I know that this has been a known issue from previous threads, but most recently in July so permit me to ask again…
When you amend something in a Master Page and then update components, the content of editable areas on existing child pages reverts to the blanks on the Master Page.
This does not seem to be to be useful behaviour, and restricts the utility of a Master Page simply to being the template for a new page. I have to remove the Master Page data-pgc-define from the html statement immediately after creaton of a child page for fear of losing everything I then do to it.
This seems absurd. I must be doing it wrong. Can anyone help me how clrrectly to proceed? What is the point of the current Master Page?
Components (master pages) with “editable areas” is a description that covers too many different possibilities to be a useful topic of discussion.
i’ve seen this behavior too and it took some trial and error to figure out what was wrong.
in my case, i needed to use Components/Update the whole project in conjunction with File/Save All to make sure all my changes were propagating as expected.
Then it was a matter of defining my EDITABLE AREAS so that i’m only allowing changes to the details i want to to be different on each child page regarding that element.
if you choose [x ] Inner content, then everything about the element is ignored by the update, and you have to go to each page and make the change manually.
if you want to retain the ability to update the element but preserve certain modifications in the child pages (like page H1 header names, or current page classes), then you uncheck this box and only allow child pages to have different class names or background images, etc… everything else about the element will be updated when you update the mater page.
all of this works exactly the same with components, so really a master page is just another component.
i would not add/modify/delete any of the pg_ stuff used by PG as these can all be controlled via the ACTIONS tab.
there really needs to be a master class tutorial that covers all the ACTIONS tab features and their utility for maintaining a website. its seems like there are a lot of powerful options, but it’s not clear what they all do, or how they are used, and in what context… the little [?] boxes only seem to take me in circles in the tutorial pages.
Appreciate very much your reply, and I’ve had a go but sadly cannot do any better.
It was useful to be pointed to the ‘Inner content’ box, which I had ignored.
But I am very unclear what this means
"Ignore inner content. = If I am checked, the content inside this element on child pages will be ignored when the master page is updated. "
or
“Update inner content = If I am checked, the content inside this element on child pages will be updated when the master page is updated”
I have experimented both ways and the effect is the same, the child content gets wiped out when the master page is updated.
I have not got into the effect on classes etc: if the content gets removed then styling is academic.
this sound very familiar, like being stuck in a loop…
one of the problem i encountered was that update components would not trigger the UI to indicate the child page had been changed, so saving it early and often became a reflex for me… if u get the little popup notification, that means it had changes that needed to be saved whether u knew it or not.
the next thing i did was strip out ALL the editable area set ups and update all pages while they where OPEN, and then save them to make sure all the child pages were exactly like the master page… you will lose all customization, but is sounds like this is where you are at anyway.
in your case, since you have manually fiddled with the pg_xxxx attributes, i would scrub all fragments and leftovers from your pages (including the master) to be sure there’s not some conflict going on. test each are you plan to make editable by changing something trivial on the master (like misspell a label or change a p) to make sure the master is propagating as it should, and you are saving as you should.
once that is working as expected, just pick some element and make the whole thing editable (i.e. give it a unique name and check the box)… be sure to choose the correct editable area from the ACTIONS tab, there are 2 and i got those mixed up on more than one occasion… you want the on that gives you the options for inside the element.
if you have components on a master page (nested situation)… like say a nav menu, you need to be sure and set that to “don’t update” because for some reason updating the master page will go and update that too and screw things up even further… i think for my nav i just gave up and said it’s no longer a component, just copy the code.
come to think of it… i should ask… are the part that keep resetting unexpectedly, are they areas of a component that you are using on your master page?
my experience is that those are not manageable from the master page, you likely need to manage them from the component… which is partly why i gave up on it… too many balls in the air at one time for me to keep strait.
As you suspected the fault lay in my master page.
I set up a barebones master page and child page, with two editable areas, one with Inner Content checked and one unchecked.
Updating the master page now worked, with the changes refled to the child page, and the area within the first editable area remaining untouched. This proved that the master page works as I would expect.
Returning to my working page I removed all code relating to editable areas and master pages and reset it as a master page.
It now works - more or less. I at least am please it has stopped deleting my work on the childpage. I am struggling slightly to make changes to the Master always produce the orange circle asking me to update a component, and have yet to fully work out the sequence of Update and Save but I can see its possible.
I have yet to experiment with the use of Components within a Master page, as I dont need to do it.
Thanks again for your help
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Three years later and I’m still having this problem. Back then I just gave up and made the entire Head editable. Now I need to update the Google Analytics code on 1600 pages and figured I’d try again.
I first took off the PG code for the Head.
Then I set up editable areas in the head of my master page such as Title, Description, etc. but the moment I update components in a new open page all of that meta data is overwritten by what is on the Master page.
Thank goodness I didn’t do a sitewide component update.
I’ve followed the very clear directions on Master Pages | Pinegrow Web Editor
What am I doing wrong?