I am a total beginner so pls be patient with me if my question might sound too dumb.
I am studying html, css, basic native php, and cakephp at the same time (which is not a good idea, I think its better to master the native cakephp first before jumping to any framework). As far as I know classes and ids are for css styling until I stumbled upon this code when I am studying cakephp:
<div class="posts index">
.
.
.
</div>
Note: I scaffolded a Post
I tried to look in the default css of cakephp for the class "posts index" but I can't find it so I concluded that there may be other uses of html classes aside from css. I am not sure about. I am just guessing. Can somebody explain to me in general about html classes. I also wanna know about the class "posts index" regarding its significance to cakephp. Pls help...
first of all you have to separate your "business logic" (program logic) and your "view" (output). The logic is done by your php code, it doesn't matter whether you use a framework or not. Your output can be html, xml, wml or some other stuff and is generated by your logic, your php code.
-> The class definition is only relevant in your output, so it doesn't matter for your cakePHP!
Next, there's no syntactic rule that every class in html must be defined in css. So your conclusion uses a rule that does not exist :-) It is not nice code because you have unused and needles html code, but it is not wrong. Most frameworks and tools use such "default classes" because of template support. Look at the html code of wordpress templates, there you will find these classnames, too, to make it more easy to change your css files to get different look&feels. When you create a new template with css styles, you know that the "posts index" element contains post-entries...
You can use classes and ids in JavaScript to get and identify elements, but this belongs also to the output/client-side area.
BTW: if you parse your html with some php code and need the class definition to identify an html element in the DOM then it matters, but I don't think you want do this ^^
Related
I need to remove Sitefinity's out of the box styling for all elements on a master page that we create. I've poured over tons of documents but they all leave me wanting more, a cleaner, more simplistic way to achieve this. CSS overrides seem bulky, and removing it from the config file will destroy my business users ability to work within the CMS and update quickly. Also, I have tried the custom widget overrides on the User Control level, and still am not a fan of the results.
So, how does one do this, keep clean code, and make it easy for business users?
Sean's right - if you don't use the default theme, no styling will be added to your template by Sitefinity.
Given your forum thread on sitefinity.com, you're not so much running into trouble because of Sitefinity, but because of using the default RadControls.
If you replace those with a custom solution, not only will there be no styling added, the html markup itself will be much cleaner.
You could for instance use one of the Marketplace navigation controls or use KendoUI in combination with a sitemapdatasource, which would give you something like this:
<ul id="sitepanelnav" class="sitepanelnav k-group" data-role="treeview" >
...
<li class="k-item">
<div class="k-mid">
<span class="k-in">
linktext
</span>
</div>
</li>
...
</ul>
But if you're really adament about clean markup and clean styling, you can use the API to render out a 100% clean ul/li and take it from there with 100% control.
If you're still set on using the RadControls, start with the Stylebuilder to visually build out the basics of your design, then manually tweak/integrate & optimize the generated .css files.
The name you enter as a skin, is the name you should add as 'designer skin' in the widget options.
In a nutshell: Yes it can be done, but it either takes some coding or some styling effort, which one you prefer is up to you of course.
I have several large CSS files and making a change can sometimes take a few minutes just to find the right selector to change. I would like it if there was a nice ModX editor for CSS, but I haven't been able to find one. I am willing to settle for splitting up my files into parts, as long as my site still renders. Can I do that and how? If there is a nice editor (plugin?) instead, where can I find one?
I guess the real question is what kind of parts are acceptable for you. If you follow this question, you can begin the process of allowing ModX to manage your CSS. Once this happens, your options open considerably. Your CSS editing will then become easier and less time consuming depending on your level of expertise with ModX. This answer will be pretty simple, as it will show simply how to add a given selector as a resource. Other further development can be intuited from here, though.
CSS as a Resource
Once your CSS is being managed as a Resource (which takes about 15 minutes), you may utilize Templates, Template Variables, Chunks, Snippets and Plugins. Thisis actually pretty amazing, but setup can be a bit of a pain. You will basically be investing some time to save a lot of time in the future. The next logical step is split your Selectors accordingly, but you don't want to break what currently works. Having a fluid understanding of the getResources addon will be crucial to further development.
How to do it:
1. Create a new chunk
Click the Elements tab, and click "New Chunk". Name it "css-selector". Set the content to:
[[+pagetitle]] {[[+content]]}
It's as simple as that. Don't forget to click "Save"! This will let you set a Selector as a resource. It will use the title for the selector and content for the rules. You can forget about using those braces any more. Your new chunk will handle those from now on.
2. Adjusting your Template
Now, we just have to convince the template that it nows how to read parts, as well as not forget the whole. Open your CSS Stylesheet template (the one that says [[*content]] for its content). Adjust the code so that it has the following:
[[!getResources?
