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    Problems with section links and CSS

    Hi,

    I've recently changed the look of our website, and am now in the process of changing our online store to the same appearance.

    I've amended Act_Primary.html to include all the existing navigation bars and suchlike, with the formatting being handled by external style sheets. In this revised layout, the main navigation is via a series of horizontally-arranged tabs running along the top of the page. The submenus for these sections are a series of vertically-arranged tabs running down the left-hand panel. These tabs are created using tables, with the CSS files providing the formatting information. I want Actinic to use the top level sections defined in the store to create the submenus for the store section of our site.

    Each of the links are text, with the colour changing when hovering over them:
    Code:
    #sidebar td a {
    	color: #FFFFFF;
    	text-decoration: none;
    }
    #sidebar td a:hover {
    	color: #993333;
    }
    In addition to this, when you hover over the table element containing the link, it shows a highlighting .gif image:
    Code:
    .subunselected:hover  {
    	background-image: url(/i/subselected_tab.gif);
    	background-repeat: no-repeat;
    	background-position: 0px 0px;
    }
    Finally, when you're in a section, the corresponding submenu item is highlighted, using the same files to keep things simple:
    Code:
    .subselected  {
    	background-image: url(/i/subselected_tab.gif);
    	background-repeat: no-repeat;
    	background-position: 0px 0px;
    }
    I've managed to replicate most of this behaviour in the store by changing the html code from ID 1189 to:
    Code:
    <td class="subunselected">
    However, I've been unable to replicate the highlighting of the submenu item.

    What I want to happen is that, for example, when I move into the section "Other media", I want the background graphic on the "Other media" submenu to show (even when browsing through subsections of that section).

    From what I've seen, it appears that IDs 1187-1190 are applied to every section link table, and there doesn't seem to be any way of getting Actinic to 'switch this on', and no opportunities to manually apply this background to a table cell in order to make it 'selected'. I couldn't find any reference to this problem on this forum, and there didn't seem to be any clues in the knowledgebase or the AUG.

    Are there any ways around this? Or am I missing something?

    Any help gratefully received …

    #2
    Do you have a URL for us to see as it can be hard trying to picture this just from an explanation?

    Comment


      #3
      I haven't, I'm afraid. The old site is still up and running and, because I'm learning as I go, it was thought best that we shouldn't take the old site down for the weeks it'll take me to convert it!

      So I'm testing it on our internal file server so we can make sure it's fully up and working before we upload it to the net.

      Unfortunately, this doesn't help in diagnosing this problem …

      Comment


        #4
        I don't think section highlighting is possible in v7 without creating a separate layout for every section and hard coding the links.

        If it is really required, you could consider upgrading, it's very easy to do with v8.
        Cheers

        David
        Located in Edinburgh UK

        http://twitter.com/mcfinster

        Comment


          #5
          You can use the same settings as your live site and change the new site into TEST mode. That will not interfere with the live site, but will allow you (and us) to look at the 'real' online effect.
          Bill
          www.egyptianwonders.co.uk
          Text directoryWorldwide Actinic(TM) shops
          BC Ness Solutions Support services, custom software
          Registered Microsoft™ Partner (ISV)
          VoIP UK: 0131 208 0605
          Located: Alexandria, EGYPT

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by dave_finlayson
            I don't think section highlighting is possible in v7 without creating a separate layout for every section and hard coding the links.

            If it is really required, you could consider upgrading, it's very easy to do with v8.
            This has been thought about, and I've been trying to convince them to upgrade. Maybe this is the way forward. It's not that essential if it can't be done; it'd just be nice for it to reflect the enclosing site.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by wjcampbe
              You can use the same settings as your live site and change the new site into TEST mode. That will not interfere with the live site, but will allow you (and us) to look at the 'real' online effect.
              What does the 'test' mode do, and how does it work? Does it create another folder on the server without affecting the existing site?

              Comment


                #8
                Yes
                .......

                Comment


                  #9
                  LOL Lee
                  I looked at that and wondered how you'd got away with a 3 letter reply...you sly ol' fox
                  Tracey

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Right. I'll try and upload it tomorrow morning, as it takes about 45 minutes at our broadband speed …

                    Thanks!
                    Last edited by Sadcase; 08-Aug-2007, 03:42 PM. Reason: Clarification

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by budgetbumps
                      LOL Lee
                      I looked at that and wondered how you'd got away with a 3 letter reply...you sly ol' fox
                      Fools follow rules, intelligent people interpret them.
                      There's no accounting for how lateral one can think at times lol.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Sadcase
                        This has been thought about, and I've been trying to convince them to upgrade. Maybe this is the way forward. It's not that essential if it can't be done; it'd just be nice for it to reflect the enclosing site.
                        It can be done. it's just a logistical pain in the ass depending on how many sections you have. 30 sections means 30 different templates to maintain, which is a pain if you need to update templates regularly.

                        In v8 we now maintain 70 sections (with section highlighting) from just 1 layout.
                        Cheers

                        David
                        Located in Edinburgh UK

                        http://twitter.com/mcfinster

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by dave_finlayson
                          In v8 we now maintain 70 sections (with section highlighting) from just 1 layout.
                          That sounds a lot better! I'll have to see if we can upgrade …

                          I've just tried to upload the test store, and I'm getting the following error when it starts to upload the base files:

                          200 Type set to A
                          504 Command not implemented for that parameter

                          I exported the network settings from the test site so I can reconnect to our file server after this test upload, and I exported the settings from the live site. I imported the live settings (changing nothing in the process), switched it into test mode, and clicked the upload button, to which it asked if I wanted to upload the test website, to which I said yes.

                          I read the 'possible causes' section of the error message, but to be honest it didn't mean much.

                          Is it worth trying to get round this? Am I spending too long trying to convert our existing store? Or, if I've got to convert the store, should I convert it using v8 and upgrade in the process, getting the benefits that come with the upgrade?

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Just a quick thought, if you can test the site in firefox (maby your using a template in dreamweaver), use the web developer tool! if you use 'Outline > Current Element', it will show you the full path to the area your curser is over EG the post reply button on this page is 'td .smallfont'

                            Great for figuring out what table you u need to use CSS on.
                            http://www.eazyshopping.co.uk
                            http://www.myspace.com/bladenmetal

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by IOAF
                              … use the web developer tool!
                              That's useful, thanks! It certainly helps visualise what the code does and how it goes together.

                              Comment

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