How to work with DIVs

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jack16
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How to work with DIVs

Post by jack16 »

Although I've been using Flare for a while, I struggle mightily with DIVs, so I try to stay away from them. We're using a home page template that contains columns with DIVs, and I'm not even able to add a column without thoroughly messing up the layout. Does anyone have a link to a "Flare DIVs for (Real) Dummies"?
NorthEast
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Re: How to work with DIVs

Post by NorthEast »

I'm guessing your home page template probably uses divs in a "responsive layout".
If so, then try Flare's help here:
* Creating layouts: https://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare20 ... ayouts.htm
* Editing layouts: https://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare20 ... ayouts.htm
jack16
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Re: How to work with DIVs

Post by jack16 »

Thank you for the links. We're using a top nav template downloaded from MadCap. The bottom-half of the home page contains columns. I've been asked simply to add a column but to my shame have been unable to do so without inadvertently out-Picassoing Picasso. The sheer brute force of copying and pasting, of course, is hopeless. DIVs remain as inscrutable to me as do dark matter and event horizons. I'll try the links and hope to make headway. Thanks, again.
Nita Beck
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Re: How to work with DIVs

Post by Nita Beck »

Responsive layouts are driven not just by the HTML tags in the home page topic but also by CSS in the project's stylesheet. There are likely to be some complex selectors going on in the stylesheet that are used to position the divs (columns).
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doc_guy
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Re: How to work with DIVs

Post by doc_guy »

I have found that if you are using columns in your DIVs, it's almost always easier to edit your content in the code view, because Flare's WYSIWYG editor doesn't display them well and makes them hard to edit.

We use DIV tags for all our call outs. We use DIVS on our home page. Here is what it looks like in Flare:

Image

And here is what it looks like rendered in the browser:

Image

This is what the code looks like:

Image

The code is nice and clean and it is pretty easy to edit. And since I only edit my home page once or twice per release, this isn't a bad way to work.
Paul Pehrson
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jack16
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Re: How to work with DIVs

Post by jack16 »

Deeply humbled by your kindhearted efforts to get this wretch a clue. I always knew the day would come when whistling past these dastardly DIVs no longer would be an option. Although I've experimented fruitlessly with the handful of complex selector settings that contain values, I haven't abandoned hope they hold some sort of key. Same goes for the code view, although copying and pasting from within there thus far has yielded results bordering on the hallucinatory. The knee-slapping punchline to this whole debacle is that any one of you fine people out there likely would need fewer than five minutes access to my mouse to make it all better.
doc_guy
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Re: How to work with DIVs

Post by doc_guy »

If you can, post the code you have and what you're trying to accomplish. Maybe somebody can give you the help you need, and you will learn something in the process! That is exactly how I learned Flare.
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Nita Beck
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Re: How to work with DIVs

Post by Nita Beck »

jack16 wrote:The knee-slapping punchline to this whole debacle is that any one of you fine people out there likely would need fewer than five minutes access to my mouse to make it all better.
I've been using Flare since V1... well, started learning at V1, started using Flare for paying work with V4.2... Gradually worked my way up into the ranks of MVPs and Flare consultants.

If it's any consolation, I routinely spend hours trying to figure something new-to-me in Flare. I learn something new from the Flare community practically every day.
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NorthEast
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Re: How to work with DIVs

Post by NorthEast »

I'd give slightly different advice with regards to editing your columns.

If the columns in your page are using Flare's responsive layout, then I'd suggest you edit these in XML editor view using the the Responsive Layout pane, and don't manually edit the CSS or HTML (since Flare generates this for you).

The Responsive Layout pane has options to add new columns (Add Cell), or create new layouts altogether.
ChoccieMuffin
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Re: How to work with DIVs

Post by ChoccieMuffin »

@Jack16, I am similarly flummoxed by the home page with half a million divs, and the help topics Dave Lee pointed to are indeed informative, but all that aside I have to thank you for brightening up my Monday morning with such vivid descriptions of your situation. Jack16, I salute you. :mrgreen:
Started as a newbie with Flare 6.1, now using Flare 2023.
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jack16
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Re: How to work with DIVs

Post by jack16 »

Right back at you, @ChoccieMuffin. And thank you, Mr. Lee, for gently keeping after me as regards the Responsive Layout angle, including the cell=column news flash. Although it didn't change my status as the antithesis of a DIV master (maybe I can get through life yet without becoming one), it solved my case, allowing me to live another day.

I'm writing a follow-up to Gogol's Dead Souls called Good Souls, and all of you make appearances.
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