Is it possible to force custom CSS to apply to shared dynalist links?
Not currently possible to share custom CSS in shared Dynalist links 
I think it does well to post this here, since searching “CSS Sharing” in this context essentially pulls up this topic…
And I apologize to the veterans here, but I think newbies do well to have this spelled out (better) somewhere, so here’s my stab at it…
I got stuck on this in the beginning, and it does not seem very well explained in the basic documentation, and one may have to piece it all together hunting and pecking through the DList forums and internet, so, having spent too much time on this myself, I hope some newbies to DList may find this helpful, and thank you to merry for having posted this to begin with…
Hopefully the detail here is more helpful than laborious (its a bit long).
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Some Important DynaList Sharing + Viewing Concepts
— Essentially —
You can customize DList viewing (the view/render/way it appears) either within your account (while logged in) using custom CSS that DList lets you ‘install’ OR via custom CSS styling that you can apply within your browser (for free). You do not natively see how other’s style their DList Docs/Entries that are shared to you (or the public), but it is possible to do so, and its very easy.
— DList CSS Stying Custom View Option —
- So into the weeds we go… DList views (what’s rendered onscreen) are very very customizable using universal CSS styling code. A Custom CSS feature is available in the Pro Version of DList (free to tryout in the beginning). In the settings there is a place for you to type in (‘install’) your custom CSS. Your custom CSS is applied to your DList while logged in and viewing, whether online, or in any of the DList apps.
— Where and How to See DList Custom Styed Views —
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Natively, you only see CSS styling that you apply/install in your own ‘DList settings’ …in your own DList, including any other DList Docs/Entries you may copy into your own Dlist, and…
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Initially, you must be logged into your DList in order to view your installed CSS styling. This includes logging in via any DList app and/or on the web via web browser. (There are some other options discussed later.)
— Sharing Scenarios —
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To share a Dlist Entry or Document, you create a weblink to it from within your Dlist, and you send that link to a recipient.
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If you share a link to a sub-entry it will point to its page, however, the recipient will have access to the whole Document containing the entry.
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A Folder containing DList documents is not directly sharable, however, you can crosslink documents and then sharing one (appears to) makes them all shared via the single linked-to Doc.
— DList Access & Styling Scenarios —
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Initially, Shared Dlist Documents/Entries are viewed by recipients Only via a web browser, via the link shared out to them,
AND -
A shared Doc/Entry linked from someone else will not be viewed ‘utilizing their customizations’ .
AND -
If you are logged into your DList account and viewing via web browser, your custom DList CSS styling will be applied to any DList (link doc/entry) that you open. (I have not fully verified this, but seems to be the case)
AND -
If you are not logged in and are viewing via web browser, any DList Doc/Entires will be rendered in the default DList format (but you can still change this -more later).
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If you use “Copy to my Dynalist” tool, the selected Doc/Entry will be copied into your DList and will be displayed and rendered there according to the access and styling scenarios above.
=== Further, and Free, Custom Styling Option ===
NOW, Understanding the Various DList Styling scenarios…
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BECAUSE anyone can easily apply Custom CSS styling in any web browser** for any web pages visited on the web, THEREFORE, ANY DList can be viewed in a custom manner BY ANYONE.
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**Its so easy, a caveman can do it, which means its easy to facilitate others to see and experience your Shared DList stuff the way you intend it to be.
(I think the folks at DynaList don’t realize that not everyone knows this -us developers tend to take these sorts of things for granted)… -
AND SO, BECAUSE of this universal capability, FREE TOOLS ARE AVAILABLE to help you easily share your CSS customizations with anyone. A popular one, and you see folks discuss it here all the time, is “Stylish”. Personally I use Stylus because its open source (more reliable from a security standpoint).
!! With custom styles installed, you can view any DList the way it is intended to be rendered. You can choose different styles for different lists. You can tweak anything.
IMPORTANTLY, some people may use Custom CSS to affect/create certain functionality and/or tools in their Dynalist Documents. Sharing Custom CSS is the only way to share these tools.
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It is beyond the scope of the intended help post here to explain the finer details/options/methods available, but essentially, here’s an example of what you can do…
… 1) Create your DList CSS styles and install them.
… 2) Upload them (for sharing) to a popular “Style Sharing” facility online. The most popular one is UserStyles.Org. Just open an account there and you can post your code online for anyone to retrieve via a shared link.
… 3) Send a link for your uploaded styles to your intended recipient, along with instructions on how to (in this case) download and install your Styles, along with Stylish, into their browser. It takes about 1 minute.
Lots of other ways to do this, but hopefully this all makes sense now.
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Note to admins:
Without proper documentation I had to spend way too much time on figuring this out, and I almost ditched DList because this was a huge roadblock (to viable usage) until I did. And its so simple, and touched on all over the place in various ways, but simply not explained comprehensively anywhere that I could find. I had to hit all the roadblocks to suss them out on my own.
So shame on you for not explaining this better in the documentation. It would go a long way toward bolstering marketability of your product! …doncha know?
Personal Note:
::sigh:: Thought I had to bail on this sweet product, and I really didn’t want to. Its got great organization, simplicity & depth*, flexibility, and seems like a spirited dev team and community (big plus).
Sharing effectively is important (if one is offering a sharing feature). *The only other major drawback I see now is the lack of ancestor search filtering (since has been added!). I understand its a challenge to code, but a professional app (even for personal use) has to have this because you cannot presume to have deep search filtering when it simply breaks past the immediate parent! IMHO, Dynalist will be more practical for extensive/deep use, and then even for more serious teams/collaboration consideration, when it achieves this feature.
However, because I otherwise love this project so far, I’m gonna see if I can work around it for now…, but its messy and laborious without ancestor filtering muscle, and if the lists start getting really large, that’ll push us to jump ship.
Just my Two-Sense ;^)
If you have a comment/suggestion, I will update the above post as I am able.
What do you mean about ancestor filtering? The is a parent:value operator. Is that what you need?
Good day, Kenneth. Check it out at the link below. They just added it!
https://talk.dynalist.io/t/please-consider-adding-ancestor-element-to-facilitate-simpler-deeper-searches/
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