&parent=`[[*id]]`
&depth=`1`
&tpl=`css-selector`
&includeContent=`1`
&sortby=`menuindex`
&sortdir=`ASC`
&limit=`99`
]]
[[*content]]
Again, click "Save". Let me explain the Template real quick. If you have child, they'll get rendered first depending on their menu index. Further, it will render the contents of the document that are not children afterward. This will allow you to only make new resources for your most important selectors, while keeping the stuff that will never change in the main resource.
3. Create a new Template
This is so that your selectors don't do anything funny and just render the content. Create a new Template named "CSS Selector". Set its content to:
[[*content]]
4. Create a new Resource
Create a new Resource. Set the title to the selector for the css statement you want to manage. Then set the content to the rules without the braces. For instance, if your css statement is: div#header .logo {border:0;}, you'll set the title to div#header .logo and the content to border:0;. Set the resource alias to whatever you want. I use numbers for each one. Set the template to your new "CSS Selector". Important Now, set the Parent Document to your Stylesheet. Click Save.
5. Testing the Stylesheet
First, Right-click your new resource and choose "View Resource". This will just make sure that the statement was rendered correctly. It should simply say your rule in CSS format.
Next, Right-Click the Stylesheet resource and choose "View Resource". You should see the Selector at the top and all of the other rules below it.
Final Considerations
Observations
You'll notice that your child resources do not have to be changed to "CSS" for Document Type. Only the parent stylesheet has to be. This allows for some neat stuff as your expertise with ModX grows.
You can change the order of rules by simply changing the menu index of them.
The number of rules that can be done this way is based on the &limit variable in the getResources statement in your template. &limit applies to each stylesheet, so in this example you have 99 statements per stylesheet that may be separate resources.
A Note on Server Load
This will place load on the server as the number of resources goes up. For development, keep the "do not cache flag" (!) on your getResources statement. Once you are done, remove the exclamation mark and let it all be cached. This will save a ton of load.
Further Development
I added an isEnabled template variable to mine so I can turn on and off each rule as I pleased.
You may possibly begin to manage your CSS on the front-end utilizing FormIt.
Custom Manager Pages may even be a better option for you.
Further abstraction might allow you to create Groupings of statements for even further organization.
I'm working on a Drupal site/theme. The CSS and PHP modifications are fairly easy; they just take a little time to learn and get working exactly how I want.
However, I'm having issues applying CSS styles to some elements because of what I think is a property function.
The code looks like <h2 property="dc:title" datatype="" class="node-title">.
What is a property function and what does it do or control within the page? Also how can I modify or remove it?
It's not a property function; it's an attribute that is used from RDFa, and that is added from the RDF module.
The easier way to remove those attributes is to disable the module, but I would not suggest doing it, as the purpose of that module is to enrich your content with metadata to let other applications better understand its relationships and attributes.
Alternatively, if the problem is just with that property, used for the nodes, then you can implement code similar to the following one:
function mymodule_preprocess_node(&$variables) {
if (isset($variables['title_attributes_array'])) {
$variables['title_attributes_array']['property'] = NULL;
}
}
The module should be executed after the RDF module, to allow its hook to be executed after the one implemented by the RDF module.
I have not seen any compatibility problem between the attributes added by the RDF module and the JavaScript code executed by Drupal core or third-party modules. It would probably be the case to investigate why you are having problems with the JavaScript code when those HTML attributes are added.
in your css file, put:
h2[property="dc:title"]{color:#FFFFFF;}
or if it is a link, you may need:
h2[property="dc:title"] a {color:#FFFFFF;}
From wikipedia, check out RDFa
RDFa (or Resource Description
Framework – in – attributes) is a W3C
Recommendation that adds a set of
attribute-level extensions to XHTML
for embedding rich metadata within Web
documents.
It is basically a way to add more metadata to XHTML docs for better semantics.
We primarily use an ASP.NET environment at work. Right now I'm building an application which uses "Modules", which is just a UserControl, with its' Javascript right in the control, and a link element to the stylesheet for that control. I want to keep it modular, and would like the style of this control to be independent from the markup/javascript.
So I'm wondering what the preferred method of doing this is? Obviously if I didn't want the "theme" functionality I'm after, I could just use style tags at the top of the control. Right now I have a link element, as I said, and this isn't proper I don't think.
Does anyone have any preferred methods, and if so, what and why?
I considered ASP.NET themes briefly, but the idea of these controls are a little different, I think.
It's basically a shopping cart system. I don't want to get into it all, but we are using a really neat security system, and we don't want to use a premade shopping cart. I'm developing a set of controls that can be dropped on a page, for instance in SiteFinity (which is the CMS system we use) or for any other project we might have. Normally I would compile these into a DLL so we get ACTUAL controls we can drag & drop from the toolbox, then I could use internal "generic" styling and allow for any additive styling someone might want, as well as supplying a few fancier styles as well.
This is the first time I've ever done this, or really the first time anyone in our shop has done this either so I'm kind of figuring it out as I go. I might be pretty far off-base, but hopefully I'm not.
Right, the idea for this is to have a "theme", which is really just a CSS file and a jQuery template. I have them named the same, and have a Theme property on the usercontrol to set it.
