[Express] editing a CSS menu

Freeway
1

I’ve read the info about CSS Menus on this page:

and on page 353 of the FWReference_2010_Screen pdf. I know how create an html text item, enter a list into it, and then make that list into a nav menu with the CSS Menu action.

But I cannot seem to change my menu after I do the above. I understand that I’m supposed to be able simply to double-click into the text box, edit the list, and voila! the menu gets updated.

But it doesn’t work.

I created a menu with these list items:

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Gallery
  • Services

As a menu it was displayed something like this:

Home | About | Contact | Gallery | Services

which is fine. Then I wanted to change something. I double-clicked the item, got into the list and changed the list, and clicked out. Nothing changed in the menu. I tried deleting all the items in the list except Home and About and I still saw the menu above.

I was editing the master page. I went over to the home page based on this master, and previewed it — no change.

I tried reapplying the master to the page. That caused me to end up with TWO copies of the menu sitting on top of one another. (This drives me nuts and frankly makes no sense whatever.)

SO I deleted one of the menus (the old one, before the edits) from the home page. At that point the home page looked right.

But when I went back to the master page, the menu box now says, “There are no items based on this item so a preview can’t be generated.”

Very frustrating. Be grateful for any suggestions.

Will

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2

The important thing to remember after editing an item on a Master page is to check that the Master/Child relationship is still intact.

If you have moved or altered the child element then you may have to reset this link. With the child element selected look in the inspector.

Under the first Tab (Item General Settings) there is a list of Properties. These include Use Master Content and Use Master Settings

Content refers to stuff like the text in that item whereas Settings refers to positioning of the item.

After an edit on the Master just make sure that the relevant boxes are ticked (for the item on the child page) and any changes made on the master will be reflected on the child page.

David

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3

David,

THANK YOU for that help. That has allowed me to move forward.

But now I’m stymied again. In my CSS menu, I would like the link for the current page to be orange (say). ON THE MASTER PAGE, I’ve selected the CSS Menus item on the layout. In the actions palette, under Links, I’ve selected orange as the color for the current page.

But it doesn’t work. None of my actual pages (home, about, contact, etc) make the current page text orange in the menus (nav bar).

Once again, I can’t for the life of me figure out what I’m doing wrong.

Will

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4

There’s a bit of a strange disconnect when working with CSS Menus on a Master Page. In order to see the changes in the live preview you’ll need to either select one of the pages that’s based on the Master (going back to the Master will update the preview), or nudge the item slightly (I do 1px down and 1px up using the arrow keys).

Joe

On 13 Nov 2010, at 00:19, William Porter wrote:

David,

THANK YOU for that help. That has allowed me to move forward.

But now I’m stymied again. In my CSS menu, I would like the link for the current page to be orange (say). ON THE MASTER PAGE, I’ve selected the CSS Menus item on the layout. In the actions palette, under Links, I’ve selected orange as the color for the current page.

But it doesn’t work. None of my actual pages (home, about, contact, etc) make the current page text orange in the menus (nav bar).

Once again, I can’t for the life of me figure out what I’m doing wrong.

Will

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5

On 13 Nov 2010, 8:05 am, Joe Billings wrote:
There’s a bit of a strange disconnect when working with CSS Menus on a Master Page. In order to see the changes in the live preview you’ll need to either select one of the pages that’s based on the Master (going back to the Master will update the preview), or nudge the item slightly (I do 1px down and 1px up using the arrow keys).

Thanks for the suggestion, Joe, but sorry, I can’t make it work. I WAS working in Freeway Express (trial). I imported my site into Freeway Pro (trial) and tried the suggestions you made in every way I could think. I moved the CSS menu item on the master. I moved it up 1px, down 1 px on one of the child pages based on that master. I deleted the CSS menu item on the child page, and then issued the “reapply master page” command from the contextual menu. Some OTHER changes I tried making to the action of the CSS menu (like adding an underline for active links) seemed to be recognized. But the thing I actually want — for the current page’s text color to be orange — that, I simply can’t get to work.

I’ve started another test site, based on the NWSE template, and in THAT site, the current page IS colored differently, as I would like.

You’re certainly right: there’s some sort of disconnect. Any other suggestions?

Will

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6

On 13 Nov 2010, at 18:53, William Porter wrote:

But the thing I actually want — for the current page’s text color to be orange — that, I simply can’t get to work.

Will, are you setting the colours in the CSS menu action itself, or are you using the ‘Link Style’ portion of the Inspector?

Oh, and … hi Will :wink:

best wishes,

Paul Bradforth

Buy my eBooks at:
http://www.paulbradforth.com/books/

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7

Paul!!

I have been thinking about you a lot lately for various and sundry reasons, but of course taking a fresh look at Freeway reminds me of you as well. I shall contact you directly back channel…

In answer to your question, I’m using the CSS menu action dialog to set the color of the text for the current page — NOT the link style.

Will

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8

If you send your file through to support they’ll be able to tell you exactly what’s happening (on Monday). Send it through to support(a)softpress.com.

Joe

On 13 Nov 2010, at 19:16, William Porter wrote:

Paul!!

I have been thinking about you a lot lately for various and sundry reasons, but of course taking a fresh look at Freeway reminds me of you as well. I shall contact you directly back channel…

In answer to your question, I’m using the CSS menu action dialog to set the color of the text for the current page — NOT the link style.

Will

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9

On 13 Nov 2010, at 19:16, William Porter wrote:

In answer to your question, I’m using the CSS menu action dialog to set the color of the text for the current page — NOT the link style.

Ah, that’s a shame, as my advice was going to be to do just what you’re doing … I’d take Joe’s advice and send him the file. I’ll get in touch off-list shortly!

best wishes,

Paul Bradforth

Buy my eBooks at:
http://www.paulbradforth.com/books/

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10

Joe,

Thanks for the offer of help. I am happy to send the file — but I’m not sure what to send. Do I zip and send the entire site folder?

Will

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11

Just the FW doc should do it.

D

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