Cloner Element

The cloner is a useful tool that's used to quickly build menus from hotspots, translations and more.

To clone an element (like a text box or node image), select the cloner element
from the toolbar, then draw around the element to be cloned.

Cloners can be expanded and worked on in isolation from the rest of the skin.
Double-click the cloner to expand. When expanded, a breadcrumb menu appears. To
get back to the skin, click Skin.

Expanded Cloner
Expanded Cloner

Cloner


Clone Direction


Choose the direction in which the cloned elements will repeat. Choose from:

  • Horizontal – Clones content horizontally. Cloning will be indefinite.

  • Vertical – Clones content vertically. Cloning will be indefinite.

  • Single Row – Clones content horizontally but the cloning will end at the
    boundaries of its parent.

  • Single Column – Clones content vertically but the cloning will end at the
    boundaries of its parent.

  • Invert – Select to invert the direction of the cloned elements. For
    horizontal, the default is from left to right. Select Invert to change this
    from right to left. Likewise, for a vertical cloner, the default is from top
    to bottom. Invert will change the direction of the cloned elements from bottom
    to top.

  • Invert Clone Order – Available when Invert is selected. Select to invert
    the clone order. The order of the cloned contents depends on the Clone Source.

    For Nodes, the order comes from the Tour Browser.

    For Table, the order is based on the table rows.

    For Floor Plans, the order is from the list in the
    Tour Map.

    For Hotspots, the order is from List View.

    For Translations, the order is from the Translation table.

Auto Size – Select to have the cloner adapt to the size of the cloned
instance (rather than the size of the cloner itself).

Center in Parent – Available for Single Row and Single Column clone
directions. Use this option to center cloned elements in the parent to build a
paging cloner (instead of a sliding or scrolling cloner).

Transition


When Auto Size is selected, then Transition will be available. Select
Enable to have a transition from one sized element to another.

★ Tip  Auto Size and Transition can be used for accordion menus. When Transition is selected, the opening and closing of submenus will be animated.
  • Time – Enter the length of the transition.

Horizontal and Vertical


Use this setting to set how the cloner will repeat. The setting will change
depending on the chosen clone direction in the settings above. If the clone
direction is Horizontal, then this setting will be Vertical, and vice versa.
Enter a value for the number of columns (or rows). Or in case pixels or
percentage is chosen, how much of the parent element should be used in that
direction.

Source: Node


The nodes in the tour will be used to create cloned instances.

Elements of the cloned instances will then get their data from each tour node.
For instance node images will show an image for each node, text boxes that
display user data will get their data from the cloned node, etc.

  • Filter – Filter by
    tags.
    Only nodes that have the chosen tags will be used in the cloner.

    • Inherit filter tags from parent cloner – If the current cloner is nested
      (a child of another cloner), you can choose to have the cloner use the same
      filtered tags as its parent.
  • Active Node – Select Scroll to view to always have the active node in
    view.

Source: Table


The titles and tags used in the table below will be used to clone instances.

✭ Cloners that use a table type will also have triggers for use in
logic blocks.

  • Filter – Filter by
    tags.
    Only nodes that have the chosen tags will be used in the cloner.

Use the table to manually define tags and titles. This will group nodes based on
their assigned tags to create menu groups or categories.

For example, you might want to create a menu that has a category for each floor
of a building. In this case, every node on the first floor might have a tag
like, floor1 and every node on the second floor would have floor2 as the
tag. Using the table, we can create two sub-menus; one for the first floor and
one for the second. For the first floor, select the floor 1 tag and add the
title, First Floor. There will now be a menu category for all nodes tagged
with floor1 and the menu title will be First Floor.

★ Tip  For more flexibility in menu ordering, right-click a tag to insert a tag above the selected one.

The Description column can be used to describe the category. But it can also be
used to address external images or add URLs. For example, images added to
Assets, can be added to the cloner. Give the images a Title. And for description
add their paths: assets/image1.jpg. Add an external image loader to the cloner
and for the external URL, set it to $(cdesc). To take it further, you can add
a text box to the cloner and add the placeholder, $(ctitle).

  • Expose – Select to show table in the Edit Skin Configuration menu in the Web
    Output Panel.

  • Description – Add the Description for the exposed table. This will appear as
    a heading in the Edit Skin Configuration dialog.

  • Skip empty entries – Select to not show any category with no nodes.

  • Inherit filter tags from parent cloner – If the current cloner is nested (a
    child of another cloner), you can choose to have the cloner use the same
    filtered tags as its parent.

