Thread

Hi,

I’m new to EE (so let me know if I’ve posted in the wrong place) and am just about to start building my new portfolio site using EE as its back end. I’ve just completed the EE2 a Quick Start Guide course by Ryan Irelan and plan to use EE for many sites going forward. Unfortunately before I get to that stage I have a few beginner type questions that I’d really appreciate some advice on to make sure that I get off on the correct footing.

My new site is a fairly typical Home>Services>Approach>Portfolio>Blog set up. Here are my hopefully not too stupid questions.

1) For pages such as Services and Approach is it best to use a static page for these or create a dedicated channel for each with the associated fields and then pull the data in via the templates from the correct channel? There will be around 4 headings on each of these pages each with a paragraph of text beneath. It’s possible that more will be added over time so I’m thinking non static is best, does that sound sensible?

2) On the workflow side of things (sorry very new to this) if I’m working with templates as files is it best to create a full static HTML page first and then break it down into the relevant parts to place into my “include” templates? An example of what an experienced workflow looks like would be much appreciated to get me up and running correctly.

3) I’ve been using Dreamweaver CS5 for a couple of years to build static sites mainly as a code editor for HTML & CSS. Will this be bad for my workflow when working on EE projects? Is there something I should be using that will make working with EE a more efficient process?

4) Many of my sites are in English & French, static sites to date have had the usual flag that when clicked directs the visitor to the new physical page. My new site must have this functionality as will many client sites in future. What’s the recognized way of doing this with EE so when the flag is clicked for FRENCH the French text is pulled from the database.

Sorry if the questions are a little on the basic side but I’m determined to set off in the right direction with this.

Many thanks

Regards

Rob

Hi Rob,

I’m not the best authority on these questions, but I can give you my version of things. There are different ways to do things depending on what works best for you.

For pages such as Services and Approach is it best to use a static page for these or create a dedicated channel for each with the associated fields and then pull the data in via the templates from the correct channel…..

I try never to have static pages, so I always create a channel for any page or chunk of information, no matter how small.

On the workflow side of things (sorry very new to this) if I’m working with templates as files is it best to create a full static HTML page first and then break it down into the relevant parts to place into my “include” templates? An example of what an experienced workflow looks like would be much appreciated to get me up and running correctly.

I first layout what will be the main type of page for site, and then once I have the design, I bring it into EE and save as a file. Then I start cutting up the chunks (like the top of document, header, navigation, footer, etc) into snippets or embeds, and then add in the content code etc. I’m not sure what you mean by “include” templates, though.

I’ve been using Dreamweaver CS5 for a couple of years to build static sites mainly as a code editor for HTML & CSS. Will this be bad for my workflow when working on EE projects? Is there something I should be using that will make working with EE a more efficient process?

At the beginning I was using Dreamweaver but found it very clunky (although that was CS3). My preferred method is saving the templates as files, and then working on them in Coda (I think Coda is really great, especially if you like handcoding, and it integrates with EE and local or live development really well). I also use CSSEdit, but I believe that it is no longer available as a stand-alone.

Unfortunately, I don’t have experience with bilingual sites, but I know there is some info in these forums about it.

Good luck!

Hi,

Good advice and thanks for the quick response. You have pretty much confirmed what I had in my head especially around the workflow side of things. It’s good to make sure you’re not reinventing the wheel when you start out on something new (and important!) like this.

When you use Coda I’m presuming that you have some way of previewing the code in your browsers to take advantage of Firebug etc? Also when you mention that Coda is integrated with EE does it offer code completion etc for the EE tags to remove the monotony of entering everything without auto complete type of feature? It would be very helpful to know not to mention help remove errors!

Finally sorry for my error - I meant embeds when I used the “includes” word. I guess it’ll take me some time to get used to the terminology as well.

Thanks again for taking the time to help me out.

Cheers

Rob

Hi Rob

You might like to look at Espresso, it also has an EE2 bundle but I’m not sure how complete it is.

