Thread

Got a couple pages in a layout I’m having trouble thinking the best way to build it…

Exp: Home page has a 1-2 sentence message at the top that needs to be editable, but the rest of the copy and stuff on the homepage is pulled from other weblogs on the site or are global variables like address and stuff.

So with that, my question is:

1) Do I build the home as a weblog and show limit=1 entries and they just keep editing that one post if they want to edit the homepage copy.

2) Do I build the home as a page with the page module and let them go with the big textarea?  But if you build pages with the page module can you put other weblogs on that page like under where the page copy would be displayed?

Hope thats sorta clear lol…

To tell you the truth I’ve never really found a use for the Pages module. My homepage is just a template that pulls info from many different weblogs. I personally think the first option is correct for what you need.

okay but what do you do for pages with only copy… kind of like a static page but all paragraphs and maybe a couple headers… ?  That needs to be editable by client?

Why not simply create an entry in one of your weblogs with a title like “Home page intro text” and then, in the index template, simply call it by entry_id?

Then, your client just edits that one little entry with their few lines of text, and they’re done.

yeah, that was option 1 essentially.

I always have a blog called “snippets” or “miscellaneous content”—for holding copyright dates/footer text, addresses, search results messages etc—any little chunk of text that I want clients to be able to edit but doesn’t necessarily fit into a weblog dedicated to one section of the site.

I call them with url_title vs. entry_id though- keeps the code more readable and is maybe just a shade easier to get working again should the client accidentally delete the entry.

I call them with url_title vs. entry_id though- keeps the code more readable and is maybe just a shade easier to get working again should the client accidentally delete the entry.

As per Michael and a lot of other people on here I just go with using a weblog for holding ‘static’ types of data but I personally prefer to call them by using the entry_id instead. I find that a lot of the time clients like to change the url_title even though I tell them not to!! 😉

Using entry_id negates this problem as the entry_id will never change, that is of course unless they go and delete the entry itself!!

Therefore I usually use a global variable to hold the entry_id(s) and then if required (if a client does delete the entry - not happened yet thankfully 😉 ) I can just update that global variable and it is used within the entry_id=”{global_variable_here}” parameter and all works very quickly again.

I usually just put this method into place anyway just in case.

No one way is better than the other though. With what Michael has said this is definitely better if they delete the entry as all you have to do is re-create it with the same title again and it will work straight away although you may find yourself having to go through template code just to find out what it was called if you can’t remember it off the top of your head.

My way using entry_id is great as well as long as the client doesn’t delete the entry. Both have their merits as far as I can see. Up to the individual really.

Also using my method you can prevent against a client from deleting the entry in a few different ways. One of them being if they use a Stand-Alone Edit form. That way they can edit the entry to their hearts content but not actually delete it so a win-win situation there. 😊

Best wishes,

Mark

It’s hard to change the url_title if the field is hidden…. 😉

Well yep there is that method too 😉

I just prefer not to have so much code in the templates. Admittedly a URL title in a template is easier to read but if I want lots of them then my template can very quickly start to look very overwhelming such as :

{exp:weblog:entries weblog="default_site" url_title="this_is_my_first_entry_title|this_is_the_second_url_title|this_is_the_third_title|my_fourth_entry_title|the_sixth_in_a_long_line|seventh_entry_title_here|my_last_example_title"}

as opposed to :

{exp:weblog:entries weblog="default_site" entry_id="1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8"}

Just me though. As Michael has said though you can always hide the url_title field to prevent this.

The only problem I would see with the url_title method is that if someone has a page bookmarked such as :

http://www.example.com/blog/details/my_post_title

If you do have the URL title field hidden but someone goes and changes the actual title of the entry then the URL title is going to change to reflect it anyway so in effect they will have still changed the url_title field. Just hiding it doesn’t stop it from changing.

Just a thought though.

Best wishes,

Mark

Sorry - I thought we were talking about small chunks of content that are getting pulled one by one basis to other pages, not content that would ever show at it’s own URL.

If the content is going to show at it’s own URL then I wouldn’t hide the url_title either, but then again the content wouldn’t be stored in the miscellaneous_content weblog.

I just tell clients not to change the titles of content in that weblog.  So far I’ve only ever had one client delete an entry by mistake, and fixing it was only a matter of minutes.

Sorry - I thought we were talking about small chunks of content that are getting pulled one by one basis to other pages, not content that would ever show at it’s own URL.

You are totally correct - I guess we were. I just thought it might be nice to show a different outlook on things in case anyone decides to use the same method in a much more involved way.

If the content is going to show at it’s own URL then I wouldn’t hide the url_title either, but then again the content wouldn’t be stored in the miscellaneous_content weblog.

I just tell clients not to change the titles of content in that weblog.  So far I’ve only ever had one client delete an entry by mistake, and fixing it was only a matter of minutes.

Absolutely agree with that one 😉

Best wishes,

Mark

nice, interesting convo and thanks all for the responses.

In this case, yes, I’m only pulling small chunks of info into templates and in other areas looking to pull small chunks of info (like 1 or sentances) onto a static page built with the pages module.  Just wasn’t sure how to do the latter.