  • Active Node – Select Scroll to view to always have the active node in
    view.

Source: Hotspots


The cloner will create a list of all
Point Hotspots
providing a way to create a menu to navigate to every point hotspot.

Use $(ctitle) to display the hotspot’s title in a Text Box.

  • Filter – Filter the menu using the Hotspot Skin IDs.

Source: Translations


The cloner will create a list of all the translations added to the project.

Using a text box in the cloner, add the placeholder $(ctag) to show the
langauge code (i.e., en-US, de ).

Use the placeholder, $(ctitle) to display the language’s
title; the cloner uses both the language and
the Title from this table.

Source: Floor Plans


The cloner will create a list of all the
Floor Plans added
to the project.

Use $(ctag) to add the Floor Plan ID and $(ctitle) for the Floor Plan title
in a Text Box.

When using the action, Change Map, select <Cloner ID> from the list for Map
ID
.

Position


ID


Give the element a unique ID or name. An ID is given automatically and will be
numerically ordered when more than one are added. If an ID is already used by
another element, a warning symbol will appear next to the input field.

Point Hotspot Templates will have a menu that
shows all the default template IDs as well as any template IDs used in the
project.

★ Tip  Click the warning symbol to create a unique ID for that element.

Position


The X and Y coordinates for the element.

An element’s position is relative to its parent and to its anchored position
(the Canvas is the parent to top level elements).

For example, a video that is anchored and placed in the middle of the Canvas
will have its anchor set to center and X and Y set to 0. So, if the
element is anchored to the horizontal center, the X coordinate is measured from
the center of the parent to the horizontal center of the element. Likewise, if
an element is anchored right, the x-coordinate is measured from the right side
of the parent to the right side of the element as indicated by the arrows.

★ Tip  Double-click the arrows to set X and Y to 0. This makes it easier to precisely position elements, especially on the edges of the player. For example, to keep an element positioned on the bottom center of the player and a certain distance from the edge, set the anchor to center bottom and set the Y value to 20 pixels and X to 0.

X and Y:

  • Percentage – Unit to set the position of the element based on the player’s
    size/window.

  • Pixels – Unit to set the actual location of the element within the skin.

  • CSS – Select CSS as a unit to allow for changing units when a logic block
    has been added or to use calculations.

    • Example: Set the x position unit to CSS. Enter, 100px in the edit field.
      Add a logic block, choose a trigger and add 20% for the size, effectively
      switching units.

Anchor


Use this grid to “stick” the element to a section of the player window. See
above, to learn how the Anchor influences Position.

Size


The Hotspot Template and Node Marker do not have a size parameter.

Adjust the element’s size (width and height) in pixels. Width and
Height:

  • Percentage – Unit to set the size of the element based on the player’s
    size/window.

  • Pixels – Unit to sets the actual size of the element.

  • Lock Aspect Ratio – Click the link icon to lock the element’s size aspect
    ratio when resizing in the Canvas or changing size values in the properties
    panel. This button is reset to off when another element is selected.

  • CSS – Select CSS as a unit to allow for changing units when a logic block
    has been added or to use calculations.

    • Example: Position an element 50 pixels from the top and then set the height
      to calc(100% - 50px). The element will then always have the same distance
      of 50px from the top and will extend straight down to the bottom.
  • Reset Size – Available for Image, Button, and SVG elements. Click to return
    to the image’s original size.

  • Reset Size/2 – Available for Image, Button, and SVG elements. Use this when
    you want to add a PNG or JPG to your project but still want it looking sharp
    in Hi-DPI displays. For example, if the skin requires a 32px image, use a 64px
    image and then click, Reset Size/2. This will then make it 32px in the skin
    but will still have all the pixels for a high resolution display.

Appearance


Scaling


Scales the element along the x and y axes. Doubling the value on either axis,
for instance, will double the size of the element. If a scaling modifier is
enabled, this scaling setting is ignored.

Center


Use this grid to determine how the element scales. The default is set to the
center so the element will scale in or out from its center. If you anchor the
scaling to the upper left corner, for example, the scaling will center from this
point.

Angle


Use this parameter to adjust the angle of the element. It will use the Center
grid (above) as its axis. For example, if the center is chosen, it will rotate
around its center. If the bottom left corner is selected, the button will rotate
around that corner.

Visible


Select or deselect to keep the element visible or invisible. Visibility or
invisibility can be changed and toggled with actions.

