Button question

[bwood]

I’d like to form a nav bar using separate buttons. If I put a number of buttons in a row, can I soft group them all, and do a “repeat on all pages”
I reckon the short question is can you soft group, a soft group.

I rather like making my own navs.

Thanks all.
- Bill

[Acorn]

Bill, you can.

Why not try a quick mockup.
I do this all the time.

Acorn

[gwpriester]

Bill - This is a very old example but each of these menu buttons is a separate button http://gwpriester.com/menu-test/ and all done with layers.

If you can imagine it, you can do it.

[bwood]

Thanks @acorn and @gwpriester. I’ll mess with a mock up.

[Acorn]

Bill, here is the logic as to why it will work.

A roll-over button requires a shape or group to be on the MouseOver (MOver) layer with an adjacency, an overlap of 50% with the shape or group on the MouseOff (MOff) layer with the MOff one having a Link.
When two Text Objects use the same prose, Xara threw in some Magic Pixie Dust that when they are Soft-Grouped, altering one also alters the other.

That is the essence of a rollover button: linked, near-adjacent, identical texts that are soft-grouped.
MOvr is normally hidden, so this is perfect as when you move a button, you don't need to move its invisible MOver fraternal twin (fraternal as the text can have other effects applied like a grouped shape).
I have found if you have a different MOver Link then the MOff Link dominates; the MOver Link is never applied and although it appears to have a Link in the design, the link colour is not presented either in the browser.

Xara had some left-over Magic Pixie Dust that allows you to link the change in H or V sizes of the text, grows or shrinks the grouped blob, the Stretchy Button.

The same applies to buttons with a MouseDown Layer component.

You can only have one Soft Group for any collection.
If you have a clutch of rollover buttons then when you soft-group them all together, you still satisfy the above criteria.
This equally applies for a Repeat on all pages and Live Copies.

Acorn