News-Feeds:
Make Sysfolder appears as Web Module ?
Idea for a new feature aimed at simplifying the BE.
Screenshot with prefs and simulation as module. All fake.
Before making this suggestion in the bugtracker for 4.3, I wanted to get some input from you. Here's the idea:
Feature: Make Sysfolder appears as Web Module
Scenario: Simplification for tt_news editors.
For someone new to TYPO3, having to select a sysfolder in "list mode" is a bit strange at first. Why isn't a module, why is it mixed with pages ? It's not intuitive to first select "List" then navigate the pagetree to find where the news records are "hidden".
Solution: Make Sysfolder appears as Web Module
By adding 2 checkboxes and a selection list as seen in screenshot 1.
When choosing to check the first one, the sysfolder disappear from the pagetree for anyone not being an admin of the installation. This could be reverted by checking "Unhide sysfolder for non-admin" or some UserTS (like for DAM).
The idea of the feature is to hide the sysfolder and change its virtual position as a Web Module in the left panel.
Here's what happen to edit news (screenshot 2):
- Click on the News module on the left
(name from the sysfolder or navigation title or whatever) - Pagetree is hidden/removed
(records in sysfolder are not part of the tree) - Switch to "List view"
- Tabs for each subfolders appears in the right pane.
(checking "Use pagetree instead of tabs" just remove steps 2 and 4)
With all this, people won't need the pagetree to find records sometimes hidden under many levels of sysfolders. The "real" full pagetree is still there for Admins.
Does all of this make sense to you? Is it worth the effort to code this feature to help Editors in their job? Note that Krystian Szymukowicz gave me some hints to partly do it using "sys_actions" and some TS in the HCI list. But anyway, I wanted to share this one...
I mentioned tt_news but almost all extensions that needs records could use this feature and I can see extensions with multiple tables getting easier to use by making the visible link table=tab instead of listview with multiple tables on the same sysfolder.
Patrick "sysfolder" Gaumond
- Links:
- support.typo3.org/index.php
comments
March 22, 2008
15:45
Then the User opens his task-center and will find the custom configured entries like "edit news", "create new event" or whatever actions you configure. We used this extensively (900 action) for a huge site with 450 sysfolders. it was logically and easy for the editors, who never had to search for "their" sysfolders but simply found their task-related action-button.
btw. another (IMHO not so good) option I saw recently somehwere is to use named shortcuts (like "edit news") to list-modus view of any given sysfolder.
March 27, 2008
18:28
> For someone new to TYPO3, having to select a sysfolder
> in "list mode" is a bit strange at first.
I do agree with that. And I like your idea to shorten the way the user access the information.
I was wondering if the screenshots come from a prototype already or from a third program.
March 28, 2008
18:30
I used the great Windows Freeware "FastStone Capture 5.3" (versions after that one aren't freeware) to get my basic screens. What is great about this screencapture is the builtin Editor and "Capture Scrolling Window" ability.
http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=775
Patrick
April 1, 2008
16:45
this is exactly the same problem I recognized on training customers. So I started programming a module for the task-center providing an easy way for editing news, addresses, calendars etc.
I hope I will finish within the next weeks.
Hang on!
Mischa
April 12, 2008
16:29
I dont recall one, however the following might get you started:
- install EXT sys_actions
- goto the rootpage (globe) create a new sys_action
- choose one fo the four types: most usable: list-records & create records,
- choose the PID of the records (eg. news folder), choose the type of records (news), allow a BE-Usergroup access to this action and name the action meaningful "create new news";
- then login as that BE-User and goto taskcenter actions, click the link; voila; DONE (all without 1 line of code or config);
hth, regards georg
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I promote this idea for sure, but I don't see a need for any simple db_table-to-frontend-extensions like tt_news. However for all more complicated db-driven extensions this would be a really nice feature! And for all the extensions which need sysfolders by design...