Troubleshooting


Developing themes with PostNuke can be a complicated task. The Xanthia Theme Engine has a variety of tools that can make your life much easier, but it pays to get to know them. There are documentation files located in /modules/Xanthia/pndocs/ that can be a good start. Additional Xanthia instructions and tutorials are also found online at docs.postnuke.com. The following sections contain details of some of the more likely issues you might find.

.htaccess File Not in Your Web Root

This error message pertains to the Use Short URLs option in the Xanthia Configuration page. In the directory /modules/Xanthia/pndocs/short_urls/, there are a number of .htaccess files, each designed to use a different extension for files when they are shortened. Based on the extension you typed into the field in your Xanthia Configuration page, you need to select the appropriate .htaccess file and copy it to your website's root directory.

Server Fails URL Rewrite Check

If your server is capable of rewriting URLs, but the feature doesn't seem to enable in Xanthia, it might be that when Xanthia first checked your server, it mistakenly identified your server as not able to rewrite URLs. Xanthia does not examine your server again, so to remedy this problem, you need to edit the PostNuke database.

Using a database-editing tool, find the table nuke_module_vars and browse the data entries to the Xanthia/shorturlsok, most of the way down with a pn_id around 156. It will be set to either 0 or 1. Change the pn_value to 1 to confirm your server can rewrite URLs.

If you make changes to your database using straight Structured Query Language (SQL), the code you need is as follows:

 UPDATE nuke_module_vars SET pn_value = '1' WHERE pn_modname = "Xanthia" AND pn_name = "shorturlsok" 

Blank Edit Theme Screen

If you are switching between the various edit screens for your theme and find the page loads blank, this is likely due to a loss of the current theme identity. It usually occurs when you use your browser buttons to navigate through the edit screens instead of page links.

This issue is very similar to the loss of session that can happen when clicking the Back button on your browser to an otherwise restricted page, when the message "No Authorization to Carry Out Operation" appears. If Xanthia forgets what theme you are editing, viewing an edit page produces a blank screen.

From this point, you must return to the View Themes page and reselect the Edit link for the theme on which you were working. As long as you continue to use links to navigate, and not your browser's history, you can avoid this problem.

Dynamic Stylesheets Don't Apply

The Xanthia palette system does not function without the style.php file in your /themes/yourtheme/styles/ folder. A copy of this file can be found with the pnDefault theme. Some Xanthia themes do not use dynamic style sheets and might or might not have a style.php file. Xanthia themes are not required to use all of the features available in the Xanthia Theme Engine.

If you have the style.php file and are trying to apply a palette but it still does not work, take a look at your master.htm template to be certain the style.php file is being included properly. Just before the close of the <head> tag, there should be an include statement like this:

 <!--[include_php file="$themepath/style/style.php"]--> 

or this:

 <style type="text/css"> @import url("<!--[$themepath]-->/style/style.php"); </style> 

You can also try hard-coding your theme name into the call like so:

 <!--[include_php file="themes/TestTheme/style/style.php"]--> 

If you have other templates for pages that apply to an entire page like the master.htm, you need to have an include statement like the previous one in each template within the header code.

Fatal Error in Zone

This error message occurs when Xanthia tries to display a theme, but fails to find a required zone template. This problem can occur if you have moved files in your theme's directory, or if a file has been renamed without updating the database reference(s) to match.

The solution is to replace the missing template file or select an alternative theme. If this error appears for the theme you currently have live, you might not be able to change to another theme. In that case, try using the PostNuke Swiss Army Knife detailed in the following section.

Recovering from Theme Failure

A very handy fix-all for some of the more serious problems you can have with PostNuke is the PostNuke Swiss Army Knife, or PSAK. You can find it at download.postnuke.com. Select PostNuke, and then Addons. The file is placed in your site's root and browsed directly, http://www.yoursite.com/psak.php.

The option Theme Reset allows you to change your site's theme to any currently installed. Note: PSAK 1.01 now produces an "Undefined index" error with PostNuke 0.75. The tool does work and is still recommended for use in solving PostNuke problems. Development on PSAK was stopped for some time, but has since been renewed, and a version 2.0 is planned for the near future.



    PostNuke Content Management
    PostNuke Content Management
    ISBN: 0672326868
    EAN: 2147483647
    Year: 2003
    Pages: 207
    Authors: Kevin Hatch

    flylib.com © 2008-2017.
    If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net