Why CMSMS really needs inline editing/in-place editing
Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 6:32 pm
I'm sure the idea of having some kind of inline editor has been thrown around here before. However, I think a feature such as this is the inevitable future for content management systems. Thus, I suggest CMSMS be the first content management system to officially implement it and I have some ideas of how to do it.
What is an inline editor?
Before I dive into the implementation, let's discuss some background for inline editing for those who are new to this idea. Inline editing is the concept of being able to edit content on a page directly as it is, without having to view the content in a separate editor outside of its template. This allows for greater control over how the content will look visually as it is on a page. Additionally, it allows more rapid development as the content writer does not have to keep saving/reloading pages as they are being worked on to check how it looks in their final form. Several concepts of this in action can be viewed here: http://24ways.org/2005/edit-in-place-with-ajax and here: http://tool-man.org/examples/edit-in-place.html
How should this be implemented with CMSMS?
Since the theme around here seems to be simplicity, I have put together a simple solution. 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. Then an admin can hover over areas where there is content, simply click that area to edit it and that content will automatically turn into an editable area. All the content will have to turn back into its original form (raw from the database I assume, un-parsed by CMSMS or Smarty) to be edited. I'd suggest using something like http://nicedit.com/demos.php?demo=4 for the WYSIWYG editor (unless TinyMCE/FCKEditor has similar inline editing functionality).
Once an admin has finished editing their content, they simple click "Save" on the top toolbar and the editable area disappears. The content is then sent AJAX style to be re-processed and then sent back to the browser so it can be viewed as it should look.
Final Thoughts
Since CMSMS is positioned to be the most easy and intuitive content management system to use, I believe this is the next logical step for CMSMS to take to progress its role. Not only would this feature further continue its goal of simplicity, it would also boost its ability to compete and help become a leading open source content management system. No other major content management system has such a genuinely needed feature and I'd love to see it become an additional selling point for CMSMS's to complement its already existing array of great features.
What is an inline editor?
Before I dive into the implementation, let's discuss some background for inline editing for those who are new to this idea. Inline editing is the concept of being able to edit content on a page directly as it is, without having to view the content in a separate editor outside of its template. This allows for greater control over how the content will look visually as it is on a page. Additionally, it allows more rapid development as the content writer does not have to keep saving/reloading pages as they are being worked on to check how it looks in their final form. Several concepts of this in action can be viewed here: http://24ways.org/2005/edit-in-place-with-ajax and here: http://tool-man.org/examples/edit-in-place.html
How should this be implemented with CMSMS?
Since the theme around here seems to be simplicity, I have put together a simple solution. 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. Then an admin can hover over areas where there is content, simply click that area to edit it and that content will automatically turn into an editable area. All the content will have to turn back into its original form (raw from the database I assume, un-parsed by CMSMS or Smarty) to be edited. I'd suggest using something like http://nicedit.com/demos.php?demo=4 for the WYSIWYG editor (unless TinyMCE/FCKEditor has similar inline editing functionality).
Once an admin has finished editing their content, they simple click "Save" on the top toolbar and the editable area disappears. The content is then sent AJAX style to be re-processed and then sent back to the browser so it can be viewed as it should look.
Final Thoughts
Since CMSMS is positioned to be the most easy and intuitive content management system to use, I believe this is the next logical step for CMSMS to take to progress its role. Not only would this feature further continue its goal of simplicity, it would also boost its ability to compete and help become a leading open source content management system. No other major content management system has such a genuinely needed feature and I'd love to see it become an additional selling point for CMSMS's to complement its already existing array of great features.
