What is your experience with clients' view on working in Textpattern?

Mr. Smith · 2008-01-18 20:04:54

Hi,

Do your clients find it easy to navigate and use the back end of Textpattern?

To me it’s easy to create a section, then post an article in this section and finally add a link in the page template. But what about clients that don’t know how (or dare) to edit the page template? Are there any plugins that make creation of pages and subsequently update a site’s navigation easier or more logical for a non-technical user?

Thanks. :-)

jm · 2008-01-18 20:45:07

Are you talking about updating primary navigation like links to sections (eg. /about, /news, etc)? Or secondary (like /about/some-post)? Either way, definitely use article (and article_custom), category, and section lists. I generally use <txp:section_list /> for primary nav. If that won’t work, then I’ll hardcode the HTML and use <txp:section />. I use article and article_custom for links to articles – clients never touch page and form templates for simple updates.

Mr. Smith · 2008-01-18 20:58:05

I’m talking about primary navigation. The thing is, I find creating new pages (sections and articles) and the subsequent updating of the primary navigation to be quite technical in Textpattern, so I was just wondering if there’s a plugin or some other easier way to do this. I mean, it’s easy enough for me as I’ve build the web site, but if someone else should maintain it, it asks for a certain amount of technical understanding. I’ve seen other CMS’ where creation, maintenance and the ordering of navigation is way easier.

I like Textpattern, but wish that it was easier for non-textpattern-people to maintain a site. Maybe I’m just overprotective. :-)

lee · 2008-01-18 22:29:30

For none blog sites I put the pri nav in sections and the sub nav in categories. The client then just has to add a new category to create an new sub nav and the use the write tab to put an article in it. They have to call me for a new section.

jakob · 2008-01-18 22:45:53

I do more or less the same as lee and try and structure the site so that new sections rarely need adding. On smaller sites, the sub-navigation within a section is sometimes the same as the list of articles and I’ll build the sub-nav as a list of titles (or a custom field for the menu item if the title is very long). When a new article is added, the sub-nav extends then on its own.

If you need to allow the end user to add new sections, then Jon-Michael’s tip to use <txp:section_list /> or another plug-in that automatically builds the menu is good as your main nav will automatically update when a new section is added. That way the authors don’t need to access the page-templates or forms at all.

Mr. Smith · 2008-01-19 09:52:15

I understand the cleverness of using <txp:section_list />, but it would be nicer if you somehow could choose the order, which items to include and exclude etc. without having to fiddle with tags and templates.

Thank you for your considerations.

lee · 2008-01-19 10:09:52

Mr. Smith wrote:

I understand the cleverness of using <txp:section_list />, but it would be nicer if you somehow could choose the order, which items to include and exclude etc. without having to fiddle with tags and templates.

I always use http://textpattern.org/plugins/636/cbs_navigation_menu for section menus

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#1 2008-01-18 20:04:54

What is your experience with clients' view on working in Textpattern?

#2 2008-01-18 20:45:07

Re: What is your experience with clients' view on working in Textpattern?

#3 2008-01-18 20:58:05

Re: What is your experience with clients' view on working in Textpattern?

#4 2008-01-18 22:29:30

Re: What is your experience with clients' view on working in Textpattern?

#5 2008-01-18 22:45:53

Re: What is your experience with clients' view on working in Textpattern?

#6 2008-01-19 09:52:15

Re: What is your experience with clients' view on working in Textpattern?

#7 2008-01-19 10:09:52

Re: What is your experience with clients' view on working in Textpattern?

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