The active state doesn’t refer to the active page, it refers to the state of the element ie when it is clicked.
What you actually need is the active page link to have an extra class applied to it but only when the page is active. I’ve never got around to adding this but I’ll take a look.
Then you would just set this class ( let’s call it .active-state) to the styling you want and when the current url matched this link it has this styling.
Agree, however the navigation is without a doubt the most complex part of the site. Making it easy to edit and flexible enough for pros is one of my biggest challenges.
Aloha Norm:
That all makes sense, where does one find the active page link?
I was aware that the active state was the pressed state as I did want my styling added there, but I was not aware of the active page link, thanks for that.
I have confidence based on what I have observed to date with Blocs that you will come up with an elegant solution. I think it will make a big difference and certainly make it more approachable.
You would need to manually do it on every page. But the Blocs way to handle this would be to automate it.
We are in beta with 3.2 so if I get a chance between bug fixing and testing I’ll see if I can get this bundled in.
Having the abilty for a active state (active page link) would be a nice feature for the Nav. It can be done by adding a new nav for each page and then stying the link but it’s a lot of work. Not bad if you only have couple of pages but still it seems like we could have this out of the box.
Thanks for looking.
casey
Norm: I think it would be a huge win if this could be automated by Blocs, I know it would certainly make my day!
This was about 30 mins work and seemed essential so I’ve added this in 3.2 build 5, I should get that build out today.
Heres how it works.
• In project settings set the class you would like assigned to active page links (page links that match URL). Bootstrap has a built in one active or you can create your own.
• Create your active state class (if custom) via the Class Manager and give it some styling ( make the text red or something).
Thats it.
When you export Blocs will do the rest and your active navigation page links will work like this:
@Norm, that is awesome, what a rock star! I’ll be waiting with bated breath for the BETA 5 build!
@Norm, do you still have to decouple from the primary menu or can you stay with it as the data source?
Is this what you’re after?
@sim, that looks promising I will take a look at it, I would have preferred if it could have been done with no code, but for now all I care about is that there be a smoother transition. Thanks!
It can be data driven.
Yes, I tried it and it does work.
Although I did run into a problem when trying to style the nav links in that once I set the data source to PRIMARY MENU then Blocs LOCKS the link items int he list. Trying to select one of these links in order to attach a class does not work because you cannot select the locked item. At least in BETA 5 you cannot select the locked item. This makes it very hard to style the menu items. I can see an argument for locking them, but how does one style them if they cannot be selected?
You can style them via the project settings text options.
@Norm Yes, I tried that but could not get it to work with the new support you added for styling the link for the current page. If I set the color for the link in the project settings it appears to override the color that is trying to be set by the class that is doing the styling for the current page. The only way I can get it to work is if I DON’T set a color for the link (in the NORMAL state) and let Blocs handle the styling. But then I don’t get the color I want.
What am I doing wrong?
Well, this is probably an old thread by now but I just wanted to put in my two cents on the Blocs program. After leaving adobe muse, I looked for about a year for another web design program. I spent quite a bit of time on 4 different programs. I actually had a test site that I built on 3 of the programs so I got a pretty good feel for each program and what they were capable of. I read a lot in the forums and help files. Each program operated a little differently with obviously some similarities for designing for the web. I really like Blocs and have kept on my short list, but right after I purchased Blocs, I signed up for Eldar’s online videos. I learned so much from them. Most of the time, with a lot of reading and watching free videos on Youtube, I can learn a lot about a program but things started clicking when I watched Eldars videos. They were really easy to follow, he took the time to explain every step and I have to say, it’s what made the difference for me. It was worth spending the money because of the time I saved. Blocs is a bit different and before I bought the program, I was baffled at many things in it, but after going through all the videos, I feel more comfortable with it. I think Blocs still has some things to work out and can’t do everything yet, but I think it’s a great program.
I guess my point is, every program is a little different.
Annette
I’m glad you decided to stay with Blocs. Eldar’s Blocs Master courses are really helpful. I wish more new users would take the time and subscribe. Any new program has its challenges, in the end it’s really about how much effort you’re willing to put in learning the program.
Casey
Yes, I’m also glad I stuck with Blocs. I did end up signing up for Eldar’s course and so far it has been helpful, but I have only been through a few of the videos. I’m one of those weird people that likes to read manuals and text to learn stuff, so it is a little low going for me learning from a video.
That said I have made great progress with Blocs and have ported one of my sites to it and will make it live very soon. I’m in the process of moving a much bigger site and doing a redesign in the process.
There are still many little anomalies with Blocs that can be annoying but at least Norm is will to address problems in a timely manner, which is not the case with some other developers.
So at the end of the day despite starting this thread I’m happy to say I stuck with it and I’m glad I did!
Eldar also does one-to-one online consultation. You can book him through his website and share screens so he knows exactly what you’re doing right (or wrong in my case). I had him on the line for an hour or so yesterday and his advice and support was invaluable.
