I would really like to know what packages you (as in each of you) install when you set up a new Umbraco Installation. I am not a very experienced Umbraco user yet, but I do have a few sites up and running... and today I set up a new site for a friend to play with. He needed to set up a very simple web site, that needs to be maintained by people with absolutely NO IT knowledge. So I told him to set up an Umbraco based system, and that I would help him install the system, so all he needed was to put data into it.
As I did this I realized that after having set up a few Umbraco installations now, the first thing I did was to go and install a number of packages, that I am pretty certain I/he will need for his website.
That is when I started thinking... are there packages out there that other install right off the bat, that are incredibly useful... that I just don't know about?!?
So please enlighten me... what does your bare bones Umbraco installation look like in terms of installed packages?
I might as well go first...
XSLTsearch Great little search engine for smaller sites. I have only ever set up one site it couldn't be used in, and that site had about half a million articles to search through.
IPhoneAltPage This is just plain cool... and the only thing I need from it is to be able to display content on not only the end nodes. I also add support for Android phones.
Character Limit TextArea Great for caption fields etc.
Nibble.ConfigTree Easy access to all config files.
Google Maps datatype Great for that "About" page where you want to display the location of the company.
MultipleFileUpload So much easier...
Tribal Yet Another Media Picker Just the one that I started using. But a media picker with preview when selecting the images is great!
Bit.ly Url Shortner Great for tracking external links!
Google Analytics for Umbraco Right up there with the IPhoneAltPage... this is just plain cool!
Canonical meta link packages Gotta make those search engines happy.
Google Sitemap for Umbraco Gotta make those search engines happy.
Robots.txt editor Again with the search engines...
Those are the ones I install from the start. What do you do?
1. ImageGen (don't built a site without image resizing, gotta keep control of those editors!)
2. Image Cropper
3. Media Preview
-
Occasionally XSLT Search is there and I'm more than certain bit.ly will become a very much used one.
I do use quite a few bits of XSLT which get reused from project to project. That said we probably only build 1 site a month on average (tops) most of the work we do is further development.
You already mentioned a lot of the great of the packages out there. But one package that none of you have mentioned is the TreeMultiPicker. I use this package in all of my projects, because I want to give the users a flexible solution, where they can customize and reuse their own content on all the nodes they want, over and over again.
Actually, I've only delivered a handful of solutions, and each of them required something different, so actually no overlap (apart from XMLDump) but the ones I've been using are:
@Laurance... just took a better look at ImageGen. Never used it, but it is definitely going to be on the list from now on! Will take a look at the cropper as well when I get time.
@Kim + Chriztian... I should take a look at the TreeMultiPicker. Not sure exactly what it is used for, but sounds like something I could have used in earlier projects.
I generally don't install any other packages though, I'll install CWS when I'm setting up demo Umbraco instances. I've lost count of the number of times I've installed that package. Doing my best to keep Warren's stats high that's for sure :P
CWS Package by Warren, awesome work, use it for demos all the time XSLT Search. by Doug. The most flexible search solution for Umbraco Improved MediaPicker by Tim. Simple but very powerful
Your "default" packages...
Hi guys,
I would really like to know what packages you (as in each of you) install when you set up a new Umbraco Installation. I am not a very experienced Umbraco user yet, but I do have a few sites up and running... and today I set up a new site for a friend to play with. He needed to set up a very simple web site, that needs to be maintained by people with absolutely NO IT knowledge. So I told him to set up an Umbraco based system, and that I would help him install the system, so all he needed was to put data into it.
As I did this I realized that after having set up a few Umbraco installations now, the first thing I did was to go and install a number of packages, that I am pretty certain I/he will need for his website.
That is when I started thinking... are there packages out there that other install right off the bat, that are incredibly useful... that I just don't know about?!?
So please enlighten me... what does your bare bones Umbraco installation look like in terms of installed packages?
I might as well go first...
Great little search engine for smaller sites. I have only ever set up one site it couldn't be used in, and that site had about half a million articles to search through.
This is just plain cool... and the only thing I need from it is to be able to display content on not only the end nodes. I also add support for Android phones.
Great for caption fields etc.
Easy access to all config files.
Great for that "About" page where you want to display the location of the company.
So much easier...
Just the one that I started using. But a media picker with preview when selecting the images is great!
Great for tracking external links!
Right up there with the IPhoneAltPage... this is just plain cool!
Gotta make those search engines happy.
Gotta make those search engines happy.
Again with the search engines...
Ek for me its just...
1. ImageGen (don't built a site without image resizing, gotta keep control of those editors!)
2. Image Cropper
3. Media Preview
-
Occasionally XSLT Search is there and I'm more than certain bit.ly will become a very much used one.
I do use quite a few bits of XSLT which get reused from project to project. That said we probably only build 1 site a month on average (tops) most of the work we do is further development.
/Laurie
You already mentioned a lot of the great of the packages out there. But one package that none of you have mentioned is the TreeMultiPicker. I use this package in all of my projects, because I want to give the users a flexible solution, where they can customize and reuse their own content on all the nodes they want, over and over again.
Great topic!
Actually, I've only delivered a handful of solutions, and each of them required something different, so actually no overlap (apart from XMLDump) but the ones I've been using are:
@Laurance... just took a better look at ImageGen. Never used it, but it is definitely going to be on the list from now on! Will take a look at the cropper as well when I get time.
@Kim + Chriztian... I should take a look at the TreeMultiPicker. Not sure exactly what it is used for, but sounds like something I could have used in earlier projects.
/RasB
FamFamFam icons! http://our.umbraco.org/projects/famfamfam-icons
Gotta make it look as pretty as you can :D
I generally don't install any other packages though, I'll install CWS when I'm setting up demo Umbraco instances. I've lost count of the number of times I've installed that package. Doing my best to keep Warren's stats high that's for sure :P
In this order
Dan
My list,
CWS Package by Warren, awesome work, use it for demos all the time
XSLT Search. by Doug. The most flexible search solution for Umbraco
Improved MediaPicker by Tim. Simple but very powerful
Cheers,
Richard
Here's my usual "default" packages...
Macropicker - One of the most, if not THE most, underrated data-type for Umbraco. Use this on nearly ever Umbraco install. Love it!
XSLTsearch - The original and the best! Although I've tried Umbraco Examine ... and I might be swayed away from XSLTsearch.
Config Editor - I don't use this on all Umbraco installs, but it's very handy for quick remote access!
User Control Editor - same reasons as for the Config Editor. Plus it's my own package, I like dogfooding!
Axendo Ultimate Picker XPath - I love Ultimate Picker... but the Axendo's XPath version is a truly excellent modification!
For occasional use, I like...
UmbImport, Content Maintenance Dashboard Package - (Richard Soeteman is my hero!), AutoFolders, Designit Video Embed, Improved Mediapicker, Multiple File Upload, Robots.txt Editor - (again dogfooding!) and last but not least... Tree Multi Picker!
Cheers, Lee.
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