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+++ b/doc/refactoring-the-css-with-uiprops.rst	Wed May 05 18:39:59 2010 +0200
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+=========================================
+Refactoring the CSSs with UI properties
+=========================================
+
+Overview
+=========
+
+Managing styles progressively became difficult in CubicWeb. The
+introduction of uiprops is an attempt to fix this problem.
+
+The goal is to make it possible to use variables in our CSSs.
+
+These variables are defined or computed in the uiprops.py python file
+and inserted in the CSS using the Python string interpolation syntax.
+
+A quick example, put in ``uiprops.py``::
+
+  defaultBgColor = '#eee'
+
+and in your css::
+
+  body { background-color: %(defaultBgColor)s; }
+
+
+The good practices are:
+
+- define a variable in uiprops to avoid repetitions in the CSS
+  (colors, borders, fonts, etc.)
+
+- define a variable in uiprops when you need to compute values
+  (compute a color palette, etc.)
+
+The algorithm implemented in CubicWeb is the following:
+
+- read uiprops file while walk up the chain of cube dependencies: if
+  cube myblog depends on cube comment, the variables defined in myblog
+  will have precedence over the ones in comment
+
+- replace the %(varname)s in all the CSSs of all the cubes
+
+Keep in mind that the browser will then interpret the CSSs and apply
+the standard cascading mechanism.
+
+FAQ
+====
+
+- How do I keep the old style?
+
+  Put ``STYLESHEET = [data('cubicweb.old.css')]`` in your uiprops.py
+  file and think about something else.
+
+- What are the changes in cubicweb.css?
+
+  Version 3.9.0 of cubicweb changed the following in the default html
+  markup and css:
+
+  ===============  ==================================
+   old              new
+  ===============  ==================================
+   .navcol          #navColumnLeft, #navColumnRight
+   #contentcol      #contentColumn
+   .footer          #footer
+   .logo	    #logo
+   .simpleMessage   .loginMessage
+   .appMsg	    (removed)
+   .searchMessage   (removed)
+  ===============  ==================================
+
+  Introduction of the new cubicweb.reset.css based on Eric Meyer's
+  reset css.
+
+  Lots of margin, padding, etc.
+