Web Essentials not working

Question

I've just installed the Web Essentials(v 2.7) for MS Visual Studio 2012 and it's not working (i'm interested in the LESS part).

I've restarted VS, the 'extension and updates' windows displays web essentials as being installed, but for some reason i don't have the "split screen" experience and the less file won't compile on save..

Has anyone else experienced this issue?

Did you have dotless package in your project? AFAIK Web Essential is incompatible with packages that do the same thing that it does. — fiberOptics, Oct 04 '13 at 04:39

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 05 '13 at 07:44

7

Try installing Microsoft Web Developer Tools 2012.2.

answered Sep 05 '13 at 07:44

Mattias Larsson

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Installing this kicked it into action. – gremwell Nov 10 '13 at 08:23

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 17 '13 at 11:25

Try checking the Web Essentials options inside the Tools>Options menu:

locate the "Web Essentials" item on the left tree and expand it
click on "LESS" below it
check if you have "Show preview window" enabled on the right side

Maybe you already tried this, but is worth mentioning that sometimes settings don't seem to have effect.

If that's your case, try saving your current VS settings (just in case you need them to revert your changes) and try resetting them to factory default.. this could help if they are somehow messed..

Good luck :)

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 06 '13 at 17:40

2

Instead of renaming the .css file to a .less, create a new less file then save it. It should bring the split screen as well as the css properly attached.

answered Aug 06 '13 at 17:40

Rafael Fernandes

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Where did the question say anything about renaming a css file to a less file? – Andrew Barber Aug 06 '13 at 18:48
Andrew, I had the same problem but instead of creating I just renamed the file. So it might help others who instead of creating a new .less file, would just rename from a css file. I hope it makes sense. – Rafael Fernandes Aug 14 '13 at 16:04

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 12 '14 at 23:40

2

I thought my Web Essentials wasn't working, either, but when I turned on the preview window, I saw my less had a compile error. Fixing the error was all I needed to do. To turn on the preview window, go to Tools > Options, select Web Essentials in the left pane, and then LESS under that. Set "Show preview window" to true.

Also, in order for my preview window to turn on and off, I have to restart VS whenever I change this value.

answered Mar 12 '14 at 23:40

pkeridactyl

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This worked for me. I had deleted the CSS file. When I saved the LESS file, it refused to generate the new CSS. Turned off the preview, saved LESS, it created new CSS and map. Turned back on, all is well. (I didn't have to restart VS though.) – Jason Jul 16 '15 at 14:23

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 20 '16 at 03:54

0

I had the same issue, I had to uninstall it from extensions and reinstall it manually from the VS gallery. When that dint work, I had to restart the machine which did the trick. :)

answered Jun 20 '16 at 03:54

Vijayanand Settin

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Web Essentials not working

5 Answers5