A quick status report from the CoffeeCup labs on this latest build. The team has been laser focused tweaking this app to perfection. We did some bug squashing, added new tricks and pumped it up with some promised goodies. Here are the highlights:
Savory Themes
Going into the theme chooser, you’ll find 5 new looks. We recommend exploring their settings to learn new tricks. Each theme includes interactive components such as a responsive navigation created with the Toggler. Open the Attributes section on the Design pane to see how they have been built or go here to learn more about this handy feature.
Changing the visibility of these components happens on the Inspector pane. Use the eye icons in the tree to toggle visibility or toggle them all together with the checkbox. Please take note that the actual click interaction of these components (menus, modals, dropdowns...) takes place in the browser. Use the Preview on… icon to play with them.
Symbols are components that are kept in sync across the project, and we used them in various ways. The theme footers usually provide a good example.
Ultimate Unit Switcher
Now this is huge — you can now control the units of measurements on the fly!
Each unit has strengths and weaknesses for a given situation. For example, layout elements work great with percentages as they can adapt based on the available width. While working with margins and padding you may want to use EM so you can space out your elements relative to the size of your text…but sometimes you want to use fixed dimensions and use pixels. Behold the powerful unit switcher!
Visual designers will totally dig the VW option for fluid typography that resizes smoothly based on the device width and not just at a breakpoint. What to use when? It really depends on the design problem you’re addressing — in the end, it will come down to making miles with the app and building design experience.
And then there is more good stuff in this release...
- Fresh in-app tips added. These pointers will put you on the road to Foundation-domination.
- We took the max-width leash off the Rule element so it can stretch out 100%.
- We caught the auto-save feature bullying the color-picker. Now the two live in harmony.
- The Button Link Image and Button Link Icon elements have been spiced up with typography controls. Configure the align, wrapping, indent spacing, letter spacing and word spacing.
- Beautify the Font Icon and the Font Icon Link elements with multiple text-shadows.
- Want to duplicate a subgrid row? Or maybe copy and paste it elsewhere? We don’t even know why this was not possible before but BOOM, now you have it!
- For your convenience, you can now glide through the project’s pages using keyboard shortcuts. These new commands are listed under the Pages menu.
- We also made sure the app would hold your place when cycling through pages. Maintaining the current breakpoint mode and slider position is more important than we thought...
- OS X users, you'll be happy to hear we stopped the hiccup that occurred when doubling clicking a Text element. A little seltzer fixed that up.
- We also did some fine-tuning to the backend, and then a bit more!
Don’t delay, swing by your account to download this free update today.
Learn the essentials with these tips on Site Designer. You'll be making epic, code-free responsive sites like a boss.
