I know it has been asked before here, but I keep forgetting, sorry.
I get nuts of all the “styles” that keep popping up from nowhere. The list grows and grows. I delete them, but the next moment I look in “styles” they are there again. And even more! So appearently I do something wrong.
How to avoid this behaviour? Can someone give me the ultimate tip? How do I work now? well, I add a page, start creating something there, like shaping HTML boxes, insert text (mostely copy-paste) and add style to that text. Is that wrong?
What I do is not even use the Inspector to style text…ever but
instead open the main Styles window everytime I need to create/name/
rename something. Needless to say I spend an enormous amount of time
in there which is why I love Coda’s approach to this and wish/hope
something similar finds its way into FW but that’s another subject.
Anyway, I have a basic Body tag style so any text I type
automatically picks up this base style. If I want something different
then open the main Styles window, create the new style and apply it.
It’s all about control and the Inspector offers minimal text styling
control.
Todd
On Nov 17, 2007, at 12:35 PM, atelier wrote:
I get nuts of all the “styles” that keep popping up from nowhere.
The list grows and grows. I delete them, but the next moment I look
in “styles” they are there again. And even more! So appearently I
do something wrong.
How to avoid this behaviour? Can someone give me the ultimate tip?
How do I work now? well, I add a page, start creating something
there, like shaping HTML boxes, insert text (mostely copy-paste)
and add style to that text. Is that wrong?
@Todd I was talking about that Styles menu (the long list)
I’ve also got a PM from another user with the same tip, so thanks both, I shall think of it in future projects.
@DeltaDave When only seeing Permanent Styles) all the not permanent ones still get published (in the CSS sheet that is) right? And I would really like to produce neat minimum code. It’s a mess right now.
And I would really like to produce neat minimum code. It’s a mess
right now.
You are quite correct that temporary styles are published, even if
you don’t see them in the Styles palette.
One thing you will need to do is set up permanent styles that cover
every eventuality in your design. I often do this by seeing which
temp styles are applied to what I’ve selected, and then Control-
clicking the style in the palette and choosing Edit from the menu. I
give it a recognisable name, and check the Permanent box. Once you’ve
done this, all instances of the temporary style will be assigned to
the permanent version.
Once you’ve assigned permanent styles, you will need to go through
your site and weed out the temporary ones that have crept in. Use the
Inspector’s Styles panel (the “T” in a circle) to help you.
A good tip to remember is that styles can be applied to items on the
page as well as just text. This way, you can assign a basic body type
style to your whole page (preferably a master page). Any new HTML
items drawn on the page, will automatically assume the page style, so
now temporary styles will be generated unless you manually edit the
text formatting.
When the temp styles do appear, pounce on them and make them
permanent! And remember that even graphic text is assigned a style as
you work.
Freeway encourages a free-form design process, but as you’ve found it
can lead to messy CSS styles. Once you’ve worked out the design, you
can work with the styles to firm them up and give yourself a
permanent core list of styles you need, and apply them rigourously.
It is then easier to root out the temporary ones as you work.
Hi Heather, hope this thread isn’t too old to be picked up … you mention, in this very helpful post, applying a style to the whole page, how is this done please and if the temp styles still get published is it dangerous to turn off viewing the temp styles in the styles palette (as mentioned by David) or is it really nothing to worry about. Many thanks Roger
applying a style to the whole page, how is this done please
That’s easy. Make sure nothing is selected on the page, then click on
the page’s icon in the Site panel so it’s highlighted.
Click on the style you want to use, and that’s it.
You can check the style’s been applied properly by switching the
Inspector to show the Styles Inspector (the T in a circle). If it’s
worked properly, then the Page section will show the style in the list.
and if the temp styles still get published is it dangerous to turn
off viewing the temp styles in the styles palette (as mentioned by
David) or is it really nothing to worry about.
If you don’t show temp styles, they still get published. It’s just a
way to stop them showing in the Styles palette, so no worries about
turning the viewing off might break something.
This is just a work-flow question, but when I’m creating a new site and doing a lot of experimenting with fonts and text styles, would it make more sense to do it in a different freeway document, so I can decide what I want first, without creating a ton of styles in the creative process?
I’ve always been confused by styles, but I’m realizing the more websites I do the more important they become.
It took me three days, but I finally figured out how to have a link with a different color underline than the text! It’s all about styles baby…
Well, I think there are two main problems with Styles in FW.
One, every time you import text, change text, sneeze at text, it makes a new style. Why, I don’t know.
And, two, there should be a way to select unused styles (and colors, too, for that matter) and delete them.
FW goes 90% of the way to be a like a page layout app, but falls short on a few obvious things.
Other things it could use: a picture link palette (tell you what pics are missing or may have moved), an info palette (to show where you are moving your guides to), more item options from right-clicking on an item, incremental picture movement (moving a pic inside the box…I haven’t found a way to do this other than move the whole pic around by clicking on the multi-arrow thingy.
And, two, there should be a way to select unused styles (and colors, too, for that matter) and delete them.
This is automatic – any temporary style that is not used somewhere will get pruned.
[snip]
Other things it could use: a picture link palette (tell you what pics are missing or may have moved),
Edit > Resources (from the main menu). You can sort it by status, etc. And you can find one missing file, and all others in the same folder or hierarchy will be found as well.
I like some of your other suggestions, I’ve heard the one about an info palette before, it has a lot of merit.
Hey, thanks for telling me about those things. I’m pretty new to FW and am sporadically going through the manual.
Since some things are called by different names I may be looking up the wrong words when I’m looking for answers.
When I first started in Photoshop (many moons ago) and was trying to make silhouettes I couldn’t find that anywhere in any book. Then I found it they call it clipping paths!