Character layouts
Cast of Characters supports different densities and designs of characters. Some projects need a lot of room for each character and some just need a little space. There are options for all.
Layouts are set in the top spreadsheet tab as character_layout (for all characters) or in the categories tab (to make category-by-category choice).
The possible values for character_layout are:
defaultmediumwidecardcard_reversecard_side_by_sidecard_side_by_side_reverse
Default layout
The default layout for characters is very flexible and should handle most situations. As space allows, you will get as much as three to four characters across on larger screens.
Example: Most influential Black people in sports
Medium layout
For when you need a little extra room. The columns in the medium layout are a little wider. Generally, you will get two across.
Example: Blue Wall of Silence
Wide layout
This will display in a single column on all devices. This layout is good for those times when you have a lot to say about each character
Example: Jan. 6 rioters
Card layout
The card layout comes in two flavors: Flip-card and side-by-side.
A radically different layout is the card design. Inspired by sports cards and social media images, this design features a large visual element and text, and can be flipped over (with a tap/click) to reveal more facts and figures. Like other layouts, a theme_color can be set per character by adding a theme_color column.
Configuraing a card layout
In the top tab, set the character_layout to one of the following options:
| Layout | Result |
|---|---|
card |
The visual side will be displayed first, and the user can click/tap on it to flip the card over. |
card_reverse |
The same interactive flip-card presentation, but the text side is visible by defaut. Readers can click/tap to see the visual side. |
card_side_by_side |
The two sides are layout out side-by-side, with the visual portion slightly more prominent than the text portion. |
card_side_by_side_reverse |
Side-by-side, but the two halves switch places. |
Each card layout option is detailed below with more, well, details.
The visual side
The same paradigm for data organization used in the primary layouts applies here, too. Information should go into the characters spreadsheet tab, each in its own column. The cards use that same column configurations, too.
name: Appears in the usual spot, above the caracter/outside the card. This is a configurable option.title: Appears alongside the name.image: The visual side of the card features this promintenly.description: Large display text on top of the visual. About 70-100 total characters will fit. Bolded text will display the theme color.
The text side
Bullets, blurb and links are supported, just like the other character layouts.
Card-specific options
There are a few options to customize the appearance of cards. These are set in the spreadsheet top tab:
| Key | Purpose | default |
|---|---|---|
character_layout |
If set to card, then the flip card layout appears. If set to card-reverse, then the flip card with the text first is used. |
default |
card_image_mask |
If set to no, then the semitransparent overlay is ommited from the image. |
yes |
card_name_position |
If set to card, then the name, kicker, title and badge will move from the default position above the card onto the visual face of the card. In this case, the name will replace the description column, which normally would display there. |
above |
card_text_alignment |
If set to bottom, the display text on the card's visual side will align to the bottom, as opposed to the center of the display space. |
centered |
This version uses card for the card_name_position, so the name and title appear on the visual card.
Example of this layout style: Meet the Teams: USA, Mexico and Canada
Side-by-side card layout
This is a variant of the flipcard layout, but without the interactivity. Basically the same as the flip-card, but both sides of the card are simulataneously visible. This card layout supports all the same options as described above.
