Pagelines Customize (plug-in) vs. Base Theme (Theme) for CSS editing

[bdolbeer 0]

Hi All - I've read through the forums and docs, but I'm still a little confused (unsure) of the differences between the 'Customize plugin' and the 'Base Theme' and in which scenario one is preferred over the other. I want to keep the stock Pagelines Framework theme intact so that any future updates to the framework don't override my customizations. Assuming the above, what's the best/preferred way of doing CSS customizations? Should I stick with the Framework theme and use the customize plugin to edit the CSS? Should I be using the base theme w/ the customize plugin? Should I stick with the base theme and modify the CSS directly, forgoing the customize plugin? Or some other combination? Are there advantages to one over the other? In my tests, the customize plugin ~appears~ to work with both themes, so I'm wondering from others who've been down this path if there are specific reasons to using a particular theme (base or framework) in conjunction w/ the customize plugin. Lastly, regardless of the theme I've activated, none of the changes I make to the style.css via the customize plugin will "stick" unless I append !important to the CSS. For example, I was trying to do something simple like change the default colour of the footer background.

#footer {background: #FFF;}

doesn't work, but

#footer {background: #FFF!important;}

does. I don't want to append !important to the end of every CSS rule I edit if I can help it. The docs state that the styles.css from the pageslines customization plugin take precedence in the heirarchy - http://www.pagelines.com/wiki/index.php?title=CSS_Customization As well, in Pagelines > Settings > Custom Code > CSS Rules I've got nothing related to

#Footer

that might be interfering. WPAdmin > Plugins > Editor > Pagelines Customization shows pagelines-customize/style.css as (inactive) but I've read elsewhere on the forums that this doesn't matter, and I can save changes to the file so it doesn't appear to be a permissions issue... Any suggestions or advice appreciated! Sorry: If it wasn't apparent, I should add that I'm using Base Theme 1.0.2 and/or Pagelines Framework 2.0.0. thanks, Brad

[Kate 3]

Hey Brad, Does this clarify things a bit? http://www.pagelines.com/forum/discussion/15775/need-to-change-platform-base-before-or-after-update-to-2.0-where-is-it

[bdolbeer 0]

Hi Kate - Yeah... kinda... From that page, and I quote: [quote]2.0 Uses a custom plugin called 'pagelines-customize' with style.css and functions.php to emulate a child theme, main files live in pagelines folder, editable files are in plugins/pagelines-customize/ Framework can be updated without deleting the plugin, plus child themes can now be bought and activated.[/quote] But should we use the plugin with the [u]base theme[/u] or with the [u]Pagelines Framework[/u]? Or does it not matter? I guess I'm still confused as to why there's a base theme in the first place, if the customize [b]plugin[/b] handles all CSS customizations. What's the purpose of the base theme? Why would I want to pick base theme + customize plugin over pagelines framework + customize plugin? Or to put it another way: Base Theme + customize plugin gives me that Pagelines Framework + customize plugin does not, and here's why you'd want to pick one over the other. Also, any idea why I have to use !important tags in my /customize/style.css file to override the default settings? Thanks for the quick response. Cheers, Brad

[Rob 547]

Brad, it doesn't matter. You just use the PageLines Customize plugin to add hooks, functions and some scripting to functions.php and styling to style.css. There's no real "base" theme... PageLines Framework is the essential base, but there is a plugin called base that applies certain things to the framework. There are child themes available, but PageLines Customize will write to the framework, so the effect will apply across the framework.

[Simon 248]

Just to add, if you never plan on installing a 3rd party child theme, then by all means use the base child theme and add your custom code there, if thats what you are used to. We created the customize plugin to give users the option, if say you installed iblogpro5, which is a child theme, there is no way to have a child->child theme see? So the choice is yours.

[bdolbeer 0]

Thanks to both of you for the responses! @pross: I'm new to Pagelines, so I don't have a particular workflow; I just didn't want to paint myself into a corner or start off on the wrong foot. It ~sounds~ like using the PL framework + customize plugin is the more flexible route to take, in the event I ever add a child theme at a later date. @rangelone: thanks for the clarification; However, I'm curious about what you mean by [quote]'...base...applies certain things to the framework.'[/quote] What kind of things does base add to the framework? Are they functionality related, or back-end things a "normal" user like me would never notice? Also, I'm still stumped on why I have to use the !important declaration in my style.css file. To reiterate my last question from the missive above: Regardless of theme, changes I make to style.css via the customize plugin don't take affect unless I append !important to the CSS rule. I have no other custom CSS rules in place that might interfere with the inheritance. For example: #footer {background: #FFF;} does [b]not[/b] work. #footer {background: #FFF!important;} [b]does[/b] work. why would that be?

[voxygen 0]

Even my !important doesn't seem to take. I don't know why. I can't seem to overwrite half the style settings.

[skyrocket 1]

same here! from a user perspective i don't understand why there is not one place where CSS settings can be changed. it seems odd to me to have a huge CUSTOMER CODE button in the global settings of pagelines, which you're actually not supposed to use (the interface says >> "Note: The professional way to customize your site is using a child theme, or customization plugin"). additionally, this customize plugin is probably the most user-unfriendly plugin that i've ever come across. i'm probably pissing somebody off with this, but i just find CSS settings way to crucial to be neglected in a user oriented theme like pagelines. i know this isn't a very constructive post, but i've been trying to fix some CSS issues for 4 hours now and i'm frustrated cause whatever method i use, i just can't make pagelines read my CSS settings.

[Danny+ 1,327]

@Skyrocket Can you make a new post with your issue please, so we can assist you,

[Jackey 29]

@bdolbeer The use of !important is only necessary when you can't make your selector strong enough to take precedence. Maybe this is a good read: [url="http://www.vanseodesign.com/css/css-specificity-inheritance-cascaade/"]Understanding Style Precedence in CSS: Specificity, Inheritance, and the Cascade[/url]