i am working on a new site and would like to add a grunge type water stain at the top and bottom of the grid2wrap. Kind of like in ecospirit with the grunge effect or like in arcadia with the colourtop. How can i add this to Base3. Is there a simple solution or it requires extensive customizing?

You would need to remove the background colour and add a background image to that row e.g grid2wrap

Depending on what you wanted to do you may need to target the
.container > div

I'd suggest using a path to the template images folder to make life easier

Cheers
Paul

not sure if that will solve my issue exactly since i already have an image there. Maybe if you see what i am doing it will be more clear.

i am having a lot of issues though with less/css reverting to an older version of my changes and not sure what i am doing wrong. At any rate let me post a link so you can see what i am doing and post a screenshot in case it reverts again.

i may try some other textures but i noticed in the other two templates that had those elements that they have separate divs and classes ie. gradient

ultimatebearhunts.ca/redesign/

Are you editing any core template css files?

Cheers

seems that when i get logged out that my template goes back. now i will say that i had to manually change some of the less files and upload them so not sure if that has something to do with it. i didn't see how else i could change those background images otherwise. if i re-upload the files everything is back again but how do i prevent this from happening?

Are you making any changes via theme magic or editing core template css files?

If you edit core less or css files and then compile using LESS to CSS you stand a good chance of seeing them wiped

What is the php memory limit for the account?

Sometimes if the memory limit is near odd things can happen

Cheers

With adding a background image you should just need to add code to the custom.css

Removing any existing conflicting styling by overriding it and then added the image to the relevant row of divs

i am editing the less files but i didnt compile less to css....well i did this morning but then i stopped because when i compiled it wiped out all the backgrounds i put in so for now it's in less and it is still reverting.

i wasn't able to locate the css i needed which is why i went to less and it was right under my nose LOL.

i will keep an eye out to see if the issue persists. for the moment i would sooner try to figure out how to get the styling in. worst case i can just use a large texture with the waterstains in it instead of a seamless and repeating texture.

the memory limit shouldn't be an issue it's set exceptionally high.

I think your problem is editing the core less files

I'd suggest using only the custom.css file - Chrome is a great tool for troubleshooting

www.joomlabamboo.com/blog/tutorials/how-to-use-the-computed-panel-in-the-chrome-inspector

Cheers
Paul

i do use chrome but still just wasn't getting the css to work. i thought something was possibly overriding it or maybe i was just making typos. i will check it out. i do prefer working with the css files if i am going to edit and perhaps i was just too tired to see what was in front of my nose this morning. Things DID go much better after i had my coffee later in the morning LOL

So if i am already targetting the following:
.container > div {
padding: 30px;
box-shadow: 0 0 0 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05), 0 3px 8px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05);
margin-bottom: 30px;
background-image: url(../../../images/paper.jpg);

Can i still set a second graphic to overlay my paper texture to create the water stain? i want the page to be dynamic and size according to the content so i was wanting to just put the stain on the top and bottom above the paper texture.

updated the custom.css with my changes so should be good now and no more disappearing design.

Do you have a link for the site?

A background image won't re-size it doesn't behave the same as a normal html image

It will just disappear

Have you check the path is correct?
With Chrome the strike throughs should tell if there is a problem

The computed tab will tell you what style is rendering what file/line number it is

If you think there might be a typo try the style at the top of the custom.css file

Cheers

ah posts that cross each other going in opposite direction

everything is rendering just fine and it's not a matter of the image resizing...how to better explain

1. use a seamless texture that repeats according to the size of the container and looks great but has no water stain
2. use a non-seamless image that has a water stain at the top and bottom of the graphic that when it repeats will look ridiculous when the container gets bigger

i don't want option 2 so i went with option 1. I still want to display a water stain at the top and bottom (or just top) but i need to place this as a property to something other than .container > div and i seem to be having difficulty identifying how/where to do this.

i normally use chrome and test the css in chrome before i go mod the css files so i can see how it looks and be sure i am changing the right thing.

i am basically trying to replicate the water stain like the grunge template version of ecospirit but i already have used .container > div so asking if there is another way

Sorry its been a long week

You can multiple background images to divs - it just depends on what browsers you want to support

www.css3.info/preview/multiple-backgrounds/
www.sitepoint.com/mastering-css3-multiple-backgrounds/