Hi everyone,
Hoping you can help me with a solution that will work.
I have 100 links to databases. These links are listed a-z on one page, and listed 'By Subject' on another page. SO if one ofthe links is broken and needs to be updated, I had to find all instances of it and fix it.
With MySource Matrix my idea was that each link would be an asset. and the A-Z list would be an asset list then each 'by subject' like Education or Health, would be more asset lists. In this way the database links need be edited only once as the source asset, and all asset lists would be updated accordingly.
However we have outsourced part of our site for a different use, and the database links will need to be generated there… There will be 50 pages, and each of the pages will have these database links. WHich means suddenly I have 50 places to update the links manually… unless I can generate the asset listing on the external page.
The CSS iFrames solution
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My first thought was to find a way to strip the header and footer from the pages, maybe making a 'naked' css, much like the media="print" css. and then using the external site's iFrame abilities, so that the same content can be seen at the other site and will update.
However I'm reluctant to rely on iFrames which in hte past behaved very differently in different browsers, and fiddle so much with the CSS - generating a whole other set of pages on the site. I am concerned about doubling up on pages, with two copies of each asset listing, hiding them from the menus and any other unforseen problems they may create in the Matrix site.
The RSS solution
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I've never seen RSS in action on a MySource Matrix page. But from what i've read you can make an asset listing become an rss feed. I can see many uses for this already with our microblog. However I'm wondering if it will work with managing our lists of links?
The external site can easily list RSS feeds, and it is quite customiseable.
However I'm concerned what happens when you edit the asset listing.
lets say my original listing is:
Site A
Site B
Site C
Site D
but then i need to edit site B, will the listing update correctly like so:
Site A
Site B (edited)
Site C
Site D
or will it do something more typical of an RSS feed:
Site A
Site B
Site C
Site D
Site B (edited)
Any advice on either method would be appreciated!
Louisa
I'd be inclined to create an asset listing of redirect pages and manually output the xml for the rss. That way you can control the order in which the links appear and not just have them listed in date order like normal rss.
If your external application can read more arbitrary xml you might even not have to worry about fully formatting rss output.
The key to getting an asset listing to output xml in Matrix is to:
- Create a blank design that outputs the correct headers using the content type design area
[*]Set your asset listing bodycopies to raw html to avoid unwanted tag output
[*]Maybe update the webpath with .xml - although this is not strictly necessary it might help with consuming rss on some applications.
Supporting arbitrary xml might let you do things like flag a link with something like <edited>1</edited> and allow the external application to handle how it displays whether the link has been edited recently or not. Or even better output the updated date of the redirect page asset and have your external application make the logical decision based on last updated time.
i've seen a few websites suggest that it's better to create your own design which generates xml than use the RSS… but everything you just said makes no sense to me. what is a bodycopy?
I think i'd be better off sticking with the custom CSS and iFrames.
I think I'd find it difficult to explain the process of creating a design using XML without using Matrix jargon. If you get it working with CSS and iframes, no worries - if you need to take it to the next level (accessibility/best practice etc) then you might be better off contacting your Squiz rep.