Style wizard saves user layer properties in alphabetical order

[zvi]

Title:
Style wizard saves user layer properties in alphabetical order

Area:
styles

Summary:
The styles wizard should save the user layer properties in alphabetical order. This will make the layer easier to deal with if a human should wish to amend or examine it.

Description:
I imagine that the first toe tip a person puts into manipulating the styles system will be at the user layer level, either manipulating it directly or examining it for insight into how the styles system works. (An easy way to create a theme layer, for instance, is to choose all the settings in the style wizard and then copy the relevant portions to a new theme layer. Finding the relevant portions is very hard, though.)

Currently, the human readability of the file is hampered because it's very difficult to figure out whether a particular property exists in the file or where it might be in the file if it is there.

While alphabetical is not generally the ideal way to organize a large amount of hierarchical data, the styles team has done an excellent job of naming properties in core2. Alphabetization will lend a reasonable proxy for ontology, and, if new properties are added, they will slot into the existing properties in a comprehensible way.

The first potential drawback is that it might be expensive to make the wizard do this.

The second drawback is that it may encourage people to manipulate their user layers in the layer editor and lose their customizations when they change something via the wizard. This is (a) frustrating and (b) impossible to reverse.

Poll #1082 Style wizard saves user layer properties in alphabetical order

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 20

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
7 (35.0%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
0 (0.0%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
0 (0.0%)

(I have no opinion)
13 (65.0%)

(Other: please comment)
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[triadruid]

Are you talking about alphabetizing the user layers or the functions/CSS within each layer?

[zvi]

The properties within an individual user layer. The wizard sets about a gazillion properties, and that's what I'm proposing alphabetizing.

[triadruid]

Since I have a Free account, can you explain if DW then later allows the user to tweak the user layer? I'd hate to rearrange it to my liking, then have the wizard go back in later and helpfully rearrange everything alphabetically, rather than contextually.

[zvi]

Yes, you can tweak the user layer by hand, but the wizard does make changes if you later work with the wizard.

I honestly don't remember if it reorders anything. The way the wizard is set up now, the properties are not set in any order I can discern, and it's never been worth it to me to fix them and see what happens.