Question about the Content->Template menu

[Jacopo Cappellato-4]

Hi all,

what is the purpose of the Content -> Template menu? I mean, what is a  
"Template" (or "Layout" as it is named in the code and in some screens)?
I understand that it is a content record associated to subcontent  
records... but I don't understand its peculiarity and what was the  
initial goal for it.

Thanks,

Jacopo

[Jacques Le Roux]

Hi Jacopo,

Quick answer: maybe this can help http://docs.ofbiz.org/x/Nw
Look also for related pages at http://docs.ofbiz.org/x/Ng

Jacques

From: "Jacopo Cappellato" <[hidden email]>

> Hi all,
>
> what is the purpose of the Content -> Template menu? I mean, what is a  
> "Template" (or "Layout" as it is named in the code and in some screens)?
> I understand that it is a content record associated to subcontent  
> records... but I don't understand its peculiarity and what was the  
> initial goal for it.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jacopo
>
>

[BJ Freeman]

Thanks that is very timely.
Just going though the content and soring out what want and how to use it.
:D

Jacques Le Roux sent the following on 6/9/2009 8:15 AM:

> Hi Jacopo,
>
> Quick answer: maybe this can help http://docs.ofbiz.org/x/Nw
> Look also for related pages at http://docs.ofbiz.org/x/Ng
>
> Jacques
>
> From: "Jacopo Cappellato" <[hidden email]>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> what is the purpose of the Content -> Template menu? I mean, what is
>> a  "Template" (or "Layout" as it is named in the code and in some
>> screens)?
>> I understand that it is a content record associated to subcontent
>> records... but I don't understand its peculiarity and what was the
>> initial goal for it.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Jacopo
>>
>>
>
>

--
BJ Freeman
http://www.businessesnetwork.com/automation
http://bjfreeman.elance.com
http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=1237480&locale=en_US&trk=tab_pro
Systems Integrator.

[Jacopo Cappellato-4]

Thank you Jacques,

the pages are really useful but unfortunately there is no mention to  
the template/layout concept as (partially) implemented in that menu.

Cheers,

Jacopo

On Jun 9, 2009, at 5:15 PM, Jacques Le Roux wrote:

> Hi Jacopo,
>
> Quick answer: maybe this can help http://docs.ofbiz.org/x/Nw
> Look also for related pages at http://docs.ofbiz.org/x/Ng
>
> Jacques
>
> From: "Jacopo Cappellato" <[hidden email]>
>> Hi all,
>> what is the purpose of the Content -> Template menu? I mean, what  
>> is a  "Template" (or "Layout" as it is named in the code and in  
>> some screens)?
>> I understand that it is a content record associated to subcontent  
>> records... but I don't understand its peculiarity and what was the  
>> initial goal for it.
>> Thanks,
>> Jacopo
>>
>

[David E. Jones-2]

Jacopo,

I saw your commits so may have already figured all of this out...

The general idea with the Layout Editor is to create pages/documents  
based on a template in a visual way. The template (an FTL file used  
through a Content record) has placeholders for including related  
content (ie in the ContentAssoc entity) identified with the keyMap  
which allows effective-dated included content, etc.

I'm not sure where the term Template came from, it is a somewhat  
related concept, but this is more about creating pages/documents based  
on existing templates as opposed to editing templates themselves.

So, with this tool you can look at pages based on templates and see  
them with their included content, edit that included content or point  
to other content to include, and for placeholders that point to a  
mapKey that is not found related to the main content record it should  
show an option to associate existing content or add new content to it.

Anyway, there's a short write-up with some of the stuff I can  
remember. That thing was functional a long time ago, but I think a lot  
of things have changed around it and it has not been maintained and  
updated for those changes (over the last 4-5 years or something).

It's great to see effort going into this again! It's one part, but I  
think an important and cool one, for making OFBiz a real CMS with nice  
creation and maintenance of dynamic pages and what not.

-David


On Jun 9, 2009, at 8:31 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> what is the purpose of the Content -> Template menu? I mean, what is  
> a "Template" (or "Layout" as it is named in the code and in some  
> screens)?
> I understand that it is a content record associated to subcontent  
> records... but I don't understand its peculiarity and what was the  
> initial goal for it.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jacopo
>

[Jacques Le Roux]

I wonder if we should try to fix/maintain the Content application, or try to build a new one based on JackRabbit as some recent
discussions suggested.
We could even keep the current Content application and add a new Content Management based on JackRabbit. I'm not quite sure about
rendering yet...

I think it's a really important part of OBFiz, too long neglected.

Jacques

From: "David E Jones" <[hidden email]>

>
> Jacopo,
>
> I saw your commits so may have already figured all of this out...
>
> The general idea with the Layout Editor is to create pages/documents  based on a template in a visual way. The template (an FTL
> file used  through a Content record) has placeholders for including related  content (ie in the ContentAssoc entity) identified
> with the keyMap  which allows effective-dated included content, etc.
>
> I'm not sure where the term Template came from, it is a somewhat  related concept, but this is more about creating pages/documents
> based  on existing templates as opposed to editing templates themselves.
>
> So, with this tool you can look at pages based on templates and see  them with their included content, edit that included content
> or point  to other content to include, and for placeholders that point to a  mapKey that is not found related to the main content
> record it should  show an option to associate existing content or add new content to it.
>
> Anyway, there's a short write-up with some of the stuff I can  remember. That thing was functional a long time ago, but I think a
> lot  of things have changed around it and it has not been maintained and  updated for those changes (over the last 4-5 years or
> something).
>
> It's great to see effort going into this again! It's one part, but I  think an important and cool one, for making OFBiz a real CMS
> with nice  creation and maintenance of dynamic pages and what not.
>
> -David
>
>
> On Jun 9, 2009, at 8:31 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> what is the purpose of the Content -> Template menu? I mean, what is  a "Template" (or "Layout" as it is named in the code and in
>> some  screens)?
>> I understand that it is a content record associated to subcontent  records... but I don't understand its peculiarity and what was
>> the  initial goal for it.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Jacopo
>>
>