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Case Amplify design system

Version: v2026.09.02 For: designers, marketers and content creators building pages on caseamplify.com


1. Scope

This document explains how to build content. It does not explain how the site is built.

In scope: the page-building workflow, the pattern library, what each preset value currently is, image preparation, publishing, and what the block editor will and will not show you.

Out of scope: writing CSS, adding new patterns, adding header dropdowns or footer columns, teaching HTML.

Related documents:

Document Holds
wave-system.md motion internals, the full class token list, why things work the way they do
case-amplify-manifest.md terminology, positioning, approved claims, compliance language

Thing to Remember. Everything is preset. Spacing, responsive behavior, type, color and animation are already correct when a pattern is dropped in.


2. Standard workflow

2.1 Start a page

Two ways in:

  • Duplicate an existing page and replace the content. Fastest, and page settings come with it.
  • Start clean. Create the page, then set page settings before adding anything.

Page settings for a clean start:

  1. Page layout: Full width
  2. Page title: disabled

2.2 Build the page

  1. Click the blue + in the top left to open the inserter sidebar.
  2. Go to Patterns, then the category you need.
  3. Start with ca-innerHero. The paragraph block above the H1 is the eyebrow and already carries its class.
  4. Add a Spacer / Divider block (Kadence's, not core's). Its values are preset.
  5. Add the next pattern. Edit its content.
  6. Repeat: spacer, section, spacer, section.

Think in rows stacked on each other, not in columns. A section is usually a header/divider row followed by a content row. Column layouts are baked into the patterns and are not an author decision.

Spacers go between sections, never inside one.

2.3 Composition rules

Rule Detail
Side agreement If a header/divider row sits above a content row, the image in that content row goes on the same side as the heading.
Alternation Switch the heading side after each section. Not absolute, but the page should vary rather than repeat one side down its whole length.
Standalone headings A header/divider row can stand alone. A single strong statement does not need a content row under it.
Centered divider ca-divider--center is a full stop. It closes a chapter. Never open a section with it.
One CTA pattern per page Only one ca-cta--* pattern. This does not restrict primary CTA buttons inside other sections.

2.4 Review

Leave the page in Draft, run the checklist in §8.


3. Foundations

Website values are listed below.

3.1 Type

Owner: Kadence Customizer. Every size is fluid between a 400px and a 1400px viewport.

Element Font Weight Size Line height
H1 Literata 600 30 → 58px 1.1
H2 Literata 600 26 → 46px 1.15
H3 Literata 600 23 → 36px 1.2
H4 Inter 600 20 → 29px 1.3
H5 Inter 500 18 → 23px 1.4
H6 Inter 400 17 → 18px 1.5
Body Inter 400 16 → 17px 1.6

Hero headlines are separate. They are set in the child theme, not the Customizer, and are larger on purpose.

Where Size Owner
Homepage hero 40 → 74px ca-hero.css, --ca-h1
Inner page hero 34 → 58px ca-base.css, .p-hero h1

Eyebrow. IBM Plex Mono, 12px, letter-spacing 0.08em. Owner: ca-base.css, .eyebrow. Already applied inside the patterns that use one. Adding your own is advanced work; see §10.4.

Adv highlight. Colors inline text purple. Use it on one word in a heading. Two is the maximum, and if you use two, resize the window and check they do not get split across a line break. Reach it from the toolbar: the arrow to the right of the link button, then Adv highlight.

3.2 Color

Owner: ca-base.css :root for everything built as a custom code block. The Kadence palette covers theme blocks separately, and the two are not currently reconciled (see §11).

Token Value Use
--paper #FFFFF8 page background
--ink #11111C headings
--body #3A3A44 body copy
--hair #C1C1B8 rules and dividers
--grape #8D16D4 highlights and accents
--grape-1 #CE08F2 gradient start
--grape-2 #8F15D5 gradient end
--footer #080612 footer background
--f-head #CFCEC2 footer headings
--f-link #90908D footer links

You do not need to set colors. Nothing in the pattern library requires it.

