On many occasions, I find Matrix designs restricting the way I build templates, which is not good. So, I just need to confirm some facts.
Is it possible to have more than one editable area in a Matrix design? I don't mean adding more divs to an existing page, I mean a page design that by default has more than one area that an editor can put content in. For example, they may have a main content area and some sidebar areas as well… non-contiguous in the page - with different parent block elements.
Following on from this, is it possible to have 'default' content in an area? Lets say this sidebar area has some default text, but you want the editor to be able to change that. Is that possible?
[size="1"]If I've posted this before, please excuse me. I thought I'd posted to this forum the other day, but it seems to have got lost.[/size]
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Is it possible to have more than one editable area in a Matrix design? I don’t mean adding more divs to an existing page, I mean a page design that by default has more than one area that an editor can put content in. For example, they may have a main content area and some sidebar areas as well… non-contiguous in the page - with different parent block elements.
Following on from this, is it possible to have ‘default’ content in an area? Lets say this sidebar area has some default text, but you want the editor to be able to change that. Is that possible?
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Design Parse Files can have many different Design Areas. These can include nested content and menu areas, each of which can have default settings or customised via a Design Customisation.
Please consult the Design documentation on our Documentation Page for details on how to set up the areas required and associated customisations.
Thanks Mark,
perfectly aware of this, but it really doesn't cut it. We're in a situation where we have literally hundreds of sites migrating from Dreamweaver which allows for multiple editable content areas. It severely limits our options to only have one editable content area.
On some sites, the only option ends up being a separate customisation for each page, which is simply ridiculous. If I could set up a nested content design area which allowed the editor to change the nested asset, that would be fine - but I don't think this can be done, correct?
Nested content design areas are useful in their own right, but this is one problem I don't seem to be able to solve.
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We're in a situation where we have literally hundreds of sites migrating from Dreamweaver which allows for multiple editable content areas. It severely limits our options to only have one editable content area[/quote]
This is something I've run into as we're migrating from a Dreamweaver/Contribute environment. We're still investigating the system but I've been able to find a workaround by using Metadata. For this you need a version of Matrix that supports WYSIWYG Fields in the Metadata Schema.
So, I applied a Metadata Schema to all the pages in my test site. This schema had a section for 'additional-content' with a single WYSIWYG-type field.
I applied a Paint Layout to all of the pages as well, which wraps the main content (%asset_contents%) in a DIV floated left, and the Metadata (%asset_metadata_additional-content%) in my right-hand column, a DIV floated right.
To edit the page, I created a Simple Edit Layout for Standard Pages that mixes the Edit Contents and Metadata screens into one, and lays them out roughly the same as the Paint Layout renders the page. The main WYSIWYG pane with the main content appears left, the secondary WYSIWYG (metadata) appears in the right column.
I needed to change my Design parse file though, because I had been using a Menu Design Area in the right hand column. Instead I made the Body design area responsible for the left and right columns, and then used the Paint Layout to wrap things in the appropriate DIVs (thereby maintaining separate parent elements for the left and right columns).
Since you can't have a Design Area (i.e. the Menu) inside a Paint Layout, I used an Asset Listing to replace the Menu Design Area and nested that within the paint layout.
Phew! This took me a while to work out so I hope I've related it clearly enough. I'd be happy to share my code with you if that helps as well.
dashes off to look for wysiwyg metadata type… yes!
Wow, that's quite a workaround, but really well thought out. I had contemplated the whole metadata/paint layout thing, but decided against it. However, the recent upgrade of our Matrix install brings with it this wysiwyg field and your interetsting possibility.
Thanks heaps!
Mind you, it's still a kludge, isn't it? The content in a page should be able to be split into several pieces.
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dashes off to look for wysiwyg metadata type… yes!
Wow, that's quite a workaround, but really well thought out. I had contemplated the whole metadata/paint layout thing, but decided against it. However, the recent upgrade of our Matrix install brings with it this wysiwyg field and your interetsting possibility.
Thanks heaps!
Mind you, it's still a kludge, isn't it? The content in a page should be able to be split into several pieces.
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A kludge indeed - Squiz should look at multiple content "pieces" as you suggest. It's surprisingly non accommodating in this regard!
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A kludge indeed - Squiz should look at multiple content "pieces" as you suggest. It's surprisingly non accommodating in this regard!
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They have, in MySource4. Back-porting something like this into Matrix when it was not designed this way would be a major amount of work.