link, a.navbar:visited, a.man, a.man:link, a.man:visited, a.man font, a.redlink, a.redlink:visited{
color:FFFFFF;
font-size:9pt;
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none ;
text-transform:none;
font-family:Helvetica Narrow, sans-serif;
}

a {
color: FFFFFF !important;
font-family: Arial !important;
}

a:hover {
color: 666666 !important;
font-family: Arial !important;
}

a:hover, a:hover font, a:active, a.navbar:hover, a.navbar:active, a.man:hover, a.man:active, a.man:hover font, a.searchlinkSmall:hover, a.searchlinkSmall:active, a.redlink:hover, a.redlink:hover{
color:666666;
font-size:9pt;
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:normal ;
text-transform:none;
font-family:Helvetica Narrow, sans-serif;
}

table table table table, div table table table{
border-style:none;
}

</style>

This gets asked a lot, but I wouldn't ask how to hide things in this tutorial, and it's something I can't / will not go over. Table classes for band layouts are much more different than regular profiles, so it's nearly impossible to hide one section without the code conflicting with something else in your layout.

[YDG]

Adding a Top Banner

If you want to add a top banner to your layout, there are two ways of going about it. You can put a top banner above the navigation, or you can put one below the top banner. I will not be going over how to add a top banner above the navigation, but here is how to put one under the navigation.

With the following code, here are some important aspects you'll have to look at:

Line 1: .profileWidth table {margin-bottom:###px; width:800px; }
Line 5: width:###px; height:###px;
Line 7: margin:0px 0 -400px -###px;

What each line means:

Line 1: Margin-bottom is the height of your top banner image..
Line 2: The width and height are the dimensions of your top banner image.
Line 7: Just edit the very last property in that line. For example, in this code, I have the number -###. You will change the number to the height of your image, but make sure the negative symbol is there.

This code goes at the very top of your Band Biography section. If it gets placed anywhere, it will not create the right gap.

CODE

<style>
.profileWidth table { margin-bottom:1150px; width:800px; }
.rail { display:none; }
.gap {
  background:url() top left no-repeat;
  width:900px; height:1150px;
  position:absolute; top:0; left:50%;
  margin:0px 0 -400px -1150px;
</style>

<div class="gap"></div>

Okay, now your going to have to use some DIV positioning codes to position your top banner in between the gap. If you are not familiar with DIV codes, you might want to check out this tutorial for more information and practice.

Use the following code:

CODE

.topbanner {position:absolute; left:50%; top:###px; margin-left:###px; _margin-left:###px; width:###; height:###px; z-index:1;}

I didn't put style tags between the code, because you should add this piece of coding to your stylesheet. It makes it a lot easier to find things, and it throws some more organization into your stylesheet.

All you have to do here is change the ### symbols to the number that works for you. As you can see, there are two margin-left properties. _margin-left:###px; is a fix for Internet Explorer to get it to work right in both Internet Explorer and Firefox. Do not change left:50%; to any other percent. Almost everyone does this, and that's where they run into their problems. left:50%; makes sure everything stays in the same area in both browsers.

Now just add the DIV class in the Band Bio section and you're set:

CODE

<div class="topbanner">
Image code here
</div>

[YDG]

Slicing Images

This is an optional part of the tutorial. Slicing images will help greatly with your images loading faster, and it also helps add links to images, since imagemapping will not work on band layouts.

For more information on this, check out my tutorial on how to slice images and add links.

[YDG]

Working With Rollover Images

This, as well is an optional part of the tutorial, but it is also one of the hardest parts. You're going to have to pay super close attention to what I say so you can grasp a better understanding of how to do this. There are other methods as to how to do rollovers with images, but I find my way a lot easier, especially if you slice your images to make them links.

There isn't really any explanation needed as far as the codes go to get this to work, you just need to be able to position things correctly, and this should be a snap for you.

