Previously, I wrote about how to convert your solution away from the Classic theme. In this part, I discuss five FileMaker 14-exclusive changes you might want to make while updating your solution. These interface features will add professionalism, usability, and—dare I say?— “glory” to your solutions.
Over time, one collects bits and pieces of knowledge about different corners of development. Features that are a little more difficult to discover, or shortcuts that can help out in a pinch. Some of these nuggets can make developing faster, easier, or more accurate. Here are five helpful features you may or may not already know about, but which I’m thankful we have available.
Many of us who have been working in FileMaker for some time have solutions built on the Classic Theme. “Classic” sounds good, doesn’t it? Who wouldn’t want to build something “Classic?” Well, fellow FileMaker developers, in this case we do want to clear out that old classic, Classic Theme. In this article, find out about a 2-step process to update the meat of your layouts to something leaner, faster, and better-looking than the good old Classic solution you have today.
The fourth in a series on the basics of visual design for FileMaker. Colour is one of the most important elements of a design. Since vision is our most dominant sense, colour has an enormous impact on the feeling of a design. But it’s easy to overdo colour, so use it wisely! Here are some important facts about designing with colour.
When creating a design, choosing colours is one of the most important aesthetic decisions you will make, because it is one of the first things people will notice about it. You have the power to attract or repel users with your use of colour. (I hope you want to attract them, in which case, please read on!) Despite its importance, or maybe because of it, using colour well can be tricky.
Reader David Schellenberg (thanks David!) sent The Pixel Perfect Precision Handbook my way a while ago. It’s a great primer on the major design concepts with a focus on mobile app and web development from design studio ustwo.
Chiyoko Yoshida of chiyofm created a handy little file to help you visualize the changes to layout objects when you apply different themes. Each layout contains all the objects you could possibly style on your FileMaker layouts, such as buttons, tab and slide panels, portals, text, and more. You could use this as a base for a theme development file (see my previous post about working with themes and styles).