Alpha


The transparency of the element. A setting of 1.000 is opaque. Lowering this
number will increase the elements’s transparency.

Cursor


Choose which cursor shows when the mouse rolls over the element.

Inherit – The element will inherit the cursor from its parent element. This
is the default for all elements except Button and Seekbar.

Hand – The hand cursor will show. This is the deafult for Button and
Seekbar elements. When selected, the cursor is not inherited from its parent
element.

Default – Choose this option to force the browser’s default cursor (usually
an arrow). When selected, the cursor is not inherited from its parent element.

Masking

Container and Rectangle elements only Select Enabled to activate masking.
Masking means that child elements of the container or rectangle will be clipped
at the container or rectangle’s boundaries.

Accessibility


Tab Index


To make skin elements controllable via keyboard, they have to be added to the
tab order of the web page. A tab index of -1 (the default) excludes the
element from the tab order. A tab index of 0 includes the element in the tab
order. Browsers will highlight the active element by putting a rectangle around
them. Once a skin element is the active element, indicated by the highlight, hit
the Enter/Return key to trigger its click action.

ARIA Label, Description, Details


These are attributes or propterties that are used to define the element and
support the Role.

Label – Defines or names the element.

Description – Provide a brief description of the element.

Details – Provide an extended, detailed description of the element.

ARIA Roles


ARIA Roles are used to define UI elements (button, loading bar, etc.). Choose
from the list which best defines the element.

Hidden


Select to hide all ARIA attributes.

Advanced


Z-Index


Set the CSS
z-index property. Use
numbers to set the stacking order or leave the setting at Default. Default
will use the stacking order set in the Tree.

This is used to ensure that elements are displayed in the correct stacking order
especially when close or overlapping.

Permeable


Select to make sure the element does not accept mouse clicks. This is useful for
when you want to include an element in the skin but don’t want it to hinder the
ability to interact with the panorama. For example, you could add a vignette or
logo or border that when clicked on, will allow interaction with the panoramas.

Hotspot Proxy ID


Enter the corresponding ID. The ID
comes from the hotspot’s ID field in the hotspot properties. Hotspot proxies
give you the ability to link skin elements to specific hotspots. This means that
the element will receive the same mouse and touch events as the hotspot (mouse
click, mouse double-click, mouse enter, and mouse leave). You can also add {}
to use node ID as hotspot proxies.
Learn more.

CSS Classes


Enter the CSS class names for the selected element. You can enter more than one
class separated by spaces. If you need more space, click the Edit button to
the right of the field for a larger text field. No dot . needed.

CSS Styles


Enter the CSS style attributes for the selected element. You can enter more than
one style separated by semi-colons. If you need more space, click the Edit
button to the right of the field for a larger text field.

CSS Styles Inner Element


Enter CSS style attributes for the selected element’s inner element. (Some skin
elements, like Image, Video and External Image, have an inner element nested
inside the element’s main <div>.)

For example, an image element can have a border:
border-radius: 20px; border: 5px solid red;. This can also be entered with a
line break: border-radius: 20px; border: 5px solid red;

Image with added CSS border
Image with added CSS border

Keyboard Shortcut


Enter the preferred key to control the action defined to the element. For
example, select the text field, hit the up key on the keyboard. Then add a
Mouse Click action. The element, when clicked or when the up key is pressed,
will perform the assigned action.

Exclude from Translation


Select this option to not include this element in the skin’s translation file.

Safe Area


Available for the Container Element.

Select Use Safe Area for Position and Size to keep child elements of the
container inside the safe area of the device. This option makes sure that the
elements are always 100% visible and the skin will automatically react to the
device’s safe area.

Make sure Ignore Safe Area is not select in the
HTML template settings in the Web
Output.

Actions


Actions or a set of directions can be
applied to any element added to the skin to create interactivity.

Double-click in the Actions area or click the plus sign to the right to open the
Action Settings.

See Skin Actions, for details on all actions.

Modifiers


Adding modifiers allows you to make elements
move, scale or rotate when the panorama is being panned, tilted, zoomed or
loaded. A good example of a use of a modifier is for a loading bar that scales
in relation to how much of the panorama has been loaded.

Double-click in the Modifiers area or hit the plus sign to the right to open the
Modifier Settings.

See Skin Modifiers, for more details on all
modifiers.

Notes


Use this section to add information about the element. This is especially useful
if you have a component and want to explain the elements inside that component.

Notes will show up as tooltips in the Tree.

See also…


Last modified: Jun 5, 2024