can't set column widths

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MaggieA4
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can't set column widths

Post by MaggieA4 »

Hi!

I'm having an issue that is driving me crazy: No matter what I put into my stylesheet or in the internal text editor, my column widths come out all over the place, in both PDF and Word formats. I can get everything else to look great. Just not this.

Is there an example of something someone out there uses in their style sheet or inline to make columns even out depending on their contents, and to prevent them from going off the page? I've tried a bunch of stuff, but I'm sure someone here can help.

Thank you!
SteveS
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Re: can't set column widths

Post by SteveS »

Your columns should adjust to accommodate the information, but if the table contains a lot of information it can get messy.

To prevent a table from becoming too wide you can set a maximum property on the table.

To do this on an individual table
Open the topic.
Make sure the toggle show spans option (bottom of editor) is showing spans
Right click the table properties in the span to open a context menu allowing you to manually enter a column width. For print topics I use something like 550px (I know I'm mixing an online measurement unit with a print media).
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kwag_myers
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Re: can't set column widths

Post by kwag_myers »

Column width is usually set in the TableStyle CSS. I like to use percentages so columns are even at any table width.

In Text Editor, it looks like this:

Code: Select all

        <table style="margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;width: 90%;">
            <col style="width: 40%;" />
            <col style="width: 30%;" />
            <col style="width: 30%;" />
            <tbody>...

Using Steve's method, I set this table at 90%. But my column widths are set in the TableStyle CSS, and I find it much easier to use the Editor for these settings. You can also set the table width in the Main CSS, but only if you want all tables the same. Otherwise you need to add a class to the table style.
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Atif
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Re: can't set column widths

Post by Atif »

I'm struggling to find out what I should use to create a table of contents within a single topic?
Say that I have a very long topic with an h1 and 25 h2:s under that.
I want to insert links to these 25 h2:s at the top of the topic so the reader can 1) get a nice overview
of what is in the topic, and 2) quickly get to the a desired h2.
Right now I have to manually create those 25 h2 links......

Anyone?
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Nita Beck
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Re: can't set column widths

Post by Nita Beck »

Unfortunately, Flare doesn't offer an automatic way to create links or a "miniTOC" to subheadings within a topic. Many of us have asked for such a thing. You'll just need to build those by hand, and I suggest you use cross-references instead of hyperlinks, as that would allow you to edit subheadings but have the cross-references be updated automatically.

I do know that others here on the forums have talked about using a javascript to create the list of links to subheadings. I don't readily know the title of any of those posts, but maybe others here can find them and post back to help you out.

Finally, in future, when you've got a question that is not related to the original post, it would be better for you to create a new topic. Just a friendly suggestion: :) Do keep your questions coming!
Nita
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kwag_myers
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Re: can't set column widths

Post by kwag_myers »

Atif wrote:I'm struggling to find out what I should use to create a table of contents within a single topic?
Say that I have a very long topic with an h1 and 25 h2:s under that.
I want to insert links to these 25 h2:s at the top of the topic so the reader can 1) get a nice overview
of what is in the topic, and 2) quickly get to the a desired h2.
Right now I have to manually create those 25 h2 links......

Anyone?
With Flare 10, you can use the List-Of proxy and set the Tag Name to h2, with the Tag Class set to something unique to the page (h2.list). Then, set the Style Class of each h2 to h2.list. The downside is that you need a unique style for each page because the proxy will list all h2's and not just what's on the page.
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Nita Beck
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Re: can't set column widths

Post by Nita Beck »

Hey kwag, does your solution work for online output? I had assumed our friend is doing online, but I should have asked. ...

... OK, just checked the Flare Help system to confirm that yes, a list-of proxy is supported in all output types.

So are you saying that if our friend had, say, 15 topics, each with lots of subheads for which he/she wanted a list of links at the top, we'd need 15 subclasses of h2, one for each topic? I'm just trying to understand.

I wonder if our friend wclass (aka Margaret) is listening. Margaret, don't you use some sort of Javascript to make a list of lilnks?
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wclass
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Re: can't set column widths

Post by wclass »

I'm listening, but I don't have the javascript.
You might be thinking of @Dave Lee, who had this post from some time ago, that is very useful. Was an example about customizing the skin, but includes a list of contents for the topic - using javascript.

Here is the example site: http://ukauthor.esy.es/SkinMods/Default.htm
and here is the forums thread:
http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewto ... 12&t=19584
Margaret Hassall - Melbourne
Nita Beck
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Re: can't set column widths

Post by Nita Beck »

(Sorry, MaggieA4, that your original post has gone totally off into a different direction...)

Margaret, don't you use some "tabbify" script? I looked into it after you posted about it, but I didn't explore it much. But I recall that it can be used to create tabs or a list of links... Maybe I'm dreaming. But thanks for the link to Dave's solution, as maybe that would work (perhaps adapted) for our friend.

And Atif, by the way, I never officially welcomed you to the forums. Welcome! :D
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wclass
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Re: can't set column widths

Post by wclass »

We use the Tabber to organise blocks of content into tabbed navigation - it doesn't really organise lists of say H2s in a page as such. The underlying code uses unordered lists to display the "tabs" but that is manual.
Margaret Hassall - Melbourne
kwag_myers
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Re: can't set column widths

Post by kwag_myers »

Nita Beck wrote: So are you saying that if our friend had, say, 15 topics, each with lots of subheads for which he/she wanted a list of links at the top, we'd need 15 subclasses of h2, one for each topic? I'm just trying to understand.
Yes, each topic must have it's own class. Otherwise, the proxy lists all h2 tags. Topic A:

Code: Select all

        <h2 class="A">Section 1</h2>
        <p>Delete this text and replace it with your own content.</p>
        <h2 class="A">Section 2</h2>
        <p>Delete this text and replace it with your own content.</p>
        <h2 class="A">Section 3</h2>
        <p>Delete this text and replace it with your own content.</p>
        <h2 class="A">Section 4</h2>
        <p>Delete this text and replace it with your own content.</p>
Topic B:

Code: Select all

        <h2 class="B">Section 1</h2>
        <p>Delete this text and replace it with your own content.</p>
        <h2 class="B">Section 2</h2>
        <p>Delete this text and replace it with your own content.</p>
        <h2 class="B">Section 3</h2>
        <p>Delete this text and replace it with your own content.</p>
        <h2 class="B">Section 4</h2>
        <p>Delete this text and replace it with your own content.</p>
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