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?

Answer 1

Try installing Microsoft Web Developer Tools 2012.2.

Answer 2

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 :)

Answer 3

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.

Answer 4

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.