When these controls are finalized, I might refactor the javascript to a RegisterScriptBlock on the code-behind, but for now they just in script tags on the control itself.
What prompted this question was DebugBar for IE, giving me warnings that link elements are not allowed inside a div. I don't much care, but after thinking about it, I had no idea how to link to the css file without doing that. I considered very briefly having an 'empty' link tag on the master and then setting THAT in the code behind on Page_Load of the UserControl, but that just seems like ass.
I could use #import I guess but I think link tags are preferred, correct?
It sounds like you're rolling your own theme engine... why not use ASP.NET Themes?
If you're determined to do it yourself, here's some code from the CssFriendly project that may be of interest to you. (I think it should be ok to post the code as long as I cite where it's from.) The .css files are flagged as Embedded Resource and the code below is used to include them as needed.
string filePath = page.ClientScript.GetWebResourceUrl(type, css);
// if filePath is not empty, embedded CSS exists -- register it
if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(filePath))
{
if (!Helpers.HeadContainsLinkHref(page, filePath))
{
HtmlLink link = new HtmlLink();
link.Href = page.ResolveUrl(filePath);
link.Attributes["type"] = "text/css";
link.Attributes["rel"] = "stylesheet";
page.Header.Controls.Add(link);
}
}
I think what you're supposed to do is use Page.RegisterScriptBlock to register your script blocks. Best-case you shouldn't have them inline in your ascx inside script blocks. This isn't always possible, but theoretically it's the best way.
Ideally your styles should be separate from your markup as well. Your controls can have classes and IDs, but your style is based on your application and not your controls. Controls can theoretically be used in other applications where you might want a different style.
It depends on how big your app is, and whether or not it's dependent on Themes elsewhere, IMHO.
If you're using a .skin file, or if the majority of the app is also plugged into the theme, you might as well go with the theme.
But if it's just a few styles you need, you're better off to set the stylesheet manually, keep your css file external (inline styles are a PITA and defeat one of the core purposes of css).
In either case, don't forget to set the CssClass attribute on your controls.
To be proper I would have an import.css file - structure the naming of the classes to follow your controls, and import the styles within the header of the document.
If you have a module called "30DayPricingCalc" then you could name the classes/id's:
30DayPricingCalc.css
.30daypricingcalc_main_content
{
...
}
Also if you haven't I would setup a list of generic reusable styles to save you room. Since elements will allow multiple classes per object.
Also, link tags matter a lot less now than they used to. we're well past support for IE5 generation browsers and IE6 supports the #import tag.
Cheers!
I have a legacy application that I needed to implement a configuration page for to change text colors, fonts, etc.
This applications output is also replicated with a PHP web application, where the fonts, colors, etc. are configured in a style sheet.
I've not worked with CSS previously.
Is there a programatic way to modify the CSS and save it without resorting to string parsing or regex?
The application is VB6, but I could write a .net tool that would do the css manipulation if that was the only way.
You don't need to edit the existing one. You could have a new one that overrides the other -- you include this one after the other in your HTML. That's what the "Cascading" means.
It looks like someone's already done a VB.NET CSS parser which is F/OSS, so you could probably adapt it to your needs if you're comfortable with the license.
http://vbcssparser.sourceforge.net/
One hack is to create a PHP script that all output is passed through, which then replaces certain parts of CSS with configurable alternatives. If you use .htaccess you can make all output go through the script.
the best way i can think of solving this problem is creating an application that will get some values ( through the URL query ) and generate the appropriate css output based on a css templates
Check this out, it uses ASP.NET and C#.
In my work with the IE control (shadocvw.dll), it has an interesting ability to let you easily manage the CSS of a page and show the effects of modified CSS on a page in realtime. I've never dealt with the details of such implementations myself, but I recommend that as a possible solution worth looking at. Seeing as pretty much everyone is on IE 6 or later nowadays, you can skip the explanations about handling those who only have IE 5,4,3 or 2 installed.
Maybe the problem's solution, which is most simple for the programmer and a user is to edit css via html form, maybe. I suppose, to create css-file, which would be "default" or "standart" for this application, and just to read it, for example, by perl script, edit in html and to write it down. Here is just the simple example.
In css-file we have string like:
border-color: #008a77;
we have to to read this string, split it up, and send to a file, which will write it down. Get something like this in Perl:
tr/ / /s;
($vari, $value) = split(/:/, _$);
# # While you read file, you can just at the time to put this into html form
echo($vari.":<input type = text name = ".$vari." value = ".$value.">");
And here it is, you've got just simple html-form-data, you just shoul overwrite your css-file with new data like this:
...
print $vari[i].": ".$value.";\n";
...
and voila - you've got programmatical way of changing css. Ofcourse, you have to make it more universal, and more close to your particular problem.
Depending on how technically oriented your CSS editors are going to be, you could do it very simply by loading the whole thing up into a TextEdit field to let them edit it - then write it back to the file.
Parsing and creating an interface for all the possibilities of CSS would be an astronomical pain. :-)