Why CMSMS really needs inline editing/in-place editing

[10010110]

This looks indeed very promising. That’s something I’ve wanted for a while already. And while searching for a CMS with front-end inline editor I’ve found Concrete5 which looks promising, too (I haven’t used it extensively yet). This may be something you can get some inspiration from, Jeremy.

However, the entire focus of Concrete5 is more the low-brow end user with few web development knowledge (if at all). I don’t know if that’s the direction CMS Made Simple wants to go.
But still, this can be very useful if it’s implemented properly. I hope, Jeremy, you’ll stick to the approach of progressive enhancement as much as possible.

Keep up the great work!

[SeLfkiLL]

However, the entire focus of Concrete5 is more the low-brow end user with few web development knowledge (if at all). I don’t know if that’s the direction CMS Made Simple wants to go.

I am a web programmer with extensive experience in HTML and PHP (and I would most likely be trying to implement this feature myself if I had more knowledge about the internals of CMSMS and more time). However, I would find this feature very useful even with my background knowledge, just as much as any user would.

The big selling point of this feature is the idea of making it convenient and more visually simpler for end users to work with content within their site's layout. Even if someone doesn't like this feature, I don't think it'd be too hard to have it as an option so a user can switch between this feature and the old way of creating pages... similar to how there is a choice in CMSMS to work with content by writing it in a WYSIWIG editor or inputting raw HTML directly into a text area (via user settings).

[Deak]

SiteFinity's editing, managing, and building of pages is the best of all content management systems. Nothing touches it. Not even close.

[Dr.CSS]

@SeLfkiLL

There is a preview pane when editing content/pages, it used to not work so well like with multiple content blocks but it has been reworked to show everything now, you had stated earlier "My suggestion would be to create a section from within the admin backend to navigate to the page you want to edit and then simply have the edit toolbars load in one frame at top and the actual page load in another frame below." this is almost the same as the preview tab...

[SeLfkiLL]

Almost, but it doesn't allow editing of content inline, which is the most important feature. That's what takes editing a web page from the clunky way it is done now in CMSMS, to one step closer of making it feel more natural, as if you are editing the website, not just the content.

[replytomk3]

I am strangely not attracted to the idea. Perhaps because based on my experience with tinymce I think it will require much more "simplification" of the editor.

[Dr.CSS]

Look you get the basic framework with CMS Made Simple, you want to do more with it, look to see if there is a module for this or make one, the system is a core framework not an everything for everybody, that's the idea of modules, it would be impossible to do everything everybody wanted...

You want inline editing the next guy wants forums as a core module, sorry it is what it is...

[SeLfkiLL]

I am strangely not attracted to the idea. Perhaps because based on my experience with tinymce I think it will require much more "simplification" of the editor.

How? The editor doesn't have to be integrated into editable fields (e.g. Sitefinity or concrete5 don't do this). You can even have the editor buttons in one frame, while in the display frame the edit fields stay just simple (WYSIWYG) text fields.

Look you get the basic framework with CMS Made Simple, you want to do more with it, look to see if there is a module for this or make one, the system is a core framework not an everything for everybody, that's the idea of modules, it would be impossible to do everything everybody wanted...

You want inline editing the next guy wants forums as a core module, sorry it is what it is...

It is what it is? I thought this was the feature request forum...

I'm not asking for a forum module, I'm asking for an improvement to CMSMS that would get it up to speed with the trend that content management systems are going. I'm not sure what you have against such a feature, but it doesn't really seem like you understand it or have even read through this thread.

[replytomk3]

We have both read the thread and understand your point.

It is simply the fact that the resources of the development team go to more important tasks. As simple as that.

In other words, the features that time is spent on are: http://forum.cmsmadesimple.org/index.php/topic,35894.0.html

I have tried inline editing. Nothing groundbreaking, sorry.

[Jeff]

http://dev.cmsmadesimple.org/projects/inlineedit
http://dev.cmsmadesimple.org/projects/editbtn

I don't know the status of these but both of them deal with inline editing (I believe).

[SeLfkiLL]

We have both read the thread and understand your point.

It is simply the fact that the resources of the development team go to more important tasks. As simple as that.

In other words, the features that time is spent on are: http://forum.cmsmadesimple.org/index.php/topic,35894.0.html

I have tried inline editing. Nothing groundbreaking, sorry.

I never said you didn't read the thread or understand the point, I said Dr. CSS didn't. When comments such as "see if there is a module for this or make one" are said when both have already been talked about in this thread, it looks kind of shallow.

But anyway, if nobody is interested, I guess I won't bother trying to promote or explain this idea anymore. It's of small consequence to me but of large consequence to the future of CMSMS (in my opinion only, of course). Everyone wants simplicity, and that--I thought--was the original goal of CMS Made Simple. Instead, it looks like it's becoming more of a development framework, and there's plenty of those around.

http://dev.cmsmadesimple.org/projects/inlineedit
http://dev.cmsmadesimple.org/projects/editbtn

I don't know the status of these but both of them deal with inline editing (I believe).

Unfortunately, they're both dead projects that I've looked into already.

[replytomk3]

Instead, it looks like it's becoming more of a development framework, and there's plenty of those around.

Now, that is something we really DON'T need.