New to Drupal 7: Trying to figure out CSS - css

I inherited an already built Drupal 7 site. I have been able to figure out many things. But I am unclear on the CSS. A found a folder full of long-named CSS files but the code is all minified and hard to read. The previous developer had to be using some tools or services to alter and change the code in a more readable way. Does any know what the deal is ?
Also, I cant seem to find any way inside Drupal to enter CSS. I do not even see any classes or ID assigned to the blocks, views, nodes, or fields. So I have no clue how they were able to customize this site at all even though they obviously did. It uses Bootstrap 3 as a theme. Can anyone help explain how this works?

I will try to figure out the essence of the informations you given.
First: You have a Drupal 7 installation with compressed css files based on Bootstrap. That sounds the theme use less or sass precompiler for the theme css and you have the production (builded) instance of the project. Without the uncompressed less/sass/scss files it will be hard to edit the css. if you have no way to get the source files, the best way you can try is to add a extra css file and write you own css in it.
Second: Drupal strictly separates the code from the administration interface. Your PHP, HTML, CSS and other codes (except the WYSIWYG output) should not be entered via the administration interface. That's the best practice way. But anyway, there is a couple of modules that allows to write code inside the Drupal backend like this https://www.drupal.org/project/extra_css_js
Third: As information for you, Drupal 7s End of life is on November 28, 2022 so the best and recommanded way for you is: Freeze the Drupal 7s Instance as is (only Sercurity Updates and Hotfixes) and relaunch the Project with Drupal 9.

Drupal theme css files are mostly located in theme folder like "theme folder/css/style.css". As above mentioned, it might be used css minify tool or module for theme performance aspects. If it is created by drupal tools/module then once cache clear it will delete automatically and regenerate with new one with updated new css code on after page visit. You can also add custom css file by hook alter.

Related

Drupal: Custom CSS not integrating

I recently started using Drupal for a new website I am trying to build. Front-end is normally what I focus on and I'd use external services to integrate backend functions. In this (and potentially from now on) I want to start using Drupal. Now, I have installed a bootstrap module and want to start adding own css from there but I can't seem to figure out how/where. I can't do it straight into the bootstrap style files so I - apparently - need to create my own theme and place css files in there. This is what I have done so far:
1: Have my css file with the code.
2: Created a new folder next to the bootstrap folder in sites/all/themes.
3: Put the css file in there.
4: Created an my_theme.info file.
But it is not resulting in any changes on the website (it also does not show up in the source code) most likely because it is not being called by Drupal. How can I make sure Drupal calls my css code?
Thanks in advance and take care!
Assuming this is DRUPAL 7 (Drupal 8 uses yaml)
Create a subtheme of the theme you choose.
In the YOURTHEME.info you add a line like stylesheets[all][] = css/style.css
In YOURTHEME/css directory, here you can start writing your css rules in the file style.css
Make sure caching is off or else you will not see your css being updated.

Using a lot of style sheets. Needing opinions on how to move forward efficiently

I'm new to web development and am developing a website using bootstrap. I've got quite a few .css files that involve bootstrap, an open source bootstrap theme, some style sheets for the plugins I'm using and etc. Thing is, I feel like I'm doing the same thing over and over again, putting a lot of overhead on things.
For example, this is how the styles on the web page I'm developing currently operate:
Bootstrap default theme is loaded
Bootstrap custom theme is loaded, overrides the majority of the default bootstrap css configurations
My own custom css file is loaded, overrides the majority of the custom theme css configurations
I guess it's worth mentioning that my custom css file only overrides colours and borders.
I'm thinking if the theme is open source, should I just edit the theme itself? Or should I still be editing everything within my own custom css file?
Again, I'm very new to web development so apologies if this is quite a silly question. Optimisation is key for me, though. After the development stage I will combine the CSS files using bundles provided by the Microsoft.NET optimization package.
Never modify a library directly (css, js, php etc.). What if a new version come out, fixing some bugs. You can not download it, because it will override all your fabulous work.
You get the right process right now. Import your libraries, then override them with you own file and lines of codes.
In your case, it does not matter at all the number of files you are importing, because you will combine and minify them.
If you really care about performances, I suggest you to look at the "CDN" systeme, for Bootstrap or jQuery it could be interesting and provide some good benefits.
Look at this question and the answers, they will give you some good hints : Single huge .css file vs. multiple smaller specific .css files?

What is the best way to implement a theme / template in meteor or angular-meteor

I've been having trouble implementing templates bought in themeforest in a meteor app.
I'm wondering, what would the best way to implement a template into a meteor app.
Two ways that I think of right now are:
(Tedious way)
Place javascript in Compatibility folder and try to name them in specific alphabetic order in order to get them to work properly.
Place css in client/lib folder and try to name them in specific alphabetic order in order to get them to work properly.
Place fonts and images in the public folder.
The second way (I haven't tested it yet) is to place the template files in the public folder and just link them manually (the old/non-meteor way) in the index.html file.
Now I'm not sure if these are the correct ways to do this and I would like some information regarding this issue.
Thanks!
I've done this myself with a themeforest theme.
Put the theme's css file under /client - it doesn't need to be in /public
Use the class names your theme uses in your templates. Typically a theme will have 3x what you really need so this ends up being much less work than it might seem. If your theme is built on bootstrap then it's even easier.
My theme used fontello a lot for icons, I had to recreate the folder hierarchy under client/fonts and then make sure the cross-references were correct.
Typically themeforest themes don't use js that much, I completely ignored all the js that came with my theme and created what I really needed in Meteor.

