I just discovered this same thing today. I reapplied the master and the form elements were wiped clean. I do not have the form in any item that is on the master. It’s in an HTML block that I added after the fact, but reapplying the master clears out the form elements.
I have multiple forms on this site, and I try not to have to reapply the master ever because, to me, it always wreaks a little havoc, but it has to be done now and again, so what, I wonder, could be the answer to this form issue?
Well the simple answer would be to have multiple form master pages. Anytime you change the child and then make changes to the Master Freeway breaks the parent child relationship so in fact it’s easier to do specific things in separate Master pages.
That’s how I’d do it, unless someone else can chime in.
Example: I have one main master for everything, then I duplicate that four times to accommodate the four forms I have on this site, because each has a different processor. Now I have five masters for the site. Then each time I change something on the master, like a menu item, I have to change it five times.
Is that how you do it? Or am I missing something? We can’t have masters in a master, can we?
Sometime around 4/10/08 (at 08:48 -0400) Robin Stark said:
Dan, is this what you mean?
Example: I have one main master for everything, then I duplicate
that four times to accommodate the four forms I have on this site,
because each has a different processor. Now I have five masters for
the site […]
Phew!
Why not try using one master for everything? You can just put the
bare essential repeated elements on the master, for example
navigation stuff, and work with page-unique stuff on individual
pages. This includes your form setup.
I wouldn’t even dream of making a new master for a single ‘real’ page!
That IS what I’ve done. I have one master that has navigation, header, couple of things in the sidebar. That’s it. But, the form pages all use a different processor script (Forms To Go) because they ask for different things and go to different people, etc., so I can’t put one generic form set-up in the master. I mean, I could put it in, but then reapplying the master is still going to mess with the form pages because they are all different. It’s going to apply the one set-up that is on the master, and there are 4 forms in the site.
I have been doing exactly what you are saying. I have nothing related to the forms on the master at all. On each of the form pages, I have the specific form set-up for that page. It doesn’t matter, though, because when I reapply the master that has nothing related to the forms at all, it still wipes the form set-up for these four pages.
The ONLY thing on my master page is navigation, header and some ads in the sidebar. The form set-up is ONLY on those four pages, but it is still wiped clean when I reapply the master. Honest!
Sometime around 5/10/08 (at 18:11 -0400) Robin Stark said:
The ONLY thing on my master page is navigation, header and some ads
in the sidebar. The form set-up is ONLY on those four pages, but it
is still wiped clean when I reapply the master. Honest!
Okay, fair enough. But my next question is why are you reapplying the
master so much? I use this as a last resort (and haven’t actually
needed to do this for months, if not years), because it is a bit of a
heavy-handed step. As you’ve found!
Is there any way you can avoid reapplying the master? That isn’t
really meant to be a regular part of the design process.
If there are specific elements that you want to re-link to the Master page
elements you can use the check box(es) in the Inspector pallet which relate
to content and positioning; ‘Use Master content’ etc.
all the best
Brian-S
Keith Martin said recently:
Sometime around 5/10/08 (at 18:11 -0400) Robin Stark said:
The ONLY thing on my master page is navigation, header and some ads
in the sidebar. The form set-up is ONLY on those four pages, but it
is still wiped clean when I reapply the master. Honest!
Okay, fair enough. But my next question is why are you reapplying the
master so much? I use this as a last resort (and haven’t actually
needed to do this for months, if not years), because it is a bit of a
heavy-handed step. As you’ve found!
Is there any way you can avoid reapplying the master? That isn’t
really meant to be a regular part of the design process.
I try to avoid reapplying the master as much as possible, but I screwed up and made some changes thinking I was on the master and I wasn’t. So, yes, it’s my own fault. That yellow border isn’t as effective for me as, say, a flashing red neon sign might be. You are right, Keith, I should hardly ever have to reapply the master .
As for using the checkboxes on the pallet, that’s not the issue. I do want all of those items to be reapplied, and they are. It’s just that it is removing the form set-up, which is not associated with the master at all.
It’s too bad the form set-up has to be applied to an entire page and we can’t just apply it to an HTML item. Hmmm … can I do that with a mark-up? I’ll bet I can. I’m off to experiment.
