Thread

Hi everybody,

I’m about to start a new EE project, and trying to figure out if I should implement an SAEF for the clients to make entries in (things like portfolio items, news, bios, etc…). In previous projects, I’ve just given clients direct access to a feature-limited control panel.

So, have at it—why do you use an SAEF instead of just feature-limiting the control panel? Is it the kind of entry/custom fields? The expertise of the client? Something else?

Thanks in advance.

-Matt

One of my first projects with EE was a little complex, being member based and so on. The client was not super computer-literate so they started calling me to make the changes even though I did a very thorough guide with images and such (this was giving them a limited CP).

Then there are clients that even though you write a guide and make everything work nice with SAE(entry)F and SAE(edit)F forms, they forget that they paid the extra $250 and that you set up their site so they can edit it and call you to do the changes still call to have the web dev guy make the changes.(run on sentence ? )

For a while I was making SAEF’s for most of my sites so clients wouldn’t have to know there is a control panel even. These were simple sites. I found that far too much work. Now I just give them access to the CP and limit them, write a guide and put edit links to the CP and maybe publish links to the CP on the front end just in case.

I think I would just use a SAEF now in special circumstances, not for the person who regularly updates the site.

I generally use them when computer novices will be entering content or when different member groups have access to different (limited) weblogs. The CP (even when limited) sometimes overwhelms or scares some off.

Thanks for the replies. It seems like both of your biggest reasons for the SAEF is to just simplify for clients, then. I’m about to engage with a new client and am still not sure what route to use. I’m leaning towards limited control panel, though, just so there’s less places where things can break and because some extensions don’t play nicely with the SAEF. Still have to think a bit more.

I am using SAEF to add convenience and control appearance. I am not too worried about the control panel being intimidating, because I expect to train the administrators. But I am re-creating an existing event calendar that is heavily used. I need a much more compact layout than what’s in the control panel, because I have many fields. I also have extra stuff on the existing entry/edit form: I show two months worth of events for reference, have links for navigation (Feb-Mar 2008, etc.), and make it easy to clone an existing entry.

It’s somewhat convoluted to do this with the existing SAEF and Form Helper mechanisms. It would be great if EE 2.0 made it possible to do it just in the control panel (or had a fancier SAEF mechanism).