I’m struggling with creating CSS templates in Perch. I think this is because I tend to be visually oriented and I still don’t have a full grasp of CSS structure.
I noticed that Rachel from Perch mentioned Skeleton in a video tutorial she posted. Here’s the link: http://getskeleton.com
For all you Perch developers, how do you typically setup your templates? Do you think Skeleton would help me or is there a better option?
Is the problem that you struggle with understanding CSS or that you can’t figure out how to implement a 3rd Party tool like Skeleton etc. into a project?
To me, tools like Skeleton etc. presume a certain minimum understanding of CSS and RD basics. But hey, perhaps I’m wrong. If your core problem is that you don’t understand CSS then that problem will not go away until you approach it head-on. It’s not so much about Perch or Skeleton or Bootstrap or anything else. It’s about you learning to communicate in the language of CSS.
Any framework is just a pre-fab way to approach coding. If you know how the framework is set up to style common elements, then you simply create structures for content and the pre-made framework handles styling and position.
You can do the same thing with Freeway, by deciding ahead of time what all your common elements are going to appear like. What I do is build a sample template-- with images and text just like a real web page. I make sure every element that I want to support (and that Freeway can support) is represented and styled the way that I want. I can even look at the code produced to see if it matches what I want it to be, and alter strategy if it does not. Then I save it as a template so that every new document made with that includes what I need to get started.
Admittedly, I don’t use Perch so I am without experience with making templates for it. But if you need a visual context, this method allows you to develop something visually that you can adapt to your Perch use.
I’ve been using Perch a lot recently. Basically put I built the whole site in Freeway then you remove the editable sections I want to be in the Perch side of things. Then I include two CSS stylesheets general.css, responsive.css to style those missing Freeway sections handled by Perch. You could many of those styles in Freeway but it’s too much of a chore to keep track of so a text file is easier. It’s all fairly straight forward.
There’s only one gotcha and that’s with using the pages app this where Freeway can’t handle thing to well as Perch needs to copy files on the server. I found a method to get round that.
…one very important tool to use, Walter’s crowbar action. That’s a must have to make sure no p tags are created around your Perch content.
When the site is completed you can use Freeway to upload the whole site templates for the ongoing file template management (apart from using the pages app).
Is the problem that you struggle with understanding CSS or that you can’t figure out how to implement a 3rd Party tool like Skeleton etc. into a project?
To me, tools like Skeleton etc. presume a certain minimum understanding of CSS and RD basics. But hey, perhaps I’m wrong. If your core problem is that you don’t understand CSS then that problem will not go away until you approach it head-on. It’s not so much about Perch or Skeleton or Bootstrap or anything else. It’s about you learning to communicate in the language of CSS.
To be honest, I think I’m just lazy. Actually, I’m probably just burned out on learning new stuff. Plus, I was so busy learning WordPress that I forgot that I actually need to make some money.
You can do the same thing with Freeway, by deciding ahead of time what all your common elements are going to appear like. What I do is build a sample template-- with images and text just like a real web page. I make sure every element that I want to support (and that Freeway can support) is represented and styled the way that I want. I can even look at the code produced to see if it matches what I want it to be, and alter strategy if it does not. Then I save it as a template so that every new document made with that includes what I need to get started.
…one very important tool to use, Walter’s crowbar action. That’s a must have to make sure no p tags are created around your Perch content.
When the site is completed you can use Freeway to upload the whole site templates for the ongoing file template management (apart from using the pages app).
David
Good stuff David. Thanks for sharing, and yes I’ve seen your name on the Perch Forums from time to time.
I’ve designed a few Perch websites and I’m finally starting to get the hang of it, but I’ve always had issues with custom Perch templates, especially when it involves more advanced apps like the blog, gallery, and forms.
I’m digging the new Assets feature, but it would be even better if it worked with the Perch Gallery.