Like you I do a lot of bi/multi lingual sites, only one done in EE though. There are a few solutions for bilingual sites, I’ll try to find the time to look up the URLs in my notes.

I’m using a “full fat” solution for one of the sites I’m developing at the moment: EE2 with multisite manager and MSM compatible hosting. The English site will be at http://www.thedomain.co.uk and the French at francais.thedomain.co.uk. We’re using this solution because the site is large and complex, it will not be possible for the client to add French content every time they create/edit an English entry. It will also allow the 2 versions of the site to grow organically and independently of each other. Like so much in EE, it’s not the right solution for every situation - I’ll try and look out the other info for you.

Hi Martin,

Many thanks for the information and it would be great if you could send over any quality links that you may have for bi lingual sites. I’ve been looking at Transcribe and also http://www.putyourlightson.net/multi-language-module which is a lot cheaper but it isn’t obvious for me to tell if the client will be able to update entries in the CP for both languages at the same time.

Cheers

Rob

When you use Coda I’m presuming that you have some way of previewing the code in your browsers to take advantage of Firebug etc? Also when you mention that Coda is integrated with EE does it offer code completion etc for the EE tags to remove the monotony of entering everything without auto complete type of feature? It would be very helpful to know not to mention help remove errors!

Actually, Coda has a nice preview feature in a browser of your choosing pretty much, so I don’t use Firebug in the initial development process. I don’t think Coda has EE code completion, but it does have snippets (or whatever they’re called) for EE. And there are various EE addons you can get for it.

Thanks for the information - I’ll take a look at it sometime soon.

Regards

Rob

Hi Rob

The solution we used for the EE bilingual site is documented here: http://expressionengine.com/wiki/Multi_language_site_alternative/

It was written for EE1 and there are some corrections for EE2 at the end.

Regarding Transcribe and http://www.putyourlightson.net/multi-language-module - if you buy them through devot:ee you have a 30 day money back offer, no questions asked. I purchased 2 add-ons to evaluate a few weeks ago and “returned” the add-on I didn’t finally use. Brilliant service from them and from the add-on developers, it’s one reason why I’m using EE more and more - people are so helpful.

Hi Martin,

How did you find the http://expressionengine.com/wiki/Multi_language_site_alternative/ for making changes to the data via the CP? I’m presuming that you just have a for example a way of adding the language specific title and any custom fields on the same publish form? Dumb questions I’m sure but I’d like to ensure that data entry for my clients is streamlined…

How did you find it for ease of use once implemented?

I’d have to agree with you, the help and advice has been very impressive to date and it’s really helped me to justify using EE on client projects going forward.

Cheers

Rob

I just came upon this thread and though it was worth mentioning that if you pick up Transcribe (Product: Transcribe,  demo video: ) we are happy to offer you a 45 day return period if the product doesn’t meet your needs.

Transcribe was birthed out of a desire to make the creation of multi-language sites much easier in ExpressionEngine (after taking standard approaches many times and finding it a bit lacking).  We also developed it in a manor that your content does not have to be identical between languages.

Hi Tom,

Many thanks for getting back to me. I actually looked at your product as a part of my evaluation process and it’s up there on the list for two projects I currently have I the pipeline.  I do have a specific question right now that would help me out.  Is Transcribe compatible with http://exp-resso.com/store? I have just signed a contract on an ecommerce system that will quire the store element of the site to be in both English and French. I would need all product descriptions, supporting data, drop downs and just abo it anything else you can think of to be in both languages.

I look forward to hearing from you

Cheers

Rob

Hi Rob,

Great question.  Although I haven’t personally tested it I do know there’s a site or two running both Store and Transcribe in unison and I haven’t heard any bad reports on it.

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the initial heads up.

Is there any chance you putting me in touch with these sites as a point of reference? It would be very helpful to avoid any pitfalls that others have already worked out.

Cheers

Rob

Just sent you a PM.