3.3 Layout

Value Setting
Content width 1400px
Grid 12 columns, 20px gutter
Edge padding 1rem desktop
Stacking breakpoint 1024px

3.4 Buttons

Style Appearance Use
Theme base purple gradient fill, 10px radius the primary CTA in a section
Outline text and border, no fill any secondary CTA

Add and remove buttons where the content needs them. One primary per section.

Labels describe the destination. Say where the reader is going, not that they should go.

New tab only when the link leaves the site — including trust.caseamplify.com — or opens a non-lightbox video, or when there is a specific reason to keep the current page open. Internal links stay in the same tab.

3.5 Icons

From the Phosphor library. Reach them at Style > Icon Settings in the right sidebar.

Weight Use
Filled theme base CTA buttons only
Line cards and secondary CTA buttons

4. Pattern library

All patterns are unsynced. Editing one on a page does not affect any other page. Every pattern arrives with its data attributes, animation classes and image effect classes already in the right places.

4.1 Inventory

Naming reads left to right in visual order. ca-header/divider puts the heading on the left; ca-divider/header puts it on the right. ca-image/content puts the image on the left; ca-content/image puts it on the right.

Pattern Use
ca-innerHero top of every inner page
ca-header/divider section heading, left, with animated rule
ca-divider/header section heading, right, with animated rule
ca-header/text section heading with body copy
ca-divider--center full stop at a chapter boundary
ca-image/content image left, copy right
ca-content/image copy left, image right
ca-3cards/content three cards with supporting copy
ca-content/cards--dark copy with cards on a dark field
ca-4cards four cards
ca-hoverCards expanding panels; see §5.3
ca-iconStrip row of icons
ca-FAQ question and answer list
ca-cta--contact closing CTA to the contact page
ca-cta--resources closing CTA to the resources page

4.2 Spacers

Kadence's Spacer / Divider block, preset. One between each section. None inside a section.


5. What the components do

You do not place these. They are already inside the patterns. This section exists so you recognize them and know what you are looking at.

5.1 Section rules

The animated line beside a section heading. It draws as you scroll past it, peaking when it reaches the middle of the screen.

Two roles, one mark:

  • Opener — asymmetric, sits beside a heading, opens a section.
  • Full stop — centered, stands alone, closes a chapter.

You can drag the divider's column width when the heading wraps awkwardly and leaves a gap. Only on header/divider combinations, and only a little.

5.2 Content rise

Content fades and lifts into place as it enters the screen. Every pattern already carries the right variant.

Class Motion For
ca-rise fade and 22px up the default
ca-rise--soft fade only dense text
ca-rise--lift 46px, slower a few large feature cards
ca-rise--settle fade and slight scale media
ca-rise--sweep from the left, wide stagger an accent, at most once per screen

Applied to a row, the sections inside stagger. Applied to a section, the blocks inside stagger. They can be combined.

5.3 Panels (ca-hoverCards)

Panels show less at once on purpose. By default only the image and heading are visible. Hovering, or tapping on mobile, expands a panel to reveal the rest of the text while the others shift out of the way.

Currently four panels only. Two and three panel versions may come later. Nothing restricts where they are used, though at present they appear only on the homepage. Editing them is advanced work; see §10.

5.4 Image effects

ca-fade softens the bottom edge of an image into the page. ca-shadow sits on its wrapper and lifts it off the page. Both are already applied inside the patterns that need them.

They are already correct wherever they appear. Applying them yourself is advanced work; see §10.4.


6. Images

6.1 Shape

Where Orientation
Content rows and panels landscape
Heroes vertical

No aspect ratio is off limits. Avoid getting close to square.

6.2 File preparation

Format is WebP. Prepare files before upload using https://squoosh.app/:

  1. Drop the image in.
  2. Under Compress, choose WebP.
  3. Optional: toggle Resize and reduce the percentage.
  4. Drag the slider in the center to compare before and after. Stop before visible clarity is lost.

6.3 Alt text

Add alt text when the image goes into the media library, at the same time you file it into its folder. Do it once, there, and standard image blocks pull it automatically.

Decorative images do not get alt text. Background patterns, textures and ornaments stay empty.

Images inside custom HTML blocks are the exception: they do not inherit alt text and you have to paste it in by hand. See §10.


