Default.css Editing

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sethdawson
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon May 11, 2009 9:55 pm

Default.css Editing

Unread post by sethdawson »

I'm confused on where the information that is produced in the default.css style sheet is coming from. We would like to add a section for our customization of a premium pack skin, but it is overwritten every time I publish??
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Tim Green
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Re: Default.css Editing

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Seth,

The default.css file contains the CSS conversion of the styles defined in your project. It is only for the content of your topics, not for the layout of the skin. Theoretically you could create your own version -- you just need to put it in the baggage files section of the skin and then it would overwrite the HM version, because the baggage is always written last. That would be a very bad idea, however, because you would then no longer be able to edit the styles in your project, because all changes would be deleted by the older edited version that overwrites the stylesheet.

If you want to add your own CSS to a skin it is better to add your own CSS file and then reference it in the appropriate template in your skin.

Important Warning: The V3 Responsive skins in Premium Pack 3 have a different structure and CSS usage and need to be handled differently. However, since you are referencing default.css you are not using one of those skins -- they generate a file called hmprojectstyles.css. This is something you need to be aware of for the future, however.

Put your CSS file in the baggage files section of the skin, then reference it in the HTML template where you want the styles to apply (editing the .hmskin file and NOT the project file). If you want it to work on the topic pages, put the reference in the topic page template in Configuration > HTML Page Templates > Default. If you are rewriting any of the project styles always put your CSS reference after the reference containing the <%STYLESHEET%> variable, which is the reference to default.css. The other templates are as follows:

Configuration > Publishing Options > WebHelp
> Layout: Main index.html page (containing the iFrames for TOC and topic pages:
> Table of Contents: TOC page
> Keyword Index: Index page
> Full Text Search: Search page
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
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