ISO FileMaker Magazine

When it comes to designing a FileMaker layout, there are always subtle tips and tricks that might not be immediately apparent. Whether it's leveraging a graphic to replace multiple layout objects or finding innovative ways to present information in a navigational portal, the possibilities are quite wide.

Regardless of the current state of your layouts, this video unveils various tricks that can further optimize them. Whether your aim is to create layouts with lower maintenance and maximum efficiency, you're bound to discover valuable tips to make this a reality. Tune in to explore these insights and elevate the design of your FileMaker layouts.

While you won't have access to as many visual effects as if you had created a native iOS application, there are still some things you can do and take advantage of with native transitions within FileMaker Go. One of my own recent experiences led to making a dedicated script which enhances the visual appeal of performing a find within a single layout.

In order to gain the advantage of FileMaker Go's native layout transitions, you can use a dedicated layout and script to accomplish some really nice transition effects. It's also a good idea to be familiar with how you can use the Set Layout Object Animation script step in conjunction with Popovers and Sliders.

This video will show you a few solutions to making your FileMaker Go/iOS SDK solution a bit more visually appealing by taking advantage of the native transitions provided by the environment.

As any FileMaker developer will tell you, working with a complex layout can be a bit of a hassle. That is, of course, unless you know how to take full advantage of the Object Inspector palette!

Did you know, it's possible to edit the calculation of a button bar segment without ever double-clicking on the object itself within the layout? Yes, it's not only possible with Button Bars but with most any layout object. And, the best part is this can be done within a few clicks - saving a lot of time from having to select and move heavily layered layouts.

This video will provide you with the insight into how you can not only take maximum advantage of the Object Inspector, but how to save a ton of time by doing so. Whether you're new to FileMaker development or you've been with the platform for decades, there's no excuse for not making it easy on yourself when working with complex layouts.

Designing within FileMaker can either be pretty easy or somewhat hard. There's no exact way to design the look and feel of your solution, but the process of implementing the design can be easier when using FileMaker's grid.

In this video, I talk about the process I use to first determine the size of a layout and then go on to refining its size so it fits within the golden ratio.

Finally, I talk about implementing my use of the grid to make the styling of objects easier and give myself some guidelines which makes the layout process much smoother as the solution grows.

FileMaker themes are simply a collection of the popular CSS standards plus a few extra attributes which are FileMaker specific. Each element on your FileMaker layouts is defined by these CSS settings. They can be seen when extracting them from the clipboard, and if you know the right location to retrieve and store them, can be defined by any enthusiastic developer.

When FileMaker, now Claris, first introduced themes they likely had the intention of allowing users and/or third parties to create their own. In the time since that initial release it may not be as commonly known, but the location still exists and you can certainly create (or modify) your own theme.

The trick is knowing what's required, what can and can't be done and how the CSS translates to the FileMaker UI widgets. Even still, if you can't take the time to learn every single detail, you can still work with a theme which currently exists and simply tweak that theme to fit your specific needs.

In this video I walk through all the specifics related to customizing one of the existing themes. As long and you get the files into the right location with the right values, then you can modify any theme to your heart's content.

Locations to find existing theme files are here.

Macintosh: [MY_DRIVE_NAME]/Applications/FileMaker Pro.app/Contents/Resources/Themes
Windows: C:\Program Files\FileMaker\FileMaker Pro 19\Themes

Locations to store theme files are here.

Macintosh: [MY_DRIVE_NAME]/Users/[USERNAME]/Library/Application Support/FileMaker/Extensions/Themes
Windows: C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local\FileMaker\Extensions\Themes

How easy is it for you to design the user interface of your FileMaker database? Are there any tips you have which makes the process easier? If so, then I would love to hear them!

In this video, I'm providing you with the best information I have about a successful UI design process. It's the opening video to a deep dive about how themes actually work within FileMaker. I start with a blank layout and go over the major areas of what I consider when starting the design of a new database or a re-skin on an existing one.

I cover aspects of layout choice, theme selection and primary navigation. These are three of the biggest decisions you make in the UI process. The rest of the design comes down to the details of the type of solution you are developing.

Sit back and relax and see if there are some valuable insights you can pick up from part 1 of this two part series about UI design within FileMaker.

Over the years I've spent a lot of time working on a wide variety of themes for FileMaker Pro. Many of those themes involve taking advantage of every possible display mechanism which FileMaker portals offer.

When getting started with creating solutions in FileMaker Pro you don't always know what you can take advantage of. When it comes to portals there are a variety of settings and theme aspects which allow you to create some really creative looks. In this video I strive to show you all those hidden features and how they might impact the look of your designs.

With this video, I hope you learn all the little details which make it really fun to create great looking portal designs!

One of the great things about FileMaker Pro is it starts you off with a completely blank slate. One of the bad things about FileMaker Pro is it starts you off with a completely blank slate.

Yep, that's right, there are things in FileMaker's UI which non-intentionally urge you to do things which may not be as helpful in the future. Of course, some of this comes down to learning as much as you can about how things work. Which, is likely why you'll be watching this video.

In this episode, we take a look at FileMaker's themes and styles and how they relate to the Default styles which all layout objects start from. FileMaker defaults to the Default styles and that may not be the best way to start a new layout design. In this video, I answer the question about using the Defaults for your actual design and what you may be missing if you choose to use the Default style within your layouts. Want the most leverage possible? Well, you may need to stop using the Default styles - sort of.

We all love those "Top 10" videos because we know what we're getting into. It's just a list of 10 things right? But it's the best 10 things - right? Ok, well, "best" is possibly relative to what your particular daily workflow is like, but at least there's always something new to learn! Right!

And, that's exactly what this video is about. It's about learning those little time-saving tricks which make it much nicer to work within FileMaker's Layout Mode. Need some incentive to check it out? Here's the first 5 of the top 10 list of what's covered.

#10: Easier cursor selections
#09: Using the Object Inspector
#08: Shortcuts for Align & Resize
#07: Top Object Wins
#06: Know your Parts

Want to know what's covered in the remaining 5? Just watch the video and pick up some new skills!

FileMaker Pro provides a more than capable UI surface in order to design great looking user interfaces. In fact, it's the speed with which you can create that user interface which makes FileMaker Pro so appealing. The great thing about recent releases has been the flexibility of the newer layout objects.

When you combine the utility of sliders, tab panels, popovers and layout mode's various layout parts, you can further extend what you can do within FileMaker by quite a bit.

This video presents the top five tips and tricks you can accomplish with offscreen options possible with both native layout widgets and layout parts. If you're looking to increase what you know about how you can make creative combinations within FileMaker's presentation layer, then look no further!