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Vince Clark

CMS best practices?

I am diving into the CMS and am interested in feedback on best practices.

The example site (cmssite) uses a combination of ftl files and content stored in the database. My primary question right now is related to how to best "template" a site.

The example site uses MainDecorator.ftl to control the basic layout. Does the publish point have to be an ftl file, or could the entire site be served from content stored in the database as Content records.

I see two possibilities for a "template." A hand coded ftl file, or a Template in the CMS. There is a template tab in the system but I am not sure yet how to use it. Is the name misleading?

Vince Clark
Global Era
The Freedom of Open Source
[hidden email]
(303) 493-6723

David Künzler

RE: CMS best practices?

Hi,
For testing I once created the ofbiz.ch web site (not online) in the OFBiz
CMS. I used a mix of ScreenWidget and FTL and would still recommend it. But:
it's difficult to keep organized all your ScreenWidget and FTL layout.

For the layout I used ScreenWidgets and FTL and for the content FTL/HTML
saved as files because it was easier to edit.

In the CMS I had this site structure:

Website Default Page
- ofbiz.ch/home (page content)
- - ofbiz.ch/home#submenu (menu content)
- - ofbiz.ch/home#main (main content)
- - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews (news content)
- - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews#headline (news headline content)
- - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews#lead (news lead content)
- - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews#body (news body content)
- - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews#image (news image content)
- - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#latestnews (news content)
...
- - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#contentalert (content)
- ofbiz.ch/community (page)
- - ofbiz.ch/community#submenu (content)
- - ofbiz.ch/community#main (content)
- - ofbiz.ch/community/contribute (page)
...

It was quite nice but lots of manual work.

Ten days ago I started to write a specification for a CMS based on OFBiz.
There is no point in sharing it at the moment because it is still at a
brainstorming level but if someone is interested I can explain some of the
ideas.

The basic idea for the moment is to put a 'content schema' on top of the
OFBiz content/resource facility. The content schema would be a bit similar
to a JCR (Java Content Repository) content model.
You would have content types such as 'cms:Webpage', 'cms:XHTMLDocument' and
could extend the schema with your own content types such as 'my:News' and
'dojo:Tree' (the latter you would have to implement :)

-David

-----Original Message-----
From: Vince M. Clark [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Dienstag, 2. Oktober 2007 15:59
To: user
Subject: CMS best practices?

I am diving into the CMS and am interested in feedback on best practices.

The example site (cmssite) uses a combination of ftl files and content
stored in the database. My primary question right now is related to how to
best "template" a site.

The example site uses MainDecorator.ftl to control the basic layout. Does
the publish point have to be an ftl file, or could the entire site be served
from content stored in the database as Content records.

I see two possibilities for a "template." A hand coded ftl file, or a
Template in the CMS. There is a template tab in the system but I am not sure
yet how to use it. Is the name misleading?

Vince Clark
Global Era
The Freedom of Open Source
[hidden email]
(303) 493-6723

David E Jones

Re: CMS best practices?

David,

Are you using Content and DataResource records to tie these together,
or just doing stuff based on the Screen Widget and FTL and such?

I ask because technically you can use Screen Widget screens and FTL
templates with or without Content/DataResource records, though the
real goal going forward for a CMS in OFBiz. We already have a basic
implementation of that, with management tools and some nice
templating objects for including related content and a dynamic mount
point to avoid any file changes or server restarts or anything to
deploy the content.

-David J.

On Oct 2, 2007, at 3:43 PM, David Künzler wrote:

