[Cartoweb-users] non-cartoweb CSS file location

[Chris Duncan, GISmatters]

Is it correct that if I want to use a CSS file that has nothing to do 
with Cartoweb (for example, it styles the website's "skin" in which 
I'm embedding a Cartoweb application), I just put that CSS file 
directly into the cartoweb3/htdocs/css folder?

That appears to be the way I have to do it, but it seems inconsistent 
with Cartoweb's project customization approach. I first expected that 
I should put the custom CSS file into 
cartoweb3/projects/myproject/htdocs/css, along with my other 
Cartoweb-override CSS files; but if I do that, it doesn't get copied 
to the main htdocs/css folder as I expected, and it certainly doesn't 
get used (it's outside the web server's root folder).

So, I'm just looking for clarification that I'm doing it right, or 
making a suggestion to improve the consistency. The way it is now (if 
I've understood it correctly), I cannot keep all of my project files 
under my project folder... at least this one CSS file has to live in 
the live htdocs/css folder, which makes it more difficult to manage my 
project files, backups, portability, etc. because they are not all 
under one project directory.

I should also say that the reason I need this file in the Cartoweb 
universe is that there were a number of collisions of CSS ids and 
classes between this CSS file and some of the Cartoweb CSS files. 
Also, I do not have control over the rest of the website -- I'm just 
developing a single page with their skin and a Cartoweb application. 
Therefore, I had to take one of their CSS files and rename some of the 
classes and ids to avoid collision with the Cartoweb names, and now I 
consider it a part of my Cartoweb project and want to keep it with the 
other project files.  Am I making sense?

It's probably too late now, without breaking lots of Cartoweb apps, 
but it would be a good practice to use a prefix (e.g., "cw_") in CSS 
files as well, so you don't have generic CSS entities like 
"content"... they should be "cw_content", etc.

Chris

-- 

Chris Duncan, Ph.D.
President
GISmatters

duncan at GISmatters.com
http://www.gismatters.com/

1 Tuckerman Ln
Amherst, MA 01002

Tel: 413-549-2052
Fax: 508-637-2557