Features of Styles Question

[chomiji]

I'm certainly not new, but at the moment I feel pretty confused.

I know that many of the layouts can be customized fairly easily - that is, via the wizards/options screens rather than by inserting CSS code.

The trouble is, I have no idea how to figure out which styles have which options without pitching out my current customized layout entirely to try out a new one.

LJ has, on the comm s2howto, an inventory of the base styles and what features each has, plus a cross-indexed link of features and which layouts have them. For example, here's the tag list in sidebar option, which also notes which layouts have the tag cloud as an option.

I have just spent some time trying to find such an inventory, with no joy. Can anyone point the way?

Thanks very much!

Comments

[msilverstar]

wandering by, have the same questions, just saw a useful comm: style_system

[chomiji]

Yes, thanks - I've been following that one for a year or so. I learned some good things about using CSS for customizing, but they don't have quite what I'm after.

musyc (next comment on my OP) had a link with the sort of info I was seeking.

[musyc]

There is the thoroughly unofficial Style Browser, which might help. It's been a long while since it's been updated, but you can get a good start there. Click the "(+)Filters" link to narrow down options.

Alternatively, click the name of a style and it'll take you to a page that gives you that style's options.

One thing about DW is that almost every style has the same options, Zesty being the exception to most of the rules. That flexibility is built into the code. If you have something specific you want, 85-90% of the time, any style can do that for you. Is there something in particular you want a style to do?

[chomiji]

Oh, shiny! That's just the sort of thing I was after - thanks!

[sally_maria]

Just as a side suggestion, have you tried creating a private community for trying layouts on? That's what I do, and then I can fiddle to my heart's content, while still keeping my existing style until I know I want to replace it.

[chomiji]

Hmmm ... do you need an invite code to do that?

If you use the style wizards to make your changes, is there any simple way to copy the whole shebang to the "real" account? (I understand that if you use CSS, you can just copy the code block and paste it into the other account.)

[sally_maria]

No, not at all - you just go to this page http://www.dreamwidth.org/community/create and give it a unique name (mine rejoices in the wonderfully original sally_test).

The only limit is that any given user can only create 3 a week, or so the FAQ says - I have about half a dozen I've created over time and not had any problems.

I'm afraid I'm not sure about copying things across - I've never tried it. I would have thought you might be able to go into the advanced customisation screen, and copy and paste the changes, if you're happy with that - it looks pretty much identical to the LJ one, from what I remember.