A Guide to S2 Layer Customization and CSS in Layers

[av8rmike]

Questions about the interactions of "theme" and "user" layers seem to crop up all the time, as well as "where do I put my CSS changes", so I thought I'd write a tutorial on how to consolidate things.
UPDATE (11/05/07): This tutorial has been updated and expanded to reflect the changes to the Customize Journal section and include directions on

Comments

[kunzite1]

if a property is set in the user layer and also in the theme layer, the value set in the user layer will have precedence. this could be an answer to "why isn't something changing?"

[supinternets]

In step 4:

A new blank layer will appear in the boxes at the top of the page, listed as "Child of layer 7176168: Expressive" and with (None) as the name. Click on Edit next to this name

What are you supposed to do when there is no edit box next to it?

[av8rmike]

I don't understand; Is there only a "Delete..." button in the Actions column, or are there no buttons at all?

[supinternets]

None at all.

I have gone back, and followed the steps closely a few times now, but it is always the same.

[supinternets]

Never mind, I think LJ was having some sort of site issue, because earlier, journals were not loading correctly either. It appears fine now. Thanks!

[emerging]

so, if i want to simply change the color of the background of my page, and have ALREADY changed the header, what code do i need to use for CSS?

[av8rmike]

Look through the posts tagged "page:backgrounds".

[saifai]

I'm not sure if this is even an issue or not, but with the change to the customization pages, my layout instructions are all screwed up. Previously, you could click on Custom Options to set presentation. Is there still a way to do it from the wizard? Or is there a way to set it in the theme layer? I'm really hoping for a way to set it in the theme layer...

[av8rmike]

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. You can still set options however you want in the Customize Journal Style page. The customizations still get saved in your user layer, not your theme layer; that hasn't changed with the new interface. Although, your layout is Bloggish, not Expressive, so if you have more specific questions, you should take them to a different community.

[saifai]

That's a different layout I created for someone. The layout I'm doing for myself is going to be an Expressive layout. You did answer my question though, so thank you.

[anti_aol]

Mike, maybe I'm just blind, but where can I find the Unstyled theme information for Mixit? I looked under Mixit's children here:

http://www.livejournal.com/customize/advanced/layerbrowse.bml?expand=7462687

And I'm using Mixit Bookworm Blue without the Base CSS, so shouldn't I choose a Mixit Unstyled option (which doesn't seem to exist) to create my custom theme layer?

I'm nervous about doing this wrong because a lot of people see this blog - can you please set me straight?

edit Just to update you, I wanted to add a second custom text box for my handy-dandy search widget. I tried adding a theme layer using "set base them as none" and this is what I got

[av8rmike]

You're not blind-- there is no "Unstyled" child layer of Mixit, so you'll have to use Expressive. Since your two links are the same, I'm really not following what's wrong, or what you're trying to do.