The menu bar which is hidden by default - File Edit etc…
I’ve created my own color scheme including custom css - attempting to build an inclusive “theme”
I have found no way to put a border around the dropdown menu that is displayed upon clicking File, Edit, etc…
I can make one for left/right, but top/bottom show for every item in the list, which is unacceptable.
YES, I have the DOM inspector tools loaded and I’m very familiar with their use. But I have yet to find the element for the menu - only menuitems.
PS: The problems I have had building a theme to make this app look the way I want are mostly due to the granularity of elements. Setting one color in the “color scheme editor” affects FAR too many actual UI elements. VERY bad design here and even products like Eclipse (which I hate) and Atom - don’t have these flaws.
I was able to set a border on the menu in DOM Inspector by adding a style Attr to #menu_file’s menupopup child. To test in DOMi, click that menupopup, right click in Attributes box > Insert, Node name is style, Node Value is border:solid;. There should be a border now when you open that menu.
I think you could add a more generic CSS rule to the custom field in the Color Scheme Editor, something like:
#menubar_main menupopup{
border:solid;
}
Something like that. I haven’t tested that snippet.
Can you elaborate on why this is a bad design? I would disagree based on the current info. We’ve found that not very many few people actually want to customize the app all that much other than trying other prebuilt themes. Over granulating would push people away from even trying. We compromised by having generic/broader properties then allowing custom CSS. We think it’s a good balance.
You could be right - and I am certainly not advocating a design that caters only to those with the time & desire to dig down deep - and I would agree that having a “standard” way with easily set prefs that can give some customization - and then providing the more advanced users with the tools/info to do their thing - is a great design ethic, absolutely.
I think what I was getting at is that even at that advanced level of using the css spy to identify elements and writing some replacement css - I was having a difficult time getting to one thing without touching others. I could be completely wrong and maybe I need to do more homework. But I’m definitely not new to doing this exact thing - I’ve implemented my same visual styles (I have 2 of my own) in Eclipse, Atom, even a desktop email client. I’m not saying I’m an expert, but my initial attempts to do this with Komodo have been a wee bit more frustrating than my other work. As another example of the menu issues, I’ve had some significant trouble getting the spy to identify for me a menu option which has children. Because the minute I click on it, the sub menu opens. I’m hoping this is just a matter of digging into the docs for the spy tool. But as of today - I have not managed to make simple dropdown menus look consistent and have one border.
I will try your suggestion, and I’m not going to stop working at it.
PS: I’m not going to make any excuse for my rather harsh tone, which I do regret not waiting until I wasn’t as hotly frustrated. But when I decide to evaluate an app, I jump all in - and to be prevented from submitting additional questions while they were in my head, because of a forum rule - I would only ask to pardon my frustration coming through that way. I have retired twice in the past two years but just can’t seem to push the keyboard away. And after 35 years and building 2 software firms and countless piles of software - I guess I need to be more concerned with my communication skills than whether or not I can make somebody else’s software work the way I think it oughta. My apologies.
At the end of the day this is subjective, some people will like it and some won’t. You cannot please everyone, and I think Carey’s post gives you a good workaround in case this really bothers you. That said if there are themes that are lacking contrast then I’d love to hear about it.
As for your frustration, please realize you are simply being flagged by automated forum software that’s trying to detect spammers. Of course this was a false positive, but no one here is going out of their way to make things difficult for you.
I appreciate your help (and others) Nathan and your reply.
My frustration wasn’t because I felt someone was intentionally trying to do anything, and I was about to say it was “a poor decision” but instead I’ll say that “it’s not a decision that helped me or that I agree with”. Stopping spammers is something I do for my clients, and so I would offer this advice:
1: user signs up with a valid email and verifies it
2: user passes the reCaptcha I’m a human test
3: user submits 5 posts that are not even remotely similar
4: then perhaps 5 is a bit of a low limit
That’s all I was saying.
As for the rest, I wasn’t able to get the menu situation resolved. Determining what ui elements to use with my custom css was difficult, and with the toolbar icons disappearing (another post) and places not updating (another post) - sorry to say - I liked the product - but I have decided that the time I’ve spent not just with Komodo but moreso with Atom and Visual Code - but I could have used the dotnet version of Scintilla and built my own editor. So that’s my next step. You know programmers, always figuring they could write a better app themselves
Peace!
We’re using Discourse, we do not author it or put any significant time towards adding functionality to it. I am sorry you experienced issues due to your volume of posts, but this is such a niche issue that it doesn’t really warrant any action on our part besides updating your “trust level” so you are no affected by this again, which we have done.
I wish you the best of luck! Working on an editor/IDE is by far one of the most fun projects I’ve ever worked on, you’re in for a treat
