Suggested FAQ addition

What are overrides? How do I use them?

What are Overrides?

Where Overrides are Used

All overrides go into the override text box. To find this text box, go to your Modify Journal page, be sure you are logged in, then click 'Proceed.' One the next page, scroll down to the bottom where you will see a section marked 'Overrides' with a large text box, and a disclaimer to not type your journal there. That is where Overrides can be typed in.

Format of Overrides

All overrides are written in the same basic format, depending on if they are on one line, or will take up more than one line. For example, if you plan on writing the entire override on one line, you would use this format:

VARIABLE_NAME=> (contents)

If, however, your override will take more than one line to write out, it needs to be in this format:

VARIABLE_NAME<=
(contents)
<=VARIABLE_NAME

Properties

Properties are inserted into the contents of your variables, then translated by the server to use the correct information when it is sent to the browser. This is particularly useful when one variable will cover many things, like comment links. The one variable for comment links will be used for every link to comments on your journal, even though they will all point to different entry numbers, and have differing numbers of comments. Properties are always surrounded by double percent signs. This is to insure that the server can pick them out from the HTML, or words used in your contents. For example, to use a property named 'urlread' in your variable, you would type it like this:

%%urlread%%

What can I override?

GLOBAL_HEAD, LASTN_HEAD, FRIENDS_HEAD, DAY_HEAD, CALENDAR_HEAD

These will insert things into the head of the HTML sent to the browser. The head controls the title of the page, and will also used to be hold any CSS you wish to use in your journal. The GLOBAL_HEAD will effect all journal pages, while the others will only effect the views they name. For example, if you wished all of your journal pages to be titled 'Joe's House of Pancakes' you would use this:

GLOBAL_HEAD<=
<title>Joe's House of Pancakes</title>
<=GLOBAL_HEAD

The head is what you will be overriding if you wish to change your font or add a background image.

LASTN_DATE_FORMAT, FRIENDS_DATE_FORMAT, DAY_DATE_FORMAT

These will change the way your dates are formatted in the various views. Many properties can be used in these variables. For a full list, check the developer's section under 'LASTN_DATE_FORMAT.' For example, if you wished your recent entries date formats to be in the format 'Monday, Nov 12' you would use this for your override:

LASTN_DATE_FORMAT<=
%%daylong%%, %%monshort%% %%d%%
<=LASTN_DATE_FORMAT

LASTN_OPT_ITEMS, FRIENDS_OPT_ITEMS

These will change how many entries are displayed in each view, as seen in the FAQ How do I change the number of journal entries that are shown?

LASTN_TALK_LINKS, FRIENDS_TALK_LINKS, DAY_TALK_LINKS

These control what the links to post a comment say, and how they are displayed. Depending on what journal style you are using, you may need different things with these overrides. They are completely explained in the FAQ How do I change what my "comments" links say?

LASTN_READLINK, FRIENDS_READLINK, DAY_READLINK

These control what the links to read your comments say, and how they are displayed. These are used in conjunction with the *_TALK_LINKS variables to create both links. They are both explained in the FAQ How do I change what my "comments" links say?

LASTN_WEBSITE, FRIENDS_WEBSITE, CALENDAR_WEBSITE, DAY_WEBSITE

This controls what the link to your website say and how it is displayed. This override will only work if you have a website listed in your Personal Info (http://www.livejournal.com/editinfo.bml). For example, say that you wish your website part on your most recent entries to say 'You can see my website (Name of Page) here.' and only have the link on the word 'here'. You would do this like this:

LASTN_WEBSITE<=
You can see my website (%%name%%) <a href="%%url%%">here</a>.
<=LASTN_WEBSITE

For more information on any of these variables, you can look them up in the developer's area.

What can't I do with overrides?