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Tutorial - Creating a New Adjuster UI
Draft; Still incomplete, but hopefully a bit useful nonetheless.
Decide what type of control it is
Based on the nature of the setting, different types of controls will be appropriate:
- checkboxes for on/off settings
- drop-down select boxes for choices
- radio buttons for choices where you want to present all choices visually
- sliders for choosing from a range of values
Some examples:
Preference | Possible HTML element |
---|---|
text size | text input, slider |
foreground colour | select (drop-down), radio button |
show captions | checkbox |
language | select (drop-down) |
Create HTML to display the adjusters
Once you know which type of HTML element you will be rendering, create an HTML template that will be used to render it. This will include the actual control as well as any labels, etc.
For a control involving repeated data (e.g. a drop-down or radio buttons), your HTML template should include only one of the elements, along with its label, etc. The markup that is to be repeated multiple times should be enclosed in a single containing element such as a <div>
or <span>
.
Some Examples
HTML element | Sample Markup |
---|---|
drop-down | <label for="magnifier-position"></label> <select id="magnifier-position"></select> |
checkbox | <input type="checkbox" id="media-choice"/> <label for="media-choice"></label> |
radio button | <div> <input type="radio" name="theme" id="bw" value="bw" /> <label for="bw"></label> </div> |
Add selector classes to any element that will be rendered
Each element that will have to be rendered based on the data will need a 'selector class' to allow the code to identify and manipulate it. This includes the control elements themselves as well as any labels, any elements that will have unique style classes added by the code, etc.
We recommend using different class names for selector classes and styling classes. This results in markup that may look a but redundent, but it ensures that there are no accidental errors resulting in changes to the way styling happens, etc.
Some Examples
HTML element | Sample Markup |
---|---|
drop-down | <label class="flc-prefsEditor-magPositionLabel" for="magnifier-position"></label> <select class="flc-prefsEditor-magPositionInput" id="magnifier-position"></select> |
checkbox | <input class="flc-prefsEditor-captionsInput" type="checkbox" id="captions-choice"/> <label class="flc-prefsEditor-captionsLabel" for="captions-choice"></label> |
radio button | <div class="flc-prefsEditor-themeRow"> <input class="flc-prefsEditor-themeInput" type="radio" name="theme" id="bw" value="bw" /> <label class="flc-prefsEditor-themeLabel" for="bw"></label> </div> |
Custom Styling
If the adjuster will be styled to look different than a traditional HTML form element, you will have to create special HTML and CSS to achieve the look you desire.
If the control or its label(s) will include graphics, we recommend using an icon font for the graphics. Icon fonts will automatically adjust to the size and colours specified by the page or by a user's personal settings, without the need for additional CSS.
How to Create and Use Font Icons
The CSS required will, of course, be dependent on the design. Some examples from existing interfaces are provided below, as inspiration.
UI and MARKUP | CSS |
---|---|
<h2> <span class="fl-icon-contrast"></span> <span class="flc-prefsEditor-contrast-label heading-text"></span> </h2> <div class="flc-prefsEditor-themeRow fl-choice"> <input type="radio" class="flc-prefsEditor-themeInput fl-hidden-accessible" name="theme" id="bw" value="bw" /> <div class="fl-indicator"></div> <label for="bw" class="flc-prefsEditor-theme-label fl-theme-bw-prefsEditor"> <span class="fl-preview-A"></span> <span class="fl-hidden-accessible"></span> </label> </div> | For the header: .fl-prefsEditor .fl-icon-contrast { font-family: 'InfusionIcons' !important; speak: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-variant: normal; text-transform: none; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; float:left; margin: 0.2em 0.3em 0 0; font-size: 1.5em; } .fl-prefsEditor .fl-icon-toc:before { content: "\e005"; } For the radio buttons: /* Theme radio buttons */ .fl-prefsEditor .fl-choice { display: inline; float: left; } .fl-prefsEditor .fl-choice label { margin-right: 5px; border: 1px solid black; border-radius: 5px; height: 3em; width: 3em; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; display: inline-block; line-height: 3em !important; padding: 2px; } .fl-prefsEditor .fl-choice .fl-preview-A { font-size: 2em; } .fl-prefsEditor .fl-choice input:focus ~ label { outline: 2px solid black; } |