customising sharepoint site design

My work has recently deployed Sharepoint and I'm currently trying to get to grips with it.
I'd like to be able to completely customise the way my blog looks but I have no idea where to start. I had a look through Microsoft's developer site and it does look like they have a lot of stuff there but it all seems to be pitched at a much higher level than I'm at.
I'd consider myself pretty experienced with CSS and web development, does any of this translate into sharepoint? Can I make a new CSS file and upload a bunch of images into a store and change the look of my 'site' that way, or is it a lot more complicated?
I realise this is a little vague, but I'd really appreciate some pointers to a "getting started with making sharepoint not look sucky" guide or an example of the sort of thing I can actually hope to achieve. Hopefully my question isn't too high-level.
Thanks
Use SharePoint Themes, their installation is tricky at first but once you get a good development environment you'll be able to test modifications in the traditional "save css file, press F5".
Themes have these pros:
Do not need sharepoint designer
Do not need to change masterpages and deal with (un)ghosting (the sum of all fears)
Can be applied to one subsite and have other subsites with different themes (see gl-applytheme in google for mass application of themes thru many subsites)
and these cons:
You have no access to HTML changes, for that you need masterpage love (I dont think thats a con, its a limitation that usually exists in different scenarios and also makes you improve your css skills so much in the css-zen-garden way)
Themes once applied, go to the server memory -- meaning that if you change your theme folder you need to recycle the application pool, apply a different theme and apply your theme back to see that one pixel border you forgot to put in the footer. But for that specific problem I have a solution below:
After you do your "theme setup" you'll be able to only work with CSS and images and be free to overwrite any class in SharePoint using your favorite Developer Toolbar/Firebug addon to find what you want to change.
In the folder c:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\THEMES create a folder named THEMEDEV
Inside the new folder, create a file called theme.css and another called THEMEDEV.INF
Inside the .INF file, paste this:
[info]
title=THEMEDEV
codepage=65001
version=3.00
format=3.00
readonly=true
refcount=0
[titles]
1033=THEMEDEV
now open the c:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\1033 folder (1033 is your language code, thats the default for english installations)
edit the SPTHEMES.XML file
below <SPThemes ...> insert:
<Templates>
<TemplateID>THEMEDEV</TemplateID>
<DisplayName>Development Theme</DisplayName>
<Description>Development Theme.</Description>
<Thumbnail>images/thnone.gif</Thumbnail>
<Preview>images/thnone.gif</Preview>
</Templates>
now edit your theme.css file, add an import to your favorite CSS development folder:
#import url('file:///C:/SharepointThemes/Theme1/theme.css');
Save everything, open your sharepoint: Site Actions => Site Settings => Look and Feel => Site theme => choose your Development Theme and hit Apply
If everything worked, you can now edit your C:\SharepointThemes\Theme1\theme.css in your favorite editor, save it with something like
* { color: red !important }
and see the changes on your site.
Something also important when developing themes: do not create folders to store, say, your images, use everything in the same folder and in the code itself use a relative fashion, like background: url('image.png')
ps1: Only you can see changes you are making to your sharepoint site due to the file://c:/ folder, if you need more people to see the changes during development, setup a network path that they all have access, the rest is the same.
ps2: Keep in mind this is a development environment, to make your theme a live theme you need to create another one to store all the content used to change your site's visuals.
The process is similar to the one creating the THEMEDEV one, just put a pretty and consistent name across all configurations (Folder name, .INF name, .INF contents, SPThemes.xml node contents), paste all your images in the Theme's folder and replace the theme.css file with your content.
Edit1: Reading your comment above, now you have a "editing + uploading to FTP" type of setup :) this works for MOSS and WSS by the way (even if you don't know the difference). For more info on customizing sharepoint, I made a post yesterday about more options:
Sharepoint: How to remove default core.css reference?
I like to always use this post as a starting point for SP branding: http://erikswenson.blogspot.com/2008/10/functional-sharepoint-branding-style.html
It depends on whether you're talking about a WSS 3.0 site or a MOSS site. WSS 3.0 sites can be customized using themes. Customizing MOSS sites is a little trickier, although you can add a SINGLE custom CSS style sheet via Central Admin - in this case, your custom files, images, etc., would be deployed as a Feature.
The best explanation of how this works that I have come across is the six part series on the cleverworkarounds.com site.

How should I organize my ASP.Net themes and common CSS files

I am currently working on a project where a programmer who fancied themselves a graphic designer attempted their hand at ASP.Net themes. The CSS is pretty bad, but that is another question altogether.
What I really need help with is the best way to organize ASP.Net Themes and the CSS that lies within them. Imagine that there is a directory structure that looks something like this:
Themes
Theme A
StyleA.css
Common.css
Theme B
StyleB.css
Common.css
Theme C
StyleC.css
Common.css
Each theme has a common stylesheet in it. Unfortunately the author of those style sheets managed to change only a few things here and there in each copy of Common.css. Eventually I will evaluate whether or not those changes are even necessary, but some major cleanup needs to happen first. For now just assume that the changes, ever so small, are necessary for things to look right with each theme.
I would like to know what the best practices are for using themes while also needing some common styles across your application. I want to minimize the number of AppTurns in the page load, but I really want to consolidate common styles into one place in a way that maintains the ease of themes.
You should just include the standard/common css in the website and include it in the head of the masterpage instead of placing it in themes.
I have written a small article about that:
http://www.sambeauvois.be/blog/2010/01/dont-repeat-your-common-css-between-your-different-themes/
I'll complete it with more information later
Yes, just reference the common CSS file directly instead of putting it in the theme folders.
But what if you have a webpage in a sub folder that uses the masterpage? Won't the page to the css file be wrong then?

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