Is it possible to create a page like this dynamically? It’s kind of a (old) Yahoo type listing… I’d like to have two levels showing, and have the second level as a horizontal, character separated list.
So far I’ve tried a page with multiple nested asset listings (one asset listing for each group of second level assets), and it’s kind of working, but not ideal. Is there a better way?
I would've gone with the nested asset listings myself as a first attempt. Can you let us know why this is not ideal (i.e. what you're not able to achieve using this method?)
With multiple nested asset listings, I can't work out how I'd:
- Make the first level items dynamic
- Prevent the separator from appearing after the last item in the second level lists
The first problem is easy to fix: Nest your nested asset listings. 
Essentially, the top asset listing lists the contents of the first level lists, which themselves are creating the second level list.
The second is tricky and I'm not sure this can be done with Matrix at the moment. We'd need to add separators (like in the menu design areas). It would be worth adding this as a feature request in the Bug Tracker.
It might almost be worth just creating a custom design for this page and using the menu design area to achieve the desired result. The menu design area is built to do exactly this, while the asset listing cant do it yet.
Thanks Avi and Greg.
Avi - can you tell me more about getting the nested asset listings to work, please? I have a set up that looks something like this:
Forms (Asset listing)
- HR (Asset listing)
–Files (Folder containing forms)
- Finance (Asset listing)
– Files (Folder containing forms)
- Asset management (Asset listing)
– Files (Folder containing forms)
All of the asset listings, including “Forms” are configured to display assets (forms) in tables, with metadata such as title, file size, description and owner.]
The display of the sub asset listings needs to be different on the index page (which would look like this…“About EDS” is where “Forms” would display; “HR”, “Finance” and “Asset management” would display in the horizontal, character-separated list). Because of this, I’m not sure how I’d get the nested asset listing to work.
Greg - I like the menu idea. It would mean we wouldn't have to create these pages over and over…
I'll give it a go and let you know how it turns out.
Am I right in thinking that it would have to be a separate design, not just a customisation?
You need an asset listing above Forms to make this work. Like the EDS, page, Forms is just one of the sections you're going to display overall. So, you'd have this:
Site Map (Asset Listing) - configured to list Asset Listings only, with the root node set to Forms' parent asset. Subs Only set to Yes (we just want the first level of asset listings here). Then, the Format bodycopy has the Asset Name (linked) and the Asset Contents. The Asset Name creates the "Forms" link (like "About EDS") and the Asset Contents then displays the results of the Forms asset listing itself. If you click on Forms, you'll just get its child pages displayed.
Does that make more sense? In this way, you just need to create a new Asset Listing (like Forms) and the Site Map will automatically pick it up.
Kind of. My point was that the contents of the Forms asset listing isn't configured to display in a horizontal, character-separated list. It's a table with three columns. Can I control how the Asset Contents displays in your example?
Not really, but you could create another asset listing to create this layout. Though, at this point, I think you should go with Greg's menu idea. Instead of having a bodycopy, just have a Menu at that point that builds the layout. Probably far simpler.
Edited to add that I've added a Feature Request to have the Site Map asset be switchable from the stalks-based tree it is now, to a more Yahoo-style system like that EDS page. This in no way means that it'll ever get coded, but at least it'll remind me from time to time.
I think Greg's menu idea sounds good too.
Would it need to be a separate design, or could it be achieved with a customisation?
It would need to be a separate design, as you are changing the parsefile.