Textpattern CMS support forum
You are not logged in. Register | Login | Help
- Topics: Active | Unanswered
What features would you take from ExpressionEngine
Recently I worked for the first time (!) in ExpressionEngine.
I’d like to know what features would you like to take from it and integrate them in future versions of Textpattern.
Personally I like the custom field system of EE (fields group, required fields etc…) and the way to customize the entry page.
What’s yours?
Offline
Re: What features would you take from ExpressionEngine
In addition to seconding your suggestion of custom fields, which makes formatting content at a greater granulaity a real boon, esp for content providers (editors), It would be nice to have:
A) editing of the templates natively outside the DB or alternatively a Mountee ( hellomountee.com ) like solution.
&
B) some greater intergration of a number of plugins into the core.
I am in the process of starting a new web site for a friend in Italy using TxP and one feature that would be nice is the ability to have a custom field or two for him to easily add a photos from the main article input area.
ps. I have used EE since it’s pMachine days and also Textpattern since its early Dean days.
…. texted postive
Offline
Re: What features would you take from ExpressionEngine
Better custom field features in core are coming in Textpattern 4.6, which hopefully won’t be as long to wait as the period between 4.4.1 and 4.5.
Customising the write page fields/order will probably be more feasible when we move the HTML to a more modern structure at 4.6 (a lot of groundwork has already been laid at 4.5 to make this easier).
I too have also called for the option of storing template files outside of the database as a pref toggle but we’ll see if that materialises at some point, not my field.
What plugins exactly do you think should be in core then, theoretically?
Last edited by philwareham (2012-07-23 19:16:32)
Offline
Re: What features would you take from ExpressionEngine
Hi Phil –
Good news about Custom Fields and the Write area. I am looking forward to these features.
As for plugins I am not the best person to suggest which should be in the Core as I try to use as little of them as possible as i don’t like to become dependent on possible orphaned plugins which will break a site with a new release of TxP.
bot_privs – which basically has a greater granularity of access/ editing privileges
EBLimage editing/uploading pre-formatting / thumbnail Crop styles and upm_image
contact forms
cbs_category_list categories and subcategories should be in Core if at all possible
rvm_if_this_article and any others that use conditional for selection of Articles and Categories sections.
just my 2cents
looking very much forward to 4.5!
…. texted postive
Offline
Re: What features would you take from ExpressionEngine
@bici
Totally agree on the contact forms, that should be in the core of any CMS as standard. Doubt the image editing stuff will ever be core though – that really is plugin territory.
Offline
Re: What features would you take from ExpressionEngine
There is a middle ground that I think deserves consideration – core plugins. It’s a best-of-both-worlds approach, allowing the core to be kept “lean & mean” while still incorporating important functionality via plugins without the usual “orphan risk.” (Core plugins are maintained by the core team and included with the core product download).
This approach also allows users to strip out unneeded functionality, if desired, in a completely safe manner.
BTW, re contact forms, I’m planning on porting my Escher form plugin over to Txp. It is capable of handling practically any type of form – not just contact forms – including multi-step forms and multiple forms per page.
Offline
Re: What features would you take from ExpressionEngine
Sam – sounds interesting :)
Offline
Re: What features would you take from ExpressionEngine
@sam
Yes please! If there were a bunch of core plugins that could be turned on/off as required, that would be a huge step forward for textpattern. Also means I could control the look and feel of them in themes better.
Offline
#9 2012-07-24 07:57:08
- Algaris
- Member
- From: England
- Registered: 2006-01-27
- Posts: 535
Re: What features would you take from ExpressionEngine
philwareham wrote:
I too have also called for the option of storing template files outside of the database as a pref toggle but we’ll see if that materialises at some point, not my field. What plugins exactly do you think should be in core then, theoretically?
I would be very happy if this was to become part of the core or a core plugin. I use the cnk_versioning plugin for every site I work on, which is unfortunately orphaned. For the moment it seems to be surviving on patches from the community but who’s to say it won’t fundamentally break with some future release?
As for (other) plugins I’d like to see in the core?
adi_link I’d really like to be able to do this natively <txp:adi_link id="21" /> in the same way that I use Textpattern’s image or article tags.
rss_unlimited_categories Unlimited categories across articles, images, files and links, etc. is the holy grail for me and the one thing I always keep banging my head against with every Textpattern site I work on.
I do like the sound of core plugins as one of my main concerns regarding Textpattern is becoming too reliant on plugins, only for them to become orphaned and eventually break.
Offline
#10 2012-07-24 08:50:49
- Dimitri
- Member
- From: Johannesburg
- Registered: 2010-10-31
- Posts: 129
Re: What features would you take from ExpressionEngine
Hi All.
I am experienced in EE. I must say it is pathetic for Txp not to have any advanced search plugin.
Expressionengine have a great one built in or this one Super Search
This would be great to have unlimited custom field duplicates per entry. Great for building a menu or table
Matrix
Awesome, flexible menu builder for clients, would be easy to add section and custom article path for this feature.
Taxonomy
<txp:way_too_cool />
Offline
Re: What features would you take from ExpressionEngine
Stef is mulling over the multiple categories (and subsections) problem. So maybe one day…
I’ve raised an issue for the link ID, I didn’t even realise you couldn’t do that at the moment, since both <txp:image /> and <txp:file /> both allow for an id attribute
Offline
Re: What features would you take from ExpressionEngine
@Dimitri
I’m not sure ‘pathetic’ is the right word to use – we are not charging you up to $299 per install after all. Maybe if we were then that feature would be here right here right now.
Offline