Org chart examples?

Squiz Matrix General Discussion
1

Looking for examples of smart ways people have created easily maintained org charts using Matrix.


The 'Structure Tree' content type is useless (at least it is in 3.20) as it only produces an unstructured text blob… at a minimum, I need to produce an unordered list using a data source or asset listing that correctly and semantically represents the hierarchic structure.



Ideas? TIA

2

Where is your data stored? Are these Matrix Users? It is important to know this before suggestions can be made.

3

[quote]
Looking for examples of smart ways people have created easily maintained org charts using Matrix.



The 'Structure Tree' content type is useless (at least it is in 3.20) as it only produces an unstructured text blob… at a minimum, I need to produce an unordered list using a data source or asset listing that correctly and semantically represents the hierarchic structure.



Ideas? TIA

[/quote]



Hi Woowoowoo,



With a little imagination (see css tomfoolery) and some know how (see parse files / menu design areas) attractive site maps or organizational charts can be produced.



An example of one that has been created using standard matrix output can be found at:



http://www.wormald.com.au/sitemap



What's required here is:


  1. One blank design with a design menu area. As this is fully customizable you have the option for ordered lists representing your site's structure.

    The output would look something like this:



    <ul id="primaryNav" class="col4">

    <li id="home"><a href="#">University of Melbourne - Home</a></li>

    <li><a href="#">News</a>

    <ul>

    <li><a href="#">News</a></li>

    <li><a href="#">Current Releases</a></li>

    <li><a href="#">Previous Releases</a></li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    <li><a href="#">Research</a>

    <ul>

    <li><a href="#">Research</a></li>

    <li><a href="/services/development">Research Themes</a></li>

    <li><a href="/services/marketing">Internet Marketing</a>

    <ul>

    <li><a href="/social-media">Embedded Systems</a></li>

    <li><a href="/optimization">Automap</a></li>

    <li><a href="/adwords">Google AdWords</a></li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    <li><a href="/services/copywriting">Copywriting</a></li>

    <li><a href="/services/photography">Photography</a></li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    </ul>
  2. The Cascasding Style Sheet (CSS)



    In the wormald example the class="col9" can be changed to "col2", "col3" etc depending on the number of column. The class just changes the % width of the columns.


  3. Apply the customisation to any standard page and voila a neat chart.



    Please contact me if you require further assistance.
4

[quote]
Where is your data stored? Are these Matrix Users? It is important to know this before suggestions can be made.

[/quote]



Ah, sorry, no - these are not matrix users. At this stage it's just an arbitrary list of names and positions.



If there were users - or any assets I suppose - they could be arranged in a hierarchy using the asset map and output using the menu method described by @Rush, however the people who maintain the org charts are typically administrative/secretarial staff who really couldn't cope with that sort of stuff.



The 'structured tree' tool looked kinda promising and easy to use - it's just the ouptut which is unsuitable.

5

[quote]


With a little imagination (see css tomfoolery) and some know how (see parse files / menu design areas) attractive site maps or organizational charts can be produced.[/quote]



Thanks Rush - that's an excellent example. I did say 'data source' in my original question, but in fact there is no data source yet - I had wondered whether there might be clever solutions using structured data in xml, spreadsheets or some such as there is a possibility we may be able to get a feed from our HR system.



For now though, as you'll see from my reply to Eric, I'm trying to find a solution that can be maintained by unskilled users but still provide some quality semantic output.