In this chapter, you will write a very basic Klip by following the standard steps of Klip development. You will start off by simply pointing to the sample data source on a web server and displaying some of its contents in the Klip. After that, you will be adding some of the commonly used XML parameters and stylesheet properties to complete the Klip.
Though there are numerous template and sample Klips included in Klipfolio Dashboard Developer Edition, it is worthwhile using a blank Klip if this is your first time developing a Klip. It will help you better understand how the addition of various elements in the Klip impacts its behaviour.
Click the button in the toolbar and select . Or, you can use the keyboard shortcut, .
A new blank Klip is added to the dashboard.
Note some of the default Klip behaviours before you start updating its source code:
You haven't specified the Klip's icon, so the default newspaper icon is displayed. This image is bundled in the application.
The title bar is displaying its file name because the Klip's title hasn't been specified in its source.
The Klip doesn't have access to its data source, so the entire Klip appears dimmed. In Klipfolio Dashboard, this state is referred to as the Klip being in a "stale" state.
It is a good idea to rename the Klip file at this stage — if you keep adding blank Klips to the dashboard, each added Klip will be saved as blank_klip1.klip, blank_klip2.klip, etc., and it can get confusing very quickly. To get to the file, use the dashboard's toolbar.
Select Open > Open my Klips folder from the toolbar, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+O.
The Windows Explorer opens to a folder called myklips. This is where all of your Klips are saved, whether they are hidden or displayed in the dashboard itself. You will notice that this is a sub-folder of the Klipfolio Dashboard Developer Edition folder.
Klipfolio Dashboard users have a folder called Klipfolio Dashboard instead, but its sub-folders are structured exactly the same as in the Developer Edition. However, they can only get to it by entering %appdata% in the Windows Explorer address bar or by using the Windows Start menu.
Rename the blank_klip.klip file to something that represents this Klip better, such as basic.klip. Be sure to use .klip as its file extension, as files with any other extension are ignored and are not loaded in the dashboard.
The renamed Klip file is automatically reloaded into the dashboard.