<h2> <span class="fl-icon-toc"></span> <span class="flc-prefsEditor-toc-label heading-text"></span> </h2> <div class="fl-prefsEditor-onoff"> <input type="checkbox" id="toc-choice" class="flc-prefsEditor-toc" /> <label for="toc-choice"> <span class="fl-prefsEditor-switch" data-checkboxStateOn="ON" data-checkboxStateOff="OFF"> <span class="fl-prefsEditor-switch-inner"></span> </span> <span class="flc-prefsEditor-toc-choice-label"></span> </label> </div> | For the switch: /* The container for the toggle, which is also a label for the hidden checkbox. */ .fl-prefsEditor .fl-prefsEditor-onoff .fl-prefsEditor-switch { border-radius:50px; border: 1px solid #776D67; width: 5em; height: 2em; background-color: #E6E6E6; box-shadow: 1em 1.1em 0 0 rgba(250,250,250,0.53) inset; overflow:hidden; vertical-align: middle; display:inline-block; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: padding-left, width, background-color, margin-left; font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: 600; } /* Hide input */ .fl-prefsEditor .fl-prefsEditor-onoff input { border: 0 none; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0; position: absolute; width: 1px; } .fl-prefsEditor .fl-prefsEditor-onoff input:focus + label { outline: 2px solid black; } .fl-prefsEditor .fl-prefsEditor-onoff input:checked + label .fl-prefsEditor-switch { padding-left: 3em; width: 2em; background-color: #2da750; box-shadow: -1em 1.1em 0.1em 0 rgba(172, 216, 92, 0.63) inset; } /* With data attributes defining the on/off text, localizing the templates is easier */ .fl-prefsEditor .fl-prefsEditor-onoff input + label [data-checkboxStateOn]:before { content: attr(data-checkboxStateOn); } .fl-prefsEditor .fl-prefsEditor-onoff input + label [data-checkboxStateOff]:after { content: attr(data-checkboxStateOff); } /* The "on" portion of the toggle and the knob. */ .fl-prefsEditor .fl-prefsEditor-onoff input + label .fl-prefsEditor-switch:before { color: #fff; border: 1px solid #776D67; border-radius: 50px; float:left; width:1.9em; height: 1.9em; /* Width and height of the knob. */ text-indent:-1.6em; line-height:1.7em; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #000; background-color: #fff; background-image: -o-linear-gradient(bottom, rgb(205,204,202) 0%, rgb(244,244,244) 100%); background-image: -moz-linear-gradient(bottom, rgb(205,204,202) 0%, rgb(244,244,244) 100%); background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(bottom, rgb(205,204,202) 0%, rgb(244,244,244) 100%); background-image: -ms-linear-gradient(bottom, rgb(205,204,202) 0%, rgb(244,244,244) 100%); background-image: -webkit-gradient( linear, left top, left bottom, color-stop(0, rgb(205,204,202)), color-stop(1, rgb(244,244,244)) ); background-image: linear-gradient(bottom, rgb(205,204,202) 0%, rgb(244,244,244) 100%); box-shadow: 0.2em 0.2em 0.5em #888; } /* The "off" portion of the toggle. */ .fl-prefsEditor .fl-prefsEditor-onoff input + label .fl-prefsEditor-switch:after { float:left; position:relative; top: 0.36em; left: 0.5em; } /* The dark inner circle to the toggle knob. */ .fl-prefsEditor .fl-prefsEditor-onoff .fl-prefsEditor-switch-inner { border: 1px solid #493A30; border-radius: 50px; width: 1em; height: 1em; position:relative; left:-2.85em; top:0.46em; background-color: #675243; box-shadow: 0 -0.2em 0.3em 0.05em rgba(250, 250, 250, 0.3) inset; display:inline-block; } .fl-prefsEditor .fl-prefsEditor-onoff input:checked + label .fl-prefsEditor-switch .fl-prefsEditor-switch-inner { top:-1.6em; left: 0.46em; } |