Browser rendering issues

[scenicoregonParticipant]

OK, still on 2.8.2, tweaking things in the customizer to try to get things right, but display between browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome) is pretty different. I might have to edit the CSS in the parent theme a bit, because I blundered when I went from 2.5.5 to 2.8.2 and didn’t get my child theme activated. I’m using the basic Symbiostock theme.

So, here’s a few questions so I don’t go down wrong paths:
1. The background color behind the text under the image– is it always the same as what you set (through the customizer) the image background to?
2. I notice that IE won’t show the color gradations I have set up for panel heads (just noting that).
3. I have no idea where IE is getting the color for the text for the image descriptions. It doesn’t seem to match any of my selected colors, nor does it match what is displayed in FF and Chrome. What would I change to alter that? Is there some CSS I could edit in the parent theme that would affect only IE?
4. What would I edit in the CSS in the parent theme to remove text shadows? They only appear in FF and Chrome, IE ignores them, I’d like them gone across the board.

I’m also toying with the idea of activating the basic Symbiostock child theme, and then just setting everything the way I have set up in the parent theme, so that I can edit the CSS without worry. Can I expect to be able to make all of the same adjustments through the customizer for the child theme that I have in the parent theme?

Sorry for my ignorance.

[JoRodriguesParticipant]

I can answer some of your questions straight away and someone else might be help with the other points.

Firstly, before you start customising just upgrade to the latest version first. At the time of writing this the latest version is 2.9.4

Secondly you should make your modifications in your Child Theme. That way the settings are always there when you upgrade to a newer version of the Parent Theme. The child theme doesn’t automatically activate itself. So basically you must select and activate the Child Theme as your “Theme”.

Thirdly, yes you will get the same adjustments with either your Child Theme or Parent Theme. This is why it is best to use the Child Theme and leave the Parent Theme alone.

Most colours and such can be changed but you need to have an understanding of CSS and where to change what.

Hope this helps a bit.

Jo

[scenicoregonParticipant]

Out of curiosity-
You mention latest version is 2.9.4, but Symbiostock.com has it at 2.8.9 (and I just downloaded 2.8.2 about a week ago from the same site, which was latest then on that site).

So, it seems to me that the theme is in a constant state of change, and some people (like you) have access to pre-releases or betas.

If I spend all of my time updating to the newest thing, and have to go through all again and adjust each time, I’ll never have time to SEO, network, etc.

So, it seems best for me to update to a theme that works for me, tweak it as needed, and then stick with it for a while.

So, is 2.8.9 (which is currently the latest I can download from Symbiostock.com) going to offer real benefits to me to be worth the trouble? And this in addition– it seems the child theme updates along with the main theme, so say I do all my adjustments in the child theme, won’t I just have to do them all again when I update? If so, then what benefit is there to using the child theme? I know it is supposed to be safer, because you can edit the CSS without fear of breaking something irreversibly, but other than that?

[JoRodriguesParticipant]

Ah I keep forgetting some people are not yet testing the new version. My apologies. Yes, there is the “Safe” old version on the site. It is there for people who don’t want any problems and want to play it safe.

Then we have the current version that some of us are testing. I started my site when the new version began testing. I quickly switched to the newer version because it looks much better. It may be in testing phase but it is basically working fine and almost ready for final release.

You are right when you say the current Theme is constantly evolving. SymbioStock is very new and it is growing as change is needed. New parts are added and some that are not working so well, are improved.

So the updates that sometimes happen on a daily basis are to fix or alter a small segment of the code. It doesn’t radically change the Theme. The jump from the older version to the current version (that my site runs) is quite a large one.

So it is up to you to decide if you want to play it safe and essentially have to do some major changes once you upgrade or just dive in and do it once with the latest Theme 🙂

Oh and anyone has access to the latest theme. I know when there is a new version because I read the boards daily and my WordPress dashboard tells me there is a new version and if I want to update.

If you are on the older stable theme you won’t get prompted to update to a “Beta” version. You manually have to make the decision to use the new version.

Some of your changes you make on your old theme won’t work with the new version. Which ones exactly I cannot tell you as I don’t know too much about the older version.

Jo

[scenicoregonParticipant]

Well, I went ahead and got the child theme up and running (glad I went to the trouble), and installed the “2.8.9” download from Symbiostock.com, which when it installed actually turned out to be 2.9.4– the download link was mislabeled. So, I think I’m all current.

2.9.4 fixed some of the issues I’d reported earlier, but introduced some new ones (perhaps). Here are the problems I’m seeing, and if someone knows the CSS in the child theme to fix these issues, please enlighten me:

1. The Categories page has changed quiet bit, now is simple blue links. I’m assuming that was intentional. It is much more compact, and I think easier to read.
2. Color gradations in heads still show as white in IE (IE 10, to be specific). Gradations OK in Firefox and Chrome.
3. Text in the following locations, in all three browsers, still shows as a very dark grey, not a color that I have selected anywhere. It is hard to see on my dark background and dark heads. Problem locations, image page: Image description (below the picture), head of author section, head that shows image#. Again, if anyone knows the CSS to add in the child theme to fix these, please let me know.

[JoAnnSnoverParticipant]

I replied in the other thread to your CSS questions. Best to keep things to one thread or it gets too confusing

[JoRodriguesParticipant]

@scenicoregon wrote:

1. The Categories page has changed quiet bit, now is simple blue links. I’m assuming that was intentional. It is much more compact, and I think easier to read.

You can change it back to the thumbnail view in your Dashboard if you like by going to Pages > Image Categories > Edit > On the right mid page change “Template” to “Interactive Categories”

I like the new look even though it needs a few tweaks.

Jo

[Author]

Posts