Here is the code you will use for your rollovers:

CODE

.topbannerhover {position:absolute; top:###px; left:50%; margin-left:###px; _margin-left:###px; width:###px; height:###px; z-index:1;}

div.topbanner a:hover{
border-top: none;
opacity: 0.0;
filter: alpha(opacity=0);
width: 0px;
height: 0px;
z-index:1;
}

.topbanner {position:absolute; top:###px; left:50%; margin-left:###px; _margin-left:-###px; width:###px; height:###px; z-index:1;}

I'll try to give the best explanation of this I can, but it's pretty self-explanatory. The first code for positioning will be the hover layer (the rollover images), the middle code causes the image to change on rollover. The only thing you need to change in that code is the name of the layer to the name of the layer used for positioning the image before hovering. In this case for the coding, the code with the rollover images will be .topbannerhover, and the two parts, div.topbanner a:hover and .topbanner, for the image before rollover.

If you are having trouble understanding, the screenshots provided will give you an idea of what you're going to be doing:

Screenshots are temporarily unavailable...

The .topbannerhover and .topbanner need the same exact attributes for positioning, that way one is on top of the other. When you put the DIV classes up for them, they will look something like this:

CODE

<div class="topbannerhover">
Image rollover code
</div>

<div class="topbanner">
Sliced image code
</div>

Your on-hover layer will always come first. Once you're done, save changes and check to see if you've done it correctly. If not, keep trying. If you do get it, keep doing the same process any other time you may need it.

[YDG]

Creating a Custom Left Side

If everything thus far has been easy for you on this tutorial, you should have no problem creating your own custom left side. As I said earlier, you can not hide tables on band layouts without running into a problem somewhere else, so covering it up with a DIV layer is going to be our fix for this problem.

Before you create your left side, keep these things in mind.

• The maximum width is 325px.
• You must set a background color to cover the tables.
• If the width is less than the maximum, you must specify it.
• It is not recommended to have a width less than 325px.
• If sections show up under your left side, it's because of your positioning.

For your left side, here is the code for positioning a DIV layer again:

CODE

.tg_left {position:absolute; top:###px; left:50%; margin-left:###px; _margin-left:###px; width:325px; height:###px; z-index:1;}

As I said earlier, I did not add style tags because I recommend you incorporate it in your stylesheet, and replace the ### symbols with numbers that work for you.

Once you think you have it positioned where you want it, add a div class code in the Band Bio section:

CODE

<div class="tg_left">
Left side codes / images here.
</div>

It may take a couple tries to position, just be patient with it.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION:

Q: My left side overlaps my comments, how do I fix it?
A: Simple, just fill up the right side of your layout with information, headers, and other miscellaneous items. The right side will go down, pushing your comments down with it. You can also position your comments by moving them to the left, but it causes browser problems most of the times, so I'm not recommending it or linking how to.

[YDG]

Adding Headers

There isn't really much of an explanation needed here, all you have to do is change the parts that I've highlighted in bold for you. There are header codes for the band biography, blogs, friends, and comments. Once again, I am not adding style tags because I recommend adding it into your stylesheet.

Band Biography:

CODE

<img src="imageurlhere" />

Blogs:

