CSS Editor for Story Layouts

  • Binkatong

    Binkatong (100)

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    I love the layout feature for stories on this site, but personally I find the layout builder to be a bit clunky and difficult to use. I'd much prefer to be able to go into the CSS directly and make changes that way. It's allowed for profiles, so why not stories? I'm not saying that we should get rid of the layout builder altogether, but to just have an option for either method. Would anyone else find this useful?
    July 19th, 2012 at 01:20pm
  • Audrey T

    Audrey T (6730)

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    I think this would be a good addition.

    Personally, I wouldn't use it, but people who are good at coding would definitely benefit.

    The only issue I see arising is how coding-custom layouts could affect the ability to move from chapter to chapter.
    July 19th, 2012 at 05:36pm
  • ladyschrei

    ladyschrei (550)

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    I agree with what Audrey said.

    As long as there's an option to keep the layout maker we have now too, because I suck at CSS XD
    July 20th, 2012 at 04:33am
  • Ponyess

    Ponyess (155)

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    I'd imagine most of us suck at coding.
    It's different from creative writing, and first off, rigid.
    maybe it'd be even more useful, if you can edit a pre-existing layout with the edit?
    a 'Code-book' may also help some people.
    July 21st, 2012 at 12:12pm
  • november rain;

    november rain; (315)

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    @ Audrey T
    How would it affect the ability to move from chapter to chapter...? Could you explain this to me, please?

    @ Binkatong
    I think it's a great idea. I like coding manually too, and the new story layout maker has so many options that make me think, 'ugh, I could just type this manually in CSS...'

    @ Ponyess
    We're not saying that we should get rid of the layout makers; we're saying that maybe there should be an option for people who want to code their story layouts manually to be able to do so as well, just like how we're given the freedom to code our own custom profile layouts if we want to.
    July 21st, 2012 at 10:25pm
  • Audrey T

    Audrey T (6730)

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    @ november rain;
    Because that's something that's built into the current coding and it automatically updates itself when new chapters are added deleted. If members were to do something directly with the CSS layout, it might affect that or they'd have to code it manually and update it every time a new chapter was posted.
    July 21st, 2012 at 10:28pm
  • Binkatong

    Binkatong (100)

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    @Audrey T
    I'm fairly certain that the links aren't written in CSS, though I suppose there are a few CSS attributes that could mess with the functionality. Maybe there could be a way of prohibiting those attributes?
    July 21st, 2012 at 10:56pm
  • Audrey T

    Audrey T (6730)

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    @ Binkatong
    I have no idea, but it was just something I thought of. I don't know much about coding, but if this is implement (and I hope it is) it's definitely something that'll need to be figured out.

    I know before with the custom layouts, one of the major problems was that members used custom coding to get rid of main Mibba links. With profiles, it's more of an annoyance than anything else, but with stories it might be more of a problem.
    July 22nd, 2012 at 01:21am
  • Bella Goes Away.

    Bella Goes Away. (860)

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    @ Ponyess
    I don't suck at coding. File
    July 22nd, 2012 at 02:21am
  • Ponyess

    Ponyess (155)

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    bella heart shawnee:
    @ Ponyess
    I don't suck at coding. File
    You're not most of us, you're a specific individual.
    I hope at least most of us are.
    Sadly, I'm not really compatible with coding.
    Just like I have some recurring problems with spelling certain words.
    Right now, my PC/key-board seems to to help me further, which mean I have to be watchful of what I write here now.
    Maybe this get in the way of what I try to say on occasion?
    July 22nd, 2012 at 02:44am
  • ladyschrei

    ladyschrei (550)

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    @ Ponyess
    But we're not saying we'd get rid of the curren layout makers. It'd be there for those who want it, and the old one would be here for those who can't code, like myself. At least, that's how I understand it.

    It's a win/win for everyone, really.
    July 22nd, 2012 at 04:52am
  • november rain;

    november rain; (315)

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    ladyschrei:
    @ Ponyess
    But we're not saying we'd get rid of the curren layout makers. It'd be there for those who want it, and the old one would be here for those who can't code, like myself. At least, that's how I understand it.

    It's a win/win for everyone, really.
    Exactly. Coffee
    July 22nd, 2012 at 08:12am
  • november rain;

    november rain; (315)

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    @ Audrey T
    Main Mibba links, as in the navigation on the top? Technically they don't get rid of it, they usually just make them transparent and really small, I think. I think this is the CSS coding you're talking about?:
    html body div #menu, html body div #menu a { }, html body div #menu a:hover { }

    Those Mibba navigation links are within the custom profiles, so if we just left them the way they were they'd look ugly... But the Mibba navigation in stories don't seem to be a part of the story layouts, so it shouldn't be a problem?

    As for things like chapter titles/links, I think they'd probably be able to make them look like they'd disappeared or whatever, but I don't think anyone would want to make their own chapter links invisible...? Lol. Shifty

    I don't know. I only know coding basics, hah. I really hope there's a way to make it work, though...
    July 22nd, 2012 at 08:22am
  • Binkatong

    Binkatong (100)

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    Well, given that the layout maker interface copies CSS practically verbatim (each one of the subsections [Page, Content, Title, etc.] is a div class, and each of the parameters is a CSS attribute [background-color, margin, padding, line-height, etc.]), people won't be able to mess up the layouts with hand-coded CSS any more than they would with the layout maker, as long as it's limited to the attributes in the layout maker.

    Also, this is giving me another idea. Maybe there could be the option to code the chapters in HTML rather than BBCode? And allow for custom divs and classes, so that there would be even more variation possible in the content of the story. I see this as especially useful in poetry. This would probably be a lot harder to implement, but it'd be cool. Thoughts?
    July 22nd, 2012 at 03:33pm