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A5 inside nice looking web pages

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    A5 inside nice looking web pages

    Hi all,

    I'm not sure how to even search for this or where to search so I'm hoping it's okay to post it here.

    I've seen some really great looking A5 sites that are clearly not designed in A5 but must be using some kind of other software or template to make the professional looking site and then somehow inserting grids/UX etc into it.

    Does anyone have information on how I can try something like that and what drawbacks there were (if any).

    Thanks

    -John

    #2
    Re: A5 inside nice looking web pages

    John

    Can you give some examples of websites you are referring to? Alpha does allow great CSS flexibility if the user has some basic knowledge and patience in exploring options.
    Last edited by gregincolumbus; 10-23-2019, 07:08 PM.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: A5 inside nice looking web pages

      You can theoretically use any html page or template with Alpha.

      Remember that an A5W page is an html page that can access the Alpha web server. If you take the raw html from a third party web template, or a page you design yourself, you can paste that html into an A5w page, and then leverage Alpha's capabilities.

      You can drop components into these augmented A5W pages and have the best of both Alpha and the third party page.

      Hope this helps.
      Jay
      Jay Talbott
      Lexington, KY

      Comment


        #4
        Re: A5 inside nice looking web pages

        I'd like to see the A5 website referred to as well. I know that Greg has created one of the best I've seen and all with Alpha. Tracy from MySchoolAnywhere was also gifted at getting an Alpha site to look great.

        I've integrated Alpha into some WrapBootStrap templates... but it is not a drop in process. You must pick through the template removing bits and pieces you don't need... a very tedious and often dangerous process as it's extremely easy to break a WrapBootStrap page.

        Overall, I think that html and css talent is a requirement.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: A5 inside nice looking web pages

          Thanks for the replies.

          I was in one of the Wednesday (I think) webinars that Dave and Dion do (or used to do) weekly and Dion showed an application he was working on that used a web template with A5 grids "dropped" in. I think also on one of Steve Wood's webinars on Friday's someone showed an application that looked, to me at least, like it was a web template with A5 girds and UX's. I think I remember a demo of MySchoolAnywhere at one of Steve's webinars too. My memory isn't what it was.

          Jay, I bought a video by you on integrating Xara andA5 several years ago. I was using Xara 7 back then and have never upgraded. Do you know if the newer versions of Xara still works with A5 and if it's worth upgrading? or do you recommend finding a website I like copy-paste the HTML and go from there?

          -John

          Comment


            #6
            Re: A5 inside nice looking web pages

            I have not kept up with Xara, so your research would yield the same as mine would.
            You could certainly try the the copy-paste technique your suggested.
            Jay
            Jay Talbott
            Lexington, KY

            Comment


              #7
              Re: A5 inside nice looking web pages

              Here is a brief screencast of one page in my website that uses some custom CSS but is 100% Alpha.

              https://www.screencast.com/t/CipFYpaKf6

              I created a stylesheet and use the linked css file option the properties area of the UX so that I can access the stylesheet easily throughout my website. I am still experimenting (latter part of the video) in using W3 Css stylesheet in addition to the one I created.

              I would consider my CSS skills to be novice but with some persistence I was able to make a site built in Alpha not look like the typical Alpha website. Always room for improvement but it is definitely not cookie-cutter.

              Comment


                #8
                Re: A5 inside nice looking web pages

                regarding Xara, I've built a number of sites using their tool with imbedded Alpha components (grids and UX). I'm currently using Xara 11 Premium. I've found two things to be careful with when using Xara and Alpha
                1) Page height doesn't adjust automatically. Result is Xara footers don't move up/down automatically based on the number of rows being displayed. I either set it up for the grid/list to have a max number to display, or I simply render the footer from the Alpha component instead of setting it up in Xara. Either way, this becomes a design and behavior decision
                2) Responsive behavior isn't as smooth as it should be on mobile phones. The responsiveness is great when the pages are run outside of the Alpha WAS. But when the page is run from the Alpha WAS, the sizing can get off kilter a little bit when switching between landscape and portrait modes.
                Here's a couple of sites I built using the Alpha/Xara combo
                https://cornellshuron.com
                https://www.axlesurgeons.com

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: A5 inside nice looking web pages

                  Oh wow, thanks for the responses. Jay, thanks, I might try to see what happens in their new versions. Greg, that looks nice and clean, I like it. David, great stuff. These are the things I was asking about, my pages look like crap and this has given me a shot in the arm to try both the CSS and try again with Xara.

                  Thanks a lot.

                  -John

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: A5 inside nice looking web pages

                    I used to build all of my websites using a builder like many people, also WordPress - now I find it pretty simple to build a responsive site in AS. The biggest hurdle was placement of parts and the structure and that is where the CSS and the Style are most important, especially since designing for web apps that are also used by those on mobile devices.
                    Here are a couple of screenshots from a racing app I am working on for fun.
                    Red4424_Login2.JPG
                    Login
                    profilesetings.JPG
                    Expanded-Menu: Settings
                    weightset.JPG
                    ipad-horizontal
                    weightset-ipad.JPG
                    vertical-ipad
                    weightset-iphone.JPG
                    and finally an iphone vertical

                    the last 3 images are all the same panel-card with minimal usage of auto-collapse. The point is, while visual builders make it easy to "place" items in todays world those visual builders just dont seem to have the same abilities that AS has in terms of cross-platform builds. You can place things about anywhere with the proper layout and the chrome debugger will help you "see" it to make those adjustments you might more easily do in a visual builder.
                    NWCOPRO: Nuisance Wildlife Control Software My Application: http://www.nwcopro.com "Without forgetting, we would have no memory at all...now what was I saying?"

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: A5 inside nice looking web pages

                      Hi Charles,

                      Thanks for the advice. Looks good too!

                      -John

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: A5 inside nice looking web pages

                        You can use any tool to create HTML/CSS for AA. First, you have to find a page designer that will export a site to clean HTML/CSS files. You'll want to pick a tool that will define a common <header> and <footer> section. This way you can use that code to create a common "template" as a wrapper for your a5w pages. One of the tools we have used is called "nicepage". It has a free trial and you would use the HTML version of the tool (they also have Wordpress, Joomla, etc.). Image shows our AlphaCORE site (haven't been able to finish yet due to other projects) and it uses this process. I can detail it out for you if you want. You can also populate sections of a page by using database content. Anyway, it's all possible and you can create really nice looking AA apps. If you want more details just contact me directly and I can assist you. I'm showing this image because AlphaCORE has a content management system (when available) built in which allows you to easily incorporate any html design. But, I don't have a solid release date on it, so you are on your own for now. But I can help you with the basic setup if you want.

                        Please note other pages aren't ready on that site - do not register and all that - please.
                        Attached Files
                        Last edited by WebDesignShop; 11-02-2019, 12:46 PM.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: A5 inside nice looking web pages

                          Hi Sean,

                          Thanks for the reply. I'll go take a look at Nicepage and try it out.

                          -John

                          Comment

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