I’ve been trying with Sparkle for some time, I really like the software, like the idea of it, and appreciate how responsive Duncan always is with advice.
Around version 3 I gave up and used Wordpress. Seeing the new version of Sparkle I bought it, and have been trying for weeks - literally - to set up a simple, personal site to let people know how to find me, a site that works on a desktop and a phone: so far I’ve failed. Edit: But then I finally understood: it’s all about Layers and having them properly ordered in Layout Blocks. It works really well. Still a lot of fiddling but having understood this I understand better - not completely - what’s going on. So I’ll delete the rest of this. And thank you all for your suggestions. Of course I still have questions but I’ve now got the basic working and can publish soon.
Layout Blocks? This invention is new and does not appear in the video. Maybe they are the disruptive factor. Maybe they are not. You could start from scratch without Layout Blocks. You can generate them afterwards.
I understand your frustration, I’ve been through that as well. It’s a bug in the latest version of Sparkle 5. Make sure you have the latest version of Sparkle installed. If you do, I suggest waiting a bit for the latest bugs to be fixed and regularly checking for any new updates. Sparkle without bugs is so much better than Wordpress that I think it’s worth the wait!
Thanks for your reply. It is desperate indeed. I just looked again at what I’ve done and again it’s a mess.
I do use styles wherever possible - as I do with Pages, etc. Layout blocks should stack in order. They sometimes don’t. And I don’t understand why the app inserts spaces in the transition, or why it sometimes stacks elements in a seemingly random manner. This is what I find both bewildering and frustrating.
I’m giving some thought to starting again. I’ve already done that once. Perhaps problems are caused by copying elements instead of creating them fresh? I don’t know. Oh, how I wish there were savable styles for boxes and buttons!
Thanks. I do have the latest version and yes, Sparkle is worlds away from Wordpress, but it seems to me this has always been a lack. It’s why I gave up and went to the dark place before and why I’m trying to get back. And I’m sure it must be very complex under the hood and require a great deal of time and resources. But I don’t see the point of making a site look pretty on a desktop and then have it not work on a phone.
I need to revise my site but I suppose I can work on what’s there and wait to get things better here. What’s compelling about Sparkle is that it feels inviting and personal to use. I’d rather keep that, too.
I think I’ve understood! Fingers crossed. What matters is that layers need to be kept together to translate properly. This seems to be the crucial issue and if it’s done then the layout blocks work as they should and I can stop cursing. That can be done by dragging the layers into order in the Layers Panel.
@Mr_Fozzie The only outstanding problem is that somehow a layer labeled blog post 2 got entangled in a page and I can’t delete it though I have deleted the blog and its index.I’ve even tried to delete the layout block that contains it and it won’t do it. Any ideas? I will redo the page if necessary but perhaps I’m overlooking something obvious.
For your other issue, perhaps duplicating your project will resolve the problem. Feel free to send your broken project for them to fix the bugs. To do that, you can go to the top menu, select “Help” and then choose “Send Current Document as Feedback”
With a blog I can not really help. I do not use this actively, but only to experiment and test the possibilities.
I see it this way: a blog is a small organism within the website, which should be kept separate. So create a section and a subfolder where you place all posts.
So much has already been written about this that I won’t repeat it here.
I was having the same problem. I reduced the frequency of the problem by working the desktop layout. saving the site, working the tablet layout, saving the site, then working the phone layout, then saving the site. while I still get some adjusting needed, I’ve been happy with my progress on my own site recently.
