[thesite] user selectable style help

[.jeff]

rudy,

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> From: rudy
>
> it's hard enough getting people to volunteer, let's make
> sure we don't burden them with too much stifling
> bureaucracy...
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agreed.  i'm not trying to introduce more bureaucracy into this task.  i'm
simply trying to frame what's ok to change and what's not -- similar to how
we do with the article approval process.  it's equally hard to get people to
contribute material and i don't want to burden them with the possibility
that too much of their work will get changed.

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> but i think somebody built an interface that manipulated
> the style sheet as text and saved the text as a .css
> external file
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i think you might be thinking about joshua's app.

http://members.evolt.org/joshua/

if so, it only changes a subset of the styles in the stylesheet.

if it's something else, i'm not aware of it myself.

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> wish i could help, but i stopped following the
> continuing saga of user-definable style sheets when i
> learned that the database was not going to be used and
> they were going to be manipulated as external text files
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no harm done.  i think there's just a little misunderstanding.  the database
is still being used to store the structure of the data.  this makes it
extremely easy to get the information necessary to build the edit interface.
we're simply using text files as the delivery mechanism to cut out the need
for a query.  so, when the full meal deal is working it'll go something like
this:

1) user chooses to create a new stylesheet and
   visits online stylesheet "editor".
2) user fills in the various values for each of
   the "elements" he can set values for.
3) user goes through preview process until he/she
   is happy with the result
4) user saves the stylesheet (this is where the
   cool stuff happens)
5) the data from the form is saved into the database
   for easy retrieval later should the user decide
   to edit the stylesheet in any fashion.
6) stylesheet is written out in it's entirety to a
   text file to be used by any user that chooses to
   view the site in that css design.

so, they're really working in tandem.  we're harnessing the advantages of
each to make a better overall product.

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> does that help?
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not with what i was asking about.

the part i'm asking about is whether or not my suggestion of the need to
apply a class to the links in <td>s classed pagetitle1 and pagetitle2 is a
good one.  if you don't know why this is a problem then go to t.e.o. and
choose the evoltoldschool.css stylesheet as the one to use.  then, go view
any article.  notice how the category name disappears in the blue box top
left?  now, if the design had the blue bar extending across the entirety of
the content "box" like it did in v1.0, then you'd also have a problem with
the author link just below the article title.  all i'm suggesting is that i
think it's an oversight on our part to not class those links separately so
they don't have to take on whatever color the links in the main content area
are set to.

is my question more clear now?

thanks,

.jeff

http://evolt.org/
jeff at members.evolt.org
http://members.evolt.org/jeff/