Some suggestions for the static pages plugin

[yellowled]

Not being a PHP coder myself, I can't offer more than suggestions to improve the static pages plugin. (Then again, I'd be happy to help with (X)HTML code and CSS stuff.)

However, since I'm using it almost on a daily basis on various sites now, I do have a few improvements to suggest. Please note that I really don't mean to offend anybody who has worked on that plugin so far. It is a great plugin -- for it's intended purpose. But once you start to work with it for more than, say, 2-3 static pages in a single user blog ... well, let's say you get to know it's weaknesses

Here goes:

1. Permissions: s9y is capable of handling multiple users, and the static pages plugin is vital to almost any site built with it. So the plugin should really have the same permissions system as blog entries. Right now, every static page is assigned to one author, which makes it virtually impossible to edit static pages with multiple users. Yes, there is a workaround: If the owner of a static page is at a lesser user rank, you can still edit those pages. But it really is merely a workaround.

I really don't have anything to add here -- static pages should work like blog entries in terms of permissions, period

2. Sidebar plugin: The sidebar plugin displaying the list of static pages should really emit a different (X)HTML code. The current code is not standards compliant and outdated, period. I would have changed the code myself as I did with other plugins, but this is a little more sophisticated, so I need help

It should emit the links to the static pages as list item in an unordered list like this:

Code: Select all

<ul>
<li><a href="...">static page #1</a></li>
<li><a href="...">static page #2</a></li>
</ul>

In case a page has child pages, they should be put in a nested list (yes, this is the part where I gave up trying to edit the plugin on my own) like this:

Code: Select all

<ul>
<li><a href="...">static page #1</a></li>
<li><a href="...">static page #2</a>
    <ul>
       <li><a href="...">child page #1</a></li>
       <li><a href="...">child page #2</a></li>
    </ul>
</li>
<li><a href="...">static page #3</a></li>
</ul>

As a (probably much appreciated) bonus, this code could be put into the header in templates in the future (using serendipity_showPlugin), giving users the possibility to have an automagic navigation menu for static pages. With this (X)HTML code, it can easily be styled the same way the current navbar (i.e. in BP) is styled. CMS users would love that, I guess.

3. "Internal" navigation: It's currently possible to emit a static pages navigation in the content area of a static page. You ever bothered to look around who's actually using that? I haven't kept statistics, but I think I have seen far more blogs which have disabled it. I think we need to come up with a better concept for this "internal" navigation, because, frankly, the current one is of little use. It's confusing, which a navigation must not be. It's also using a table for non-tabular data, which is a no-no these days.

I have to admit, I haven't come up with a better solution for this one so far.

That's about it for the time being. Yes, I have more up my sleeve, but I wanted to see what you guys thought before I dumped all my ideas on you

YL

[Don Chambers]

All good ideas! I will add one to the list: Preview, just as entries can be previewed prior to being published.

[garvinhicking]

Hi!

I also fully agree, those are very good suggestions.

Stacked lists will probably be not as easy, because it uses the same parent-recursive call like the categories plugin does.

Also the other things are really major code changes that mean a lot of thorough work.

Regards,
Garvin

[yellowled]

Also the other things are really major