How do we explain what Nucleus is all about? The simple answer is go play with it. Before you do that, there are a couple of features we really must explain, not that they are difficult but rather exciting.
A delightful user interface
Forget the old clunky interfaces you are used to when working with many DotNetNuke modules. We took advantage of the latest the web has to offer and created a UI that makes you feel at home and comfortable right from the start.
See your changes live
Once you change a value in the Nucleus editor, with your mouse or keyboard, you will see the effect of your change in real time. It's like a game but don't get carried away, it can be addictive. Most importantly Nucleus will help you achieve the result you want in very little time.
What is Inspection?
Have ever used Firebug or other browser-based development consoles? If so, you will be familiar with the term inspection. Nucleus lets you inspect and select the skin section or container you want to edit with just one click.
To change the appearance of a specific container, all you have to do is fire up Nucleus, click inside that container and the appropriate Nucleus editor will be displayed. The editor displayed will containe all the options available for the selected container.
Colours are great!
Colours are very important in web design and as such, are treated with respect in Nucleus. Version 1.0 features two colour tools; Color Picker and Color Buddy.
Color Picker, as in Photoshop or any other graphics editing application, will help you select colours with your mouse. In combination with Live Preview, Color Picker will help you choose colours quickly and efficiently.
Color Buddy is a nifty tool that remembers the colours in use in any given Nucleus editor and lets you reuse them with a simple click. This feature avoids constant copy & paste. With a double-click in any color field, Color Buddy will list all colors currently in use in a simple palette.
Getting Smart with Smart fields
All fields in Nucleus editors that accept numeric CSS values, such as padding, margin, border width etc., can be updated using the arrows or the plus and minus on your keypad. This also works for multiple numeric values in a single field making shorthand CSS a breeze.
The future ...
We have many features we would like to add to Nucleus, but before we do so, we need to hear from you. If you think something important is missing or you have any ideas on how we can improve or expand Nucleus, please post in our forums or send us an email. There is a good chance that your idea could be implemented in the next Nucleus version.