What program to edit homescreens

[Guest jvo8]

(New to customizing homescreens)

Hi,

I was wondering what programs can I use to edit the text of the home screen files.

I see some home screens and really like it but I just want to change little things about it. Can I use Word or front page to edit the file and then save it? or do I need a special program that will same if as a .home.xml file? thanks.

[Guest Disco Stu]

Just copy the xml to your PC and edit it with Notepad.

An alternative is Ruttensoft's Homescreen Designer.

http://www.smartphone.net/software_detail....teid=279&id=870

You can download a free trial

:D

[Guest Lemac]

8) Adn open other xml files up and see how the work 8)

[Guest jvo8]

I opened up a xml file on note pad, changed nothing but take out the background option. Saved it and it didn't work. Can't see it. Do I have to reset?

[Guest gpcarreon (MVP)]

To ensure valid html tags, you can try XML Writer. :D

The homescreen's XML you are editing should NOT be loaded on the phone. You need to choose/load another homescreen layout, copy the XML of the homescreen you want to edit, load to phone then load the edited one.

While a file is being used by the system, you can't edit it. That could be the reason why changes didnnt take effect on your phone. :D

[Guest scott2eyes]

If the modified XML file doesn't seem to work (eg. the phone doesn't display it in the list of Homescreens), try opening it on your PC using Internet Explorer- if there's a problem in the code such as an opening tag with no corresponding closing tag, it will tell you where it is.

Generally speaking, Notepad is probably better for editing XML than something like Word, because word processors tend to add their own "invisible" bits of formatting to files and it can be easy to forget to turn that off. (However, Word can be useful on occasions- for example, suppose you've opened a file in IE, and it's told you that there's an error in line 142- Word can tell you exactly where line 142 is.)