Selecting Mediums and Media Queries

When you are editing a stylesheet, you can select a medium or media query in order to edit settings for it. You can also select a medium or media query when you are viewing or editing a content file. See Mediums and Media Queries.

When Editing a Stylesheet

You can select a medium or media query when editing styles in either the Stylesheet Editor or the Table Style Editor. This lets you place style settings in that medium or media query so that the look and/or behavior is unique for a particular target or screen when the output is generated.

In the Simplified view of the Stylesheet Editor, as well as in the Table Style Editor, selecting a medium or media query does not change the editor, except to indicate the chosen medium or media query in the drop-down field. Whichever medium or media query appears in that field is the one you are changing when you make modifications to styles in the editor.

But if you are working in the Advanced view of the Stylesheet Editor, selecting a medium or media query opens a pane in the editor dedicated to that medium or media query. You then click inside the appropriate pane and make your changes to that medium or media query. In addition, you can have multiple mediums and media queries open at same time. See Multiple Medium View.

How to Select a Medium or Media Query in the Stylesheet Editor (Simplified View)

  1. From the Content Explorer, open the stylesheet that you want to modify.

  2. Click in the Medium drop-down and select the appropriate medium or media query.

  3. Edit the styles for that medium or media query as necessary.

    See Editing Styles in a Regular Stylesheet.

How to Select a Medium or Media Query in the Stylesheet Editor (Advanced View)

  1. From the Content Explorer, open the stylesheet that you want to modify.

  2. Click in the Medium drop-down and select the appropriate medium or media query.

    When choosing a medium/media query from the drop-down, you can click on the check mark or the name of the medium/media query. What happens next depends on how many mediums/media queries are currently open in the editor.

    • If One Medium or Media Query is Open If only one medium/media query is open and you click a check box next to another medium/media query, that second medium/media query will open next to the first one. However, if you select the name of the medium/media query in the drop-down, it will open and the first medium/media query will close.
    • If Multiple Mediums or Media Queries are Open If two or more mediums/media queries are open, the next medium/media query you select will open next to the others. This is true whether you select the check box or the name of the medium/media query.

    When you expand a property group in one medium or media query, the same property group also expands in any others that are open.

    If you make a change in default medium, you see it applied also to the other mediums and media queries, because they inherit whatever is added in the default medium.

    Of course, you can override any inherited property value in a specific medium or media query.

    If you make a change in a non-default medium or in a media query, you see it only in that place.

  3. Edit the styles for that medium or media query as necessary.

    See Editing Styles in a Regular Stylesheet.

How to Select a Medium or Media Query in the Table Style Editor

  1. From the Content Explorer, open the table stylesheet.

  2. Click in the Medium drop-down and select the appropriate medium or media query.

  3. Edit the styles for that medium or media query as necessary.

    See Editing Styles in a Regular Stylesheet.

When Viewing or Editing Content

You can also select a medium or media query in the XML Editor when viewing and editing content.

Mediums and Layout Modes

Flare provides multiple layout modes when working in the XML Editor: Web Layout, Web Layout (Tablet), Web Layout (Mobile), and Print Layout. This lets you see your content in the format that you are most likely concerned about at the moment. See Layout Modes.

The default and print mediums are tied to the Web Layout and Print Layout modes, respectively. The tablet and mobile media queries are tied to the Web Layout (Tablet) and Web Layout (Mobile) modes, respectively.

Example You are using the Web Layout mode, so the XML Editor displays the styles from the default medium. But if you switch to Print Layout mode, the XML Editor automatically displays the styles from the print medium. And if you choose the Web Layout (mobile) mode, the XML Editor adjusts to show the topic as if it were displayed on a mobile device.

The key is to select the layout first. If you select the medium or media query, the layout will not automatically change as well.

How to Select a Medium or Media Query in the XML Editor

  1. Open the content file.

  2. In the local toolbar, click in the Medium drop-down and select the appropriate medium or media query.

    The look of the content changes to reflect the style settings for that medium or media query.

    This feature is simply intended to show you how particular styles make a topic look. By using this feature, you are not telling Flare to use that medium in the output for that topic. The way to do that is to associate the medium with a target.

What’s Noteworthy?

Note To access the mediums and media queries provided by Flare (print, tablet, mobile), you might need to make sure the Hide Inherited option in the local toolbar of the Stylesheet Editor is not selected. However, this is not necessary once you make an explicit change in one of those mediums or media queries; after that, it will show up in the Medium drop-down whether you use the Hide Inherited option or not.

What’s Next?

After you create a medium, and set style properties for it, you need to associate it with a target. You do not need to associate media queries with targets. See Associating a Medium With a Target.