I have a page that exists in two places. When I created it, it inherited a design from its parent. When I linked it into another site, it inherited a design from its parent in the new location. Result = same content with different design = good.
However, when I went to the 'Settings' screen and changed the design, intending to change it only in the second location, both instances have had their design updated to the new design = bad. I still want to have different designs applied, but I can't seem to achieve that.
Is it a bug (in which case I'll put it on the bug tracker) or have I done something stupid? :huh:
Are you trying to change the design on the linked asset or its parent?
If it is the former, that is the functionality I would expect.
When you make a change to an asset, the same change is made to any other linked assets (they are the same asset).
So, in your example, you should change the design of the parent of each linked asset (ensuring you don't cascade the design), and each linked asset would inherit it's parent design.
What Dan said is correct – there is no way to specify a design for a particular asset based on its parent. Once you set a specific design on an asset, that design is used wherever the asset is linked.