Jan’s post on hover images got me thinking about a different, but somewhat related, design challenge I have.
Essentially I want to set up a grid of items (9 total) that all link to specific pages on an upcoming course website. I can currently achieve what I want using Will Woodgate’s Linkbox stack or with his Hover stack.
… however I’d love to use all Foundry stacks as much as possible. Is it currently possible to achieve what I want with some combo of Foundry stacks? The Linkbox stack allows me to put whatever I want inside it and then make the whole combination of things a big link.
The Hover stack is better in that I can put whatever stuff I want in it (like Linkbox), make the whole thing a link, plus have a hover effect when someone mouses over a grid item. You can see examples here on the first row of items in the grid: https://mathewusf.com/storylab2018/learn/
Currently the page is messy and has a bunch of different design fiddles. The website itself doesn’t need to be ready until mid-January.
I’ve played around with Cards and a few other stacks but don’t seem to be able to accomplish a very similar result.
With some further playing around I was almost able to do everything I wanted with Foundry native stacks. I was overlooking the wonderful Backdrop stack with its hovering capabilities. The simple results are here: https://mathewusf.com/storylab2018/learn/
The one thing I was not able to do was to create a link out of the entire combo of stacks within a grid item. Might it be possible to add a link option to the grid item child stacks? Or even to the Backdrop stack? Either option would allow me to accomplish what I want without using non-Foundry stacks.
Or, once again, I may be missing something that’s right in front of my eyes.
The first thing I would say is that if there’s a stack out there that does what you want, don’t shy away from using it. There’s no reason to shun something because it doesn’t come in the Foundry suite of stacks.
That being said, I have some thoughts already on a “link” sort of stack. But there are hurdles there to be looked at thoughtfully. Linking a group of stacks within it would turn all text inside into a link, which often results in changed text color, underlines, etc, depending on your project’s settings. Elegantly working around that and maintaining compatibility with other stacks, like the Control Center, would need to be approached carefully.
I don’t want to add stacks to Foundry just because they don’t already exist within the Foundry suite of stacks.
Actually one reason to work as much with Foundry stacks as possible is the need to open and change projects in a couple of years. Some other stacks might not be around any longer, or will not work with future Rapidweaver/ Stack upgrades. It then takes some time to redo this work. This time lessens with each native Foundry solution we could use…
That could be said about any stack, theme, plugin, application, etc. To me that is not a reason to preclude other stacks for a project.
While Foundry will undoubtedly get more stacks and features as time goes by, whether in the main bundle or via addon packs, it cannot and will not cover every possible type of stack. So if there is a tool out there that does exactly what you need it to do, then make use of that tool. Especially if you need that tool right away.
Adam: Understood. Glad to hear you are considering something like this, even if it does not end up coming to fruition.
BTW, the Backdrop stack is a gem. I did not fully appreciate it at first. And love your recommendation of SubtlePatterns.com in your video. That’s a great resource.
I will take a look at it closer once I return from our trip. Liz and I will be traveling from Oct 22 - 28 so I’ll be sporadically checking email during that time but not coding. After I get back I can devote bit of time to it though.
Thanks. You should thank @Steve_J for the Backdrop stack. It was his original idea that spurred that stacks creation.
