Flare 2018 Broke My Customized HTML5 Top Nav Skin

[jmcgill]

I have a customized HTML5 top navigation modified using css and jquery. I just completed my first build under Flare 2018 and the custom positioning of my objects is completely out of whack. I didn't expect a new version of Flare to trash my custom skin. Any suggestions on easily resolving this issue? Thanks!

[jmcgill]

I received an update from Flare Support that I wanted to share...

With the release of Flare 2018, we have changed the customization of the top navigation skin to use flexbox. This aims at providing a more efficient way to lay out, align and distribute space among items in a container, even when their size is unknown and/or dynamic.

This is not something to expect every release but we are always looking into different ways to make Flare more efficient and future-proof.

You can find more information here:

http://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare201 ... ht=flexbox

https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guide-to-flexbox/

[JasonSTI]

We ran into the same issue after converting; all of the CSS overrides we made to customize the HTML5 skin are wonky or missing if we build under 2018. Fortunately, we still have 2017 R3 installed to build from, but if we do need to start using new features in 2018 its going to cause issues. Submitted a bug to MadCap.

[jmcgill]

I'm sorry you guys are in the same boat as me. I made a backup of my project so I could keep my Flare 2017 skin intact. Then, I spent some time Friday updating my css and jquery to accommodate Flare's 2018 flexbox. The Flexbox concept allows you to manipulate where your logo, search and navigation menu appear. Flare likes for search to appear on its own row, but you can setup it up so all three elements appear on the same row (this enhancement did allow me to delete one piece of my jquery code). You do have to add margins so the search bar doesn't slam into your logo. Today, I have to tackle the responsive design piece. Fun stuff

[NorthEast]

Yes, it's a pain - but it's not a bug.

I add CSS/scripts that modify the skin, but that's always going to be a risk, because I know the underlying code will change at some point.

If MadCap never changed and improved the underlying framework, then we'd still be using the old webhelp v1 tripane skin with frames.