> Hi,
> For testing I once created the ofbiz.ch web site (not online) in
> the OFBiz
> CMS. I used a mix of ScreenWidget and FTL and would still recommend
> it. But:
> it's difficult to keep organized all your ScreenWidget and FTL layout.
>
> For the layout I used ScreenWidgets and FTL and for the content FTL/
> HTML
> saved as files because it was easier to edit.
>
> In the CMS I had this site structure:
>
> Website Default Page
> - ofbiz.ch/home (page content)
> - - ofbiz.ch/home#submenu (menu content)
> - - ofbiz.ch/home#main (main content)
> - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews (news content)
> - - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews#headline (news headline
> content)
> - - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews#lead (news lead content)
> - - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews#body (news body content)
> - - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews#image (news image content)
> - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#latestnews (news content)
> ...
> - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#contentalert (content)
> - ofbiz.ch/community (page)
> - - ofbiz.ch/community#submenu (content)
> - - ofbiz.ch/community#main (content)
> - - ofbiz.ch/community/contribute (page)
> ...
>
> It was quite nice but lots of manual work.
>
> Ten days ago I started to write a specification for a CMS based on
> OFBiz.
> There is no point in sharing it at the moment because it is still at a
> brainstorming level but if someone is interested I can explain some
> of the
> ideas.
>
> The basic idea for the moment is to put a 'content schema' on top
> of the
> OFBiz content/resource facility. The content schema would be a bit
> similar
> to a JCR (Java Content Repository) content model.
> You would have content types such as 'cms:Webpage',
> 'cms:XHTMLDocument' and
> could extend the schema with your own content types such as
> 'my:News' and
> 'dojo:Tree' (the latter you would have to implement :)
>
> -David
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vince M. Clark [mailto:[hidden email]]
> Sent: Dienstag, 2. Oktober 2007 15:59
> To: user
> Subject: CMS best practices?
>
> I am diving into the CMS and am interested in feedback on best
> practices.
>
> The example site (cmssite) uses a combination of ftl files and content
> stored in the database. My primary question right now is related to
> how to
> best "template" a site.
>
> The example site uses MainDecorator.ftl to control the basic
> layout. Does
> the publish point have to be an ftl file, or could the entire site
> be served
> from content stored in the database as Content records.
>
> I see two possibilities for a "template." A hand coded ftl file, or a
> Template in the CMS. There is a template tab in the system but I am
> not sure
> yet how to use it. Is the name misleading?
>
> Vince Clark
> Global Era
> The Freedom of Open Source
> [hidden email]
> (303) 493-6723
>

Vince Clark

Re: CMS best practices?

David J.

What basic implementation are you referring to? Are you referring to the existing CMS functionality that has been in the system for a while, or has something new been added recently.

Vince Clark
Global Era
The Freedom of Open Source
[hidden email]
(303) 493-6723

----- Original Message -----
From: "David E Jones" <[hidden email]>
To: [hidden email]
Sent: Tuesday, October 2, 2007 4:57:44 PM (GMT-0700) America/Denver
Subject: Re: CMS best practices?

David,

Are you using Content and DataResource records to tie these together,
or just doing stuff based on the Screen Widget and FTL and such?

I ask because technically you can use Screen Widget screens and FTL
templates with or without Content/DataResource records, though the
real goal going forward for a CMS in OFBiz. We already have a basic
implementation of that, with management tools and some nice
templating objects for including related content and a dynamic mount
point to avoid any file changes or server restarts or anything to
deploy the content.

-David J.

On Oct 2, 2007, at 3:43 PM, David Künzler wrote:

David E Jones

Re: CMS best practices?

I guess it depends on what you mean by recent... While much of the
content stuff has been around for years what I'm referring to is the
stuff done earlier this year at the developers conference.

To see this look at the "CMS" tab for a specific WebSite, chosen in
the WebSites top level tab (note: NOT the CMS top level tab, that is
something old that should be removed). Here is a URL for the admin side:

https://demo.hotwaxmedia.com/content/control/WebSiteCms?
webSiteId=CmsSite

The more interesting part of this is the infrastructure for mounting
and rendering the content, and the cool stuff to make it easy to do
neat content things in the templates used in that site. All of that
can be found under the specialpurpose/cmssite directory.

To view the actual cmssite, and play with it after changing above,
check out:

http://demo.hotwaxmedia.com/cmssite/

-David

On Oct 2, 2007, at 6:23 PM, Vince M. Clark wrote:

> David J.
>
> What basic implementation are you referring to? Are you referring
> to the existing CMS functionality that has been in the system for a
> while, or has something new been added recently.
>
> Vince Clark
> Global Era
> The Freedom of Open Source
> [hidden email]
> (303) 493-6723
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David E Jones" <[hidden email]>
> To: [hidden email]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 2, 2007 4:57:44 PM (GMT-0700) America/Denver
> Subject: Re: CMS best practices?
>
>
> David,
>
> Are you using Content and DataResource records to tie these together,
> or just doing stuff based on the Screen Widget and FTL and such?
>
> I ask because technically you can use Screen Widget screens and FTL
> templates with or without Content/DataResource records, though the
> real goal going forward for a CMS in OFBiz. We already have a basic
> implementation of that, with management tools and some nice
> templating objects for including related content and a dynamic mount
> point to avoid any file changes or server restarts or anything to
> deploy the content.
>
> -David J.
>
>
> On Oct 2, 2007, at 3:43 PM, David Künzler wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>> For testing I once created the ofbiz.ch web site (not online) in
>> the OFBiz
>> CMS. I used a mix of ScreenWidget and FTL and would still recommend
>> it. But:
>> it's difficult to keep organized all your ScreenWidget and FTL
>> layout.
>>
>> For the layout I used ScreenWidgets and FTL and for the content FTL/
>> HTML
>> saved as files because it was easier to edit.
>>
>> In the CMS I had this site structure:
>>
>> Website Default Page
>> - ofbiz.ch/home (page content)
>> - - ofbiz.ch/home#submenu (menu content)
>> - - ofbiz.ch/home#main (main content)
>> - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews (news content)
>> - - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews#headline (news headline
>> content)
>> - - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews#lead (news lead content)
>> - - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews#body (news body content)
>> - - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews#image (news image content)
>> - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#latestnews (news content)
>> ...
>> - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#contentalert (content)
>> - ofbiz.ch/community (page)
>> - - ofbiz.ch/community#submenu (content)
>> - - ofbiz.ch/community#main (content)
>> - - ofbiz.ch/community/contribute (page)
>> ...
>>
>> It was quite nice but lots of manual work.
>>
>> Ten days ago I started to write a specification for a CMS based on
>> OFBiz.
>> There is no point in sharing it at the moment because it is still
>> at a
>> brainstorming level but if someone is interested I can explain some
>> of the
>> ideas.
>>
>> The basic idea for the moment is to put a 'content schema' on top
>> of the
>> OFBiz content/resource facility. The content schema would be a bit
>> similar
>> to a JCR (Java Content Repository) content model.
>> You would have content types such as 'cms:Webpage',
>> 'cms:XHTMLDocument' and
>> could extend the schema with your own content types such as
>> 'my:News' and
>> 'dojo:Tree' (the latter you would have to implement :)
>>
>> -David
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Vince M. Clark [mailto:[hidden email]]
>> Sent: Dienstag, 2. Oktober 2007 15:59
>> To: user
>> Subject: CMS best practices?
>>
>> I am diving into the CMS and am interested in feedback on best
>> practices.
>>
>> The example site (cmssite) uses a combination of ftl files and
>> content
>> stored in the database. My primary question right now is related to
>> how to
>> best "template" a site.
>>
>> The example site uses MainDecorator.ftl to control the basic
>> layout. Does
>> the publish point have to be an ftl file, or could the entire site
>> be served
>> from content stored in the database as Content records.
>>
>> I see two possibilities for a "template." A hand coded ftl file, or a
>> Template in the CMS. There is a template tab in the system but I am
>> not sure
>> yet how to use it. Is the name misleading?
>>
>> Vince Clark
>> Global Era
>> The Freedom of Open Source
>> [hidden email]
>> (303) 493-6723
>>
>

Vince Clark

Re: CMS best practices?

Thanks David. That is what I have been working with. I was concerned there was something new I wasn't aware of.

The dynamic mountpoint is nice. Although I would suggest that it isn't completely "dynamic". It is true that you can dynamically tie content to a webapp, but it is my understanding that there must at least be a webapp to mount, with the webSiteId specified in the web.xml file of that webapp. If this is true that means you must at least create a directory structure for a webapp for each site you want to maintain via CMS, even if all the content will be rendered from Content/DataResource records in the database.

Do I understand this correctly?

Vince Clark
Global Era
The Freedom of Open Sou
[hidden email]
(303) 493-6723

----- Original Message -----
From: "David E Jones" <[hidden email]>
To: [hidden email]
Sent: Tuesday, October 2, 2007 7:06:43 PM (GMT-0700) America/Denver
Subject: Re: CMS best practices?

I guess it depends on what you mean by recent... While much of the
content stuff has been around for years what I'm referring to is the
stuff done earlier this year at the developers conference.

To see this look at the "CMS" tab for a specific WebSite, chosen in
the WebSites top level tab (note: NOT the CMS top level tab, that is
something old that should be removed). Here is a URL for the admin side:

https://demo.hotwaxmedia.com/content/control/WebSiteCms?
webSiteId=CmsSite

The more interesting part of this is the infrastructure for mounting
and rendering the content, and the cool stuff to make it easy to do
neat content things in the templates used in that site. All of that
can be found under the specialpurpose/cmssite directory.

To view the actual cmssite, and play with it after changing above,
check out:

http://demo.hotwaxmedia.com/cmssite/

-David

On Oct 2, 2007, at 6:23 PM, Vince M. Clark wrote:

David Goodenough

Re: CMS best practices?

In reply to this post by David E Jones

On Wednesday 03 October 2007, David E Jones wrote:

> I guess it depends on what you mean by recent... While much of the
> content stuff has been around for years what I'm referring to is the
> stuff done earlier this year at the developers conference.
>
> To see this look at the "CMS" tab for a specific WebSite, chosen in
> the WebSites top level tab (note: NOT the CMS top level tab, that is
> something old that should be removed). Here is a URL for the admin side:
>
> https://demo.hotwaxmedia.com/content/control/WebSiteCms?
> webSiteId=CmsSite

Has anyone written a step by step howto use this, both from the content
provision point of view and the admin side?