7. Menus

Menu Controls
ca-header1 first header dropdown
ca-header2 second header dropdown
ca-footer1 footer link column 1
ca-footer2 footer link column 2
ca-footer3 footer link column 3
ca-footer4 footer link column 4

Editing the pages inside one of these menus changes what appears in that dropdown or column on the live site. That is the whole of what an author needs.

Adding a new dropdown is out of scope. It requires PHP work to implement correctly.

The header and footer themselves are not editable from the page editor and should be left alone.


8. Publishing checklist

Before handing a page to Ian or Rob:

  • Page layout is Full width
  • Page title is disabled
  • No page parent. Every page sits at the root
  • Slug is the page name in lowercase with hyphens, e.g. /vocational-rehabilitation
  • SEO title and description written for this page's content
  • Featured image is the hero image
  • All images are WebP and have alt text, or are deliberately decorative
  • One ca-cta--* pattern, no more
  • Spacers between every section, none inside a section
  • Heading sides alternate down the page
  • Images sit on the same side as the heading above them
  • Highlighted words do not break across lines at any window width
  • External links open in a new tab, internal links do not
  • Status is Draft

9. What to expect in the block editor

The editor shows structure. It does not show the finished page. Everything in this section is normal and none of it needs fixing.

In the editor On the live site
Dividers do not draw they draw and animate on scroll
Panels, CTA sections and other custom blocks show as raw HTML fully styled
Eyebrow text looks like ordinary paragraph text monospace, small, letter-spaced
Images have no gradient fade or shadow both applied
Nothing rises or animates in content staggers in on scroll
The homepage hero looks like a mess of unstyled markup correct
Header and footer do not render at all present

Do not judge spacing in the editor. It is preset and it is not what you are seeing.

The one thing you can adjust visually is divider width, using the draggable column handle, when heading wrap leaves an awkward gap.


10. Advanced editing

Everything here involves touching code in one way or another. It is optional, and none of it is required for standard page building.

10.1 Before you start

Save your work. Then start editing.

Reading HTML is not covered here. If you cannot find what you need, paste the block's code into an AI assistant and ask where the thing you want to change is.

Add CSS classes only. Never write additional inline CSS.

10.2 Editing text inside a custom block

Find the tag, change the text between the tags.

To find it fast: copy the current text off the page, open the custom HTML block, press Ctrl + F and paste. It will jump straight to the line.

10.3 Replacing an image inside a custom block

  1. Upload the image to the media library and set its alt text there. Never link to an image hosted anywhere else.
  2. Copy the media library URL into the block.
  3. Copy the alt text from the media library and paste it into the alt attribute by hand.

Step 3 is the one that gets missed. A standard image block pulls alt text automatically. A custom-coded image does not, and will ship with none.

10.4 Adding classes

Advanced > Advanced > Additional CSS class(es), in the right sidebar.

No leading dot. Type ca-rise--soft, not .ca-rise--soft.

Applied to Effect
A row the sections inside it stagger
A section the blocks inside it stagger

Both at once is allowed and the nesting resolves correctly.

Available classes include ca-rise and its variants (§5.2), ca-fade and ca-shadow (§5.4), and eyebrow (§3.1). The full token list is in wave-system.md.

Every pattern already carries a ca-rise variant. Change it only if you have a specific look in mind, and check the result on the live page rather than in the editor.

eyebrow turns a plain paragraph block into a section eyebrow. Nothing else is needed.

ca-fade and ca-shadow go on two different elements. The fade on the image, the shadow on its wrapper. Both on one element and the shadow silently does nothing, with no error to tell you.

10.5 Highlighting a word in a CTA heading

CTA sections are custom blocks, so the Adv highlight tool is not available in them. Wrap the word in <em> tags instead:

<h2>Bring <em>clarity</em> to every case</h2>

Every CTA section ships with those tags already in place. Move them onto the word you want purple, or delete the tags if you do not want a highlight. Do not leave them wrapped around whatever text happened to be there in the default copy.

The one-word rule from §3.1 still applies. Two words at most, and check they do not split across a line break at any window width.


Getting help

Anything that needs new CSS, a new pattern, a new header dropdown, a new footer column, or a rule bent: ask Ian.