Feature suggestion: sections
Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 2:56 pm
Guys,
this is something I've been meaning to suggest/request for quite a while now. It's just kind of hard to describe without being too confusing, so please bear with me here
I'd like to see a concept implemented which is probably described best as "sections". A section would be a structural entity within s9y which in my humble opinion would really take the possibilities to another level, especially in terms of, wait for it, automatic generation of navigational elements.
A section is supposed to be some kind of abstract "container" assembling elements of a given s9y blog. The obvious elements which come to mind are entry categories and static pages, but it might come in handy to be able to assign other elements to a section as well -- HTML nuggets, FAQ
categories, categories in the download manager etc.
The potential power of this lies within automatically generated navigational elements. One could divide a blog into, say, three sections and have one element (a static page, a category) assigned to be the "start page" for a particular section. Then we'd (probably) need one or more sidebar plugins to emit the related elements of that section, i.e. emit a list of only those categories assigned to it.
I can imagine three szenarios which could really benefit from this concept:
1. multiple-topic blogs: I actually have one of those myself. I blog about various stuff, but I don't think many of my readers are interested in all of it. Sections would make it much easier for people to read just what they're actually interested in.
2. multi-user blog: Simple. Just assign a section per user.
3. corporate blogs/s9y as a CMS: This is where the concept actually is adapted from. I have done some of those for clients, and it is a real pain in the ass to hard-code that kind of navigation. Also really tough to maintain.
Now, I can't really estimate how hard this would be to implement -- that would be Garvin's call, I guess. I also have no idea whether this should be a core functionality (probably not, since it's not a typical blog feature) or whether (and how) it is possible to implement this as a plugin. It would probably have to be integrated into existing plugins as well (static pages, categories plugin etc.). I also realize we have a similar functionality with related categories in the static pages plugin, but I don't think those work quite as well.
So, insane or great idea?
YL
this is something I've been meaning to suggest/request for quite a while now. It's just kind of hard to describe without being too confusing, so please bear with me here
I'd like to see a concept implemented which is probably described best as "sections". A section would be a structural entity within s9y which in my humble opinion would really take the possibilities to another level, especially in terms of, wait for it, automatic generation of navigational elements.
A section is supposed to be some kind of abstract "container" assembling elements of a given s9y blog. The obvious elements which come to mind are entry categories and static pages, but it might come in handy to be able to assign other elements to a section as well -- HTML nuggets, FAQ
categories, categories in the download manager etc.
The potential power of this lies within automatically generated navigational elements. One could divide a blog into, say, three sections and have one element (a static page, a category) assigned to be the "start page" for a particular section. Then we'd (probably) need one or more sidebar plugins to emit the related elements of that section, i.e. emit a list of only those categories assigned to it.
I can imagine three szenarios which could really benefit from this concept:
1. multiple-topic blogs: I actually have one of those myself. I blog about various stuff, but I don't think many of my readers are interested in all of it. Sections would make it much easier for people to read just what they're actually interested in.
2. multi-user blog: Simple. Just assign a section per user.
3. corporate blogs/s9y as a CMS: This is where the concept actually is adapted from. I have done some of those for clients, and it is a real pain in the ass to hard-code that kind of navigation. Also really tough to maintain.
Now, I can't really estimate how hard this would be to implement -- that would be Garvin's call, I guess. I also have no idea whether this should be a core functionality (probably not, since it's not a typical blog feature) or whether (and how) it is possible to implement this as a plugin. It would probably have to be integrated into existing plugins as well (static pages, categories plugin etc.). I also realize we have a similar functionality with related categories in the static pages plugin, but I don't think those work quite as well.
So, insane or great idea?
YL