David

>
> The more interesting part of this is the infrastructure for mounting
> and rendering the content, and the cool stuff to make it easy to do
> neat content things in the templates used in that site. All of that
> can be found under the specialpurpose/cmssite directory.
>
> To view the actual cmssite, and play with it after changing above,
> check out:
>
> http://demo.hotwaxmedia.com/cmssite/
>
> -David
>
> On Oct 2, 2007, at 6:23 PM, Vince M. Clark wrote:
> > David J.
> >
> > What basic implementation are you referring to? Are you referring
> > to the existing CMS functionality that has been in the system for a
> > while, or has something new been added recently.
> >
> > Vince Clark
> > Global Era
> > The Freedom of Open Source
> > [hidden email]
> > (303) 493-6723
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "David E Jones" <[hidden email]>
> > To: [hidden email]
> > Sent: Tuesday, October 2, 2007 4:57:44 PM (GMT-0700) America/Denver
> > Subject: Re: CMS best practices?
> >
> >
> > David,
> >
> > Are you using Content and DataResource records to tie these together,
> > or just doing stuff based on the Screen Widget and FTL and such?
> >
> > I ask because technically you can use Screen Widget screens and FTL
> > templates with or without Content/DataResource records, though the
> > real goal going forward for a CMS in OFBiz. We already have a basic
> > implementation of that, with management tools and some nice
> > templating objects for including related content and a dynamic mount
> > point to avoid any file changes or server restarts or anything to
> > deploy the content.
> >
> > -David J.
> >
> > On Oct 2, 2007, at 3:43 PM, David Künzler wrote:
> >> Hi,
> >> For testing I once created the ofbiz.ch web site (not online) in
> >> the OFBiz
> >> CMS. I used a mix of ScreenWidget and FTL and would still recommend
> >> it. But:
> >> it's difficult to keep organized all your ScreenWidget and FTL
> >> layout.
> >>
> >> For the layout I used ScreenWidgets and FTL and for the content FTL/
> >> HTML
> >> saved as files because it was easier to edit.
> >>
> >> In the CMS I had this site structure:
> >>
> >> Website Default Page
> >> - ofbiz.ch/home (page content)
> >> - - ofbiz.ch/home#submenu (menu content)
> >> - - ofbiz.ch/home#main (main content)
> >> - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews (news content)
> >> - - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews#headline (news headline
> >> content)
> >> - - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews#lead (news lead content)
> >> - - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews#body (news body content)
> >> - - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#featurednews#image (news image content)
> >> - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#latestnews (news content)
> >> ...
> >> - - - ofbiz.ch/home#main#contentalert (content)
> >> - ofbiz.ch/community (page)
> >> - - ofbiz.ch/community#submenu (content)
> >> - - ofbiz.ch/community#main (content)
> >> - - ofbiz.ch/community/contribute (page)
> >> ...
> >>
> >> It was quite nice but lots of manual work.
> >>
> >> Ten days ago I started to write a specification for a CMS based on
> >> OFBiz.
> >> There is no point in sharing it at the moment because it is still
> >> at a
> >> brainstorming level but if someone is interested I can explain some
> >> of the
> >> ideas.
> >>
> >> The basic idea for the moment is to put a 'content schema' on top
> >> of the
> >> OFBiz content/resource facility. The content schema would be a bit
> >> similar
> >> to a JCR (Java Content Repository) content model.
> >> You would have content types such as 'cms:Webpage',
> >> 'cms:XHTMLDocument' and
> >> could extend the schema with your own content types such as
> >> 'my:News' and
> >> 'dojo:Tree' (the latter you would have to implement :)
> >>
> >> -David
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Vince M. Clark [mailto:[hidden email]]
> >> Sent: Dienstag, 2. Oktober 2007 15:59
> >> To: user
> >> Subject: CMS best practices?
> >>
> >> I am diving into the CMS and am interested in feedback on best
> >> practices.
> >>
> >> The example site (cmssite) uses a combination of ftl files and
> >> content
> >> stored in the database. My primary question right now is related to
> >> how to
> >> best "template" a site.
> >>
> >> The example site uses MainDecorator.ftl to control the basic
> >> layout. Does
> >> the publish point have to be an ftl file, or could the entire site
> >> be served
> >> from content stored in the database as Content records.
> >>
> >> I see two possibilities for a "template." A hand coded ftl file, or a
> >> Template in the CMS. There is a template tab in the system but I am
> >> not sure
> >> yet how to use it. Is the name misleading?
> >>
> >> Vince Clark
> >> Global Era
> >> The Freedom of Open Source
> >> [hidden email]
> >> (303) 493-6723