CODE

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table tbody tr td.text table.latestBlogEntry{
background-color: transparent !important;
color: ###### !important;
width: 450px !important;
border-collapse: collapse !important;
margin-bottom: 0 !important;
margin-left: 0 !important;
margin-right: 0 !important;
margin-top: 15px !important;
padding: 0 !important;
table-layout: fixed !important;
position: relative !important;
background-image: url(BACKGROUNDIMAGEHERE);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-position: 0px 0px;
overflow: hidden;
_background-position: 0px 2px;
_margin-left: -4px !important;
_margin-top: 0px !important;
}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table tbody tr td.text table.latestBlogEntry tbody tr{
display: inline;
margin: 0 !important;
padding: 0 !important;
}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table tbody tr td.text table.latestBlogEntry tbody tr td{
display: block !important;
margin: 0 !important;
padding: 0 !important;
width: 449px !important;
font-family: Arial;
color: ###### !important;
clear: both !important;
font-size: 1px !important;
line-height: 0px;
vertical-align: middle;
}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table tbody tr td.text table.latestBlogEntry tbody tr td a{
float: right;
line-height: 35px;
color: ######;
padding: 0px !important;
margin: 0px !important;
padding-right: 5px !important;
position: relative;
z-index: 6;
font-weight: normal;
font-size: 10px !important;
display: block;
height: 35px;
text-transform: Capitalize;
_font-size: 10px !important;
_width:120px;
_text-align:right;
_font-weight: normal;
_postion: absolute !important;
_margin-top: -4px !important;
}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table tbody tr td.text table.latestBlogEntry tbody tr td span.text{
line-height: 35px;
position: absolute;
display: block;
border-bottom: 1px dotted dimgray;
border-color: ######;
width: 443px;
color: ######;
padding: 0px !important;
margin: 0px !important;
padding-left: 5px !important;
z-index: 5;
font-weight: normal;
font-size: 10px !important;
height: 35px;
_font-size: 10px !important;
_margin-top: -3px !important;
_font-weight: normal !important;
_margin-left: -3px !important;
_width:449px;
}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table tbody tr td.text table.latestBlogEntry tbody tr td span.btext{
display: block;
float: left;
width: 50px !important;
height: 43px;
font-size: 1px;
overflow: hidden;
color: ###### !important;
line-height: 300px;
}

Friends:

CODE

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table tbody tr td.text table.friendSpace tbody tr td.text table tbody tr td span.orangetext15{
display: block !important;
height: 45px !important;
width: 450px !important;
margin: 0 !important;
padding: 0 !important;
font-size: 1px;
overflow: hidden;
background-image: url(BACKGROUNDIMAGEURL);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
color: 000000 !important;
line-height: 10px !important;
margin-top: -3px !important;
}

Comments:

Comments are the hardest headers to work with. The recommended width for the comment header is 780px. The code is very hard to follow, so you will have to experiment around with this code.

CODE

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table.friendsComments {
width: 720px !important;
margin: 0 !important;
padding: 0 !important;
margin-top: 20px !important;
overflow: hidden !important;
background-color: transparent !important;
margin-left: -1px !important;
_width: 720px !important;
_margin-left: -2px !important;}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table.friendsComments tbody tr td.text table {
width: 100% !important;
border-collapse: separate !important;
border-spacing: 0px 0px !important;
background-color: transparent !important;
height: auto !important;}

table.friendsComments tbody tr td.text table tbody tr td {
background-color: transparent !important;
height: auto !important;}

table.friendsComments tbody tr td.text table tbody tr td span.orangetext15 {
background-image: url(imageurlhere);
background-repeat: no-repeat !important;
background-color: transparent;
display: block !important;
height: 40px !important;
color: 000000 !important;
width: 800px; position: relative;
overflow: hidden;
font-size: 1px;
text-align: right;
margin-top: 5px;
line-height: 300px !important;
_width: 800px !important;
_border-left: 1px 000000 !important;
_border-right: 1px 000000 !important;
_height: 40px !important;
_margin-bottom: -1px !important;}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table.friendsComments tbody tr td.text table tbody tr td b {
display: block;
position: absolute;
z-index: 9;
width: 750px;
height: 15px;
line-height: 15px;
overflow: hidden;
margin: -25px 0 0 8px;
text-align: right;
padding-right: 12px !important;
color: 000000;
font-weight: normal;
font-size: 12px;
_margin: 0px 0 0 15px;
_font-size: 12px !important;
_color: 000000;}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table.friendsComments tbody tr td.text table tbody tr td b span.redtext {
font-weight: normal;
color: 666666;
padding: 0px 2px;}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table.friendsComments tbody tr td.text table tbody tr td b a {
color: 666666 !important;
font-size: 12px !important;
text-transform: none;
margin: 0 -7px 0 -8px !important;
padding: 0 9px 0 9px !important;
background-color: transparent !important;
position: relative !important;
display: inline !important;
z-index: 9;
border: none !important;
letter-spacing: 0px !important;
_font-size: 11px !important;
_margin: 0 !important;
_padding: 0 !important;}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table.friendsComments tbody tr td.text table tbody tr td table {
overflow: hidden !important;
border: 1px 000000 !important;
border-color: 000000 !important;
width: 100% !important;}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table.friendsComments tbody tr td.text table tbody tr td table tr td {
background-color: transparent !important;
text-align: left;
vertical-align: top;
overflow: hidden !important;
font-size: 12px !important;
line-height: 12px !important;
text-transform: none !important;
letter-spacing: 0px;
color: 000000 !important;
margin: 0 !important;
padding: 5px 0px 5px 0px;
border-bottom: 0px 000000 !important;
border-color: 000000 !important;
_line-height: 16px !important;}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table.friendsComments tbody tr td.text table tbody tr td table tr td span.blacktext10 {
color: 000000 !important;
text-transform: None !important;
margin: 0px !important;
padding: 0px important;
display: block !important;
font-size: 12px;
font-family: arial, sans-serif !important;
font-weight: normal;
letter-spacing: 1px;
text-align: right;
margin: 10px 10px -12px 0px !important;
width: 650px;
border-top: 1px 000000;
_margin: 12px 0px -.5em 0px !important;
_width: 650px;}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table.friendsComments tbody tr td.text table tbody tr td {
background-color: transparent !important;}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table.friendsComments tbody tr td.text table tbody tr td a {
display: block;
border: 0px 000000 !important;
border-color: 000000 !important;
border-top-style: solid !important;
border-top-width: 0px !important;
text-align: center;
text-transform: Uppercase;
padding: 8px;
font-size: 12px;
letter-spacing: 1px;
color: transparent !important;
position: relative !important;
margin-top: -3px !important;
background-color: transparent;
_margin-top: -6px !important;}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table.friendsComments tbody tr td.text table tbody tr td table tr td a {
display: block !important;
color: 000000 !important;
margin: 0px !important;
padding: 10px 10px 0px 10px !important;
text-transform: none !important;
margin-bottom: -15px !important;
font-size: 10px !important;
line-height: 11px !important;
border: none !important;
letter-spacing: 0px !important;
text-align: center !important;
width: 110px !important;
overflow: hidden !important;
font-weight: normal;
_width: 124px !important;
_margin-bottom: -15px !important;}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table.friendsComments tbody tr td.text table tbody tr td table tr td a img {
visibility: visible !important;
border: 0px 008080 !important;
border-color: 000000 !important;
padding: 0px !important;
margin: 0px !important;
margin-top: -12px !important;
width: auto !important;
_margin-left: 0px;}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table.friendsComments tbody tr td.text table tbody tr td table tr td img.ImgOnlineNow {
display: block;
position: relative;
margin: 15px 0 -20px 26px !important;
border: none !important;
_margin: 15px 0 -20px 21px !important;}

html body.bodyContent table tbody tr td table.friendsComments tbody tr td.text table tbody tr td table tr td img {
max-width: 100%;
margin: 0px !important;
margin: 0px 0px 12px 0px !important;}

[YDG]

Moving Blogs to the Left Side

This has become quite popular for band profiles, and a lot of people have been asking me for my code that I use to do that, so I'm going to go ahead and provide it for you. All you have to do is position it, and you're good. What I highlighted in bold is all you need to change.

CODE

.latestBlogEntry {
position:absolute;
top:###px;
margin-left: -###px;
left:50%;
width: 325px;
background-color: transparent;
z-index: 9;
}

table .latestBlogEntry {
width:325px!important;
}

To add a header to the blog when you move it to the left side, it's simple. All you have to do is create another DIV layer and position it above the blogs section, and it looks just as good.

[YDG]

Adding a Shows Header

If you got the top banner code down, then this will also be easy for you. This is a really simple code, and it's foolproof.

Use this code to create a gap between the player and shows section. The bold part is the only part that you need to change:

CODE

table table table table td.text span.whitetext12 {
position: relative;
top: 0px;
display: block;
left: 0px;
visibility: visible;
width: 1px;
height: 10px;
text-indent: -999999px;
background: transparent url() bottom left no-repeat;
}

Then just add a positioning code and DIV class code to position a shows header in between the space you created and you're all set.

CODE

.shows {position:absolute; top:###px; left:50%; margin-left:###px; _margin-left:###px; width:325px; height:###px; z-index:1;}

CODE

<div class="shows">
Image code here
</div>

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION
Q: Whenever I add a new show, the shows header moves down / up. How do I stop it from doing this?
A: Most of the time your problems starts with the left side DIV layer you've created. The width may overlap over towards the right side, causing it to be pushed down. Check that out and see if that is causing the problem.

[YDG]

Finishing Up

This brings you to the end of my band tutorial. If there are any parts that confused you, feel free to bring it up by posting in here or you can PM me, but I prefer you post in here first.

To make sure your layout looks good in all browsers, check out Browsershots.org and choose the browsers you want screenshots for. It will let you know if anything is misaligned. If that's the case, look through your codes for any possible errors. If you are stumped and can't find out why something is acting up, post in here or leave me a PM.

[YDG]

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: My left side overlaps my comments, how do I fix it?
A: Simple, just fill up the right side of your layout with information, headers, and other miscellaneous items. The right side will go down, pushing your comments down with it. You can also position your comments by moving them to the left, but it causes browser problems most of the times, so I'm not recommending it or linking how to.

Q: Whenever I add a new show, the shows header moves down / up. How do I stop it from doing this?
A: Most of the time your problems starts with the left side DIV layer you've created. The width may overlap over towards the right side, causing it to be pushed down. Check that out and see if that is causing the problem.

[JaredxSmith]

Perfect. :)

[sethisamazing]

sweeeeeeeet.


Pictures would be a nice addition though :D

[YDG]

Screenshots are coming soon.

[ZeT0]

Haha, I'm going to need the screenshots to understand the rollovers!
I've been trying for days. D:

[YDG]

They're really not that complicated you have to take it little by little and read over a couple times.

Screenshots are coming soon.

[bberinger13]

Ok so I've been working on this top header i have it sliced and coded with all the images up and running and all hosted on tinypic and no longer hosted locally. I've run into some trouble on getting this top header in the right spot. I've had experience with putting top headers up but with no links so its not just an upload image. Do i use a divs? Codes would help out a ton. Thanks so much.

[dollywood]

Hi

The band tutorial is great and im almost done with my page

However ive got a niggly prob - with the header for the blogs section mine overlaps onto the blogs...if i change any margin attributes it shifts the header over left

ideally i want to line it up with my shows header but fiddling with the code doesnt seem to do anything

unfortunately i am at work so i cant attach a screenshot but my myspace address is www.myspace.com/tgvisualsbands

any help would be great

thanks

[augiedesign]

this tutorial is a great help, but i need a little more of that: how would i put rollover links in the left div cover

edit: nvm. got it

[jigokume]

yoo can someone tell me how to make the view all friends text to look like " view all of blablabla's friends " and how to make lines on comments and moving the add comments text to the right?

ur help will be greatly appreciated!! ^^
sorry for asking so much guys... XP

[jigokume]

oww there's a way of doing that on the tutorials?

sorry then my bad... i go through with the tutorial first, the ask for questions later.. XP

sorry -_-


yay i tinkered with the codes for the comment part and managed to get it goin with the one i hv now.. there a bit of a problemo thoo.. i still dun get how to make the lines show up and there's hint of i dunno wht just on top of the comments part,, can somebody tell me how to get over this mess? sorry XP


nevermind guys! i figured it out!!
thank u so much for the lovely tutorial!! ^^

Reason for edit: Please use the Edit button instead of triple-posting. - Mike

[Mickey]

Posts merged.

[MoneyIsDaMotive]

is for a DIV or a regular layout?????

[MoneyIsDaMotive]

it says i should hide anything....but if i want to make a div, how do i do it?