I wasn't really sure what to call this topic, but hopefully from my description you understand what I am wanting to achieve, and will be able to advise on whether there is a preferred method of achieving the goal.
A scenario could be that I want to store a list of locations, and I want non-technical editors to be able to add, update and remove locations from the system, the idea being they will do this via the Umbraco backend if possible.
A location would have a name, logo, zip code, and some GPS co-ordinates. I can easily create a document type that has these various properties. However, I do not want a live page on the website for any of the locations.
I will want to access this data later, and for this I may create a custom user control macro that will give the user a box to type in, and then i'll display the nearby venues in the page.
The retrieval is not a problem at this point. What i'm trying to decide is what is the best way to make this data editable by non-technical users, through the Umbraco backend.
If I create a content type, and then have them create documents based on this type from the Content tab, this is going to create a number of live pages, that I don't need or want.
Is a better option to expand the Umbraco backend, and possibly add a section next to Content that is called "Locations"? If so, is it possible to do this via a custom package, or does it require modification to the Umbraco codebase.
Custom coding is no issue at all, but i'm looking for the cleanest possible solution. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
I'm looking into detail at adding new sections, and this may be the way to go for this.
As I can provide a custom webform to be loaded into the right hand side of the umbraco backend I can provide a customised way of editing a list of locations, store them in any database desired, but still have it feel like a consistent editing experience.
Still appreciate any feedback people may have on what i'm looking at doing here.
I think what you are looking to do Daniel is quite common - we've generally just created one root node for the site, and then a second one for a "data folder". In this we put all things like you describe - to be edited by content managers and used on site pages, but not created as pages themselves.
As far as I remember this "just works". I.e. Umbraco will take your first root level node as the root for the site and won't attempt to serve a page for the second one.
Creation of content that won't result in a page (or extend backend sections)
I wasn't really sure what to call this topic, but hopefully from my description you understand what I am wanting to achieve, and will be able to advise on whether there is a preferred method of achieving the goal.
A scenario could be that I want to store a list of locations, and I want non-technical editors to be able to add, update and remove locations from the system, the idea being they will do this via the Umbraco backend if possible.
A location would have a name, logo, zip code, and some GPS co-ordinates. I can easily create a document type that has these various properties. However, I do not want a live page on the website for any of the locations.
I will want to access this data later, and for this I may create a custom user control macro that will give the user a box to type in, and then i'll display the nearby venues in the page.
The retrieval is not a problem at this point. What i'm trying to decide is what is the best way to make this data editable by non-technical users, through the Umbraco backend.
If I create a content type, and then have them create documents based on this type from the Content tab, this is going to create a number of live pages, that I don't need or want.
Is a better option to expand the Umbraco backend, and possibly add a section next to Content that is called "Locations"? If so, is it possible to do this via a custom package, or does it require modification to the Umbraco codebase.
Custom coding is no issue at all, but i'm looking for the cleanest possible solution. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
I'm looking into detail at adding new sections, and this may be the way to go for this.
As I can provide a custom webform to be loaded into the right hand side of the umbraco backend I can provide a customised way of editing a list of locations, store them in any database desired, but still have it feel like a consistent editing experience.
Still appreciate any feedback people may have on what i'm looking at doing here.
I think what you are looking to do Daniel is quite common - we've generally just created one root node for the site, and then a second one for a "data folder". In this we put all things like you describe - to be edited by content managers and used on site pages, but not created as pages themselves.
As far as I remember this "just works". I.e. Umbraco will take your first root level node as the root for the site and won't attempt to serve a page for the second one.
Andy
is working on a reply...