Layout help for the utterly clueless?

[blackmare]

I know there are plenty of custom layouts available for DW, but it's like pressing my nose against the candy shop window and knowing I can't have any, while the other kids are in there getting toffee and chocolates.

You see, none of the instructions I have found even make sense to me.  I'm not literate with coding and I don't even know what most of the references are to layers, etc., so I seem to be stuck. I need someone to actually walk me through this. I tried once on my own and the results were awful.

Please, is there a Guide for The First-Timer? Preferably with visuals, so that "Enter X code in Y layer" translates to "Type this code into this field right here on this page, see?" 

If there is, it'll help drive a lot more users here, IMO. The two biggest obstacles I'm seeing at LJ are "none of my friends are moving" and "I would move but I hate DW's styles."

For what it's worth, I've already moved, and paid, because my privacy is more important than my layout, but I feel the frustration all the same. 

Comments

[darth_azura]

Late entry, sorry, hope you don't mind.

I wanted to say what I'd like to see. I see nothing wrong with DW styles, but they're not what I have in mind for one journal I am working on here.

LJ's Disjointed is an excellent example of what I would like to see. Here is one example It still needs work, but it shows that it can be customizable to be transparent to the image in the background. It's hard to see here, but images can be put even in between the comment links.

A graphics showcase with flexibility, really, with a sci-fi scheme.

[ninetydegrees]

I believe opacity isn't part of Disjointed's features. That's something you coded yourself, right? Are you suggesting designers make some styles with opaque entries or that it be included as a new option in existing styles?

[darth_azura]

There are options in the journal customization for Disjointed to make either (or both)the borders, or journal entry areas transparent, instead of the given colors. (I'm not really adept at coding.)

I don't have any particular style in mind, really. I just thought it was a cool feature and it fit one of my journal concepts perfectly.

There are a quite a few dw selections that are nice, and I like the big fonts, lj's are too small for me!

[ninetydegrees]

Oh my apologies. I did look at the options and completely missed them. *facepalm*

I think it's really worth submitting this to dw_suggestions. You should do it. ;)

[darth_azura]

Thanks! :) I'll go ahead and submit it to the dw_suggestions.