Joomla Templates Club 406,261 posts

[gribblej Friend gribblejJoin date: June 2011Posts: 208Downloads:28Uploads:6 Thanks: 4 Thanked: 10 times in 2 posts]

#196355

I’ve been doing CSS customization for a long time. Right now I am in development mode and working with the LESS files. When I’m done I plan to compile. But a weird thing keeps happening. The template keeps erasing my edits and reverting the CSS to the original default code. Obviously I don’t want this. Neither do I want to go to all the time and trouble of creating the “custom CSS file” you recommend. What can be done to stop JA-Biz to stop erasing my edits?
Thanks,
-Jim G.

[Phill Moderator PhillJoin date: February 2014Posts: 7013Downloads:40Uploads:77 Thanks: 917 Thanked: 2206 times in 1818 posts]

#529075

Have you read the docs here – http://t3-framework.org/documentation/bs3-configuration#compile-less

If you make changes directly to any css file other than custom.css they will get overwritten. So make the changes in the .less files and compile them to generate the css.

1 user says Thank You to Phill for this useful post

1. TomC

[gribblej Friend gribblejJoin date: June 2011Posts: 208Downloads:28Uploads:6 Thanks: 4 Thanked: 10 times in 2 posts]

#529207

Hi Phil,
This is exactly what I was doing. But I neglected to turn on “Build RTL CSS First” in the general tab. I think that probably was my problem. Thanks for the pointer! I will confirm the solution with a follow-up to this board.
-Jim G.:)

[gribblej Friend gribblejJoin date: June 2011Posts: 208Downloads:28Uploads:6 Thanks: 4 Thanked: 10 times in 2 posts]

#529220

While I’m at it, I’ve been thinking about the whole issue of “compiling.” Here is my train of thought. Phones fetch the LESS files. Desktops fetch the CSS files. So, for complete control of the user experience, why would I not do separate styling for the LESS files, going very light on the graphics? Then, the full-on graphic treatment can be applied to the CSS files. Am I correct on this? What are the best practices in styling the LESS files? For example, I have a nice graphic behind the menu container. Should I stay away from stuff like that when I’m working with LESS/Bootstrap?
Any thoughts are appreciated!
-Jim G.

[gribblej Friend gribblejJoin date: June 2011Posts: 208Downloads:28Uploads:6 Thanks: 4 Thanked: 10 times in 2 posts]

#529256

Sorry to report that Phil’s suggestion didn’t work. The template just now once again reverted to default LESS CSS. Since I saved all my edits I can restore them again in a minute. But why the heck would this be happening? I have to count on the customized site being stable. Why is the system rejecting my edits to the LESS files? Can I only edit the CSS files with development mode off? One clue perhaps: The only possible triggering event was my opening of “Theme Magic.” If you open Theme Magic, will that cause all edits to be overwritten?
Thanks,
-Jim G.

[TomC Moderator TomCJoin date: October 2014Posts: 14077Downloads:58Uploads:137 Thanks: 948 Thanked: 3155 times in 2495 posts]

#529261

Personally, I would put all of the CSS modifications you want to do within your custom.css file before “Compiling to LESS” – if I would compile at all. I’m still not personally convinced of the overall benefit of compiling the CSS to LESS.

There is also the “Template/Layout Override” option – for which there is a tutorial within the JoomlArt Tutorials section of the Forum.

[gribblej Friend gribblejJoin date: June 2011Posts: 208Downloads:28Uploads:6 Thanks: 4 Thanked: 10 times in 2 posts]

#529265

Thanks,
I too doubt the value of “compiling,” and anyway it doesn’t seem to work very well. I would take a minimalist approach in designing for LESS/Bootstrap devices. With desktop display I can go big and splashy. So the question to me is, why would why I “compile” my minimalist mobile design to the desktop for big HD screens? Frankly that seems dumb. “Development mode” should be relabled “Mobile Mode” to ease this confusion. I almost wonder if I did some things in development mode design-wise that the system rejected because they were not going re-scale well for Iphone etc. I turned “development mode” off and simply copied over my edits to the template.css file. My experience is, that’s the only sure solution. I’m going to confine my edits in development mode to simple color tweaks and see if they stick or are just going to be erased. Guess I’m going to have to learn about the custom.css trick even though I’d rather not.
Thanks again!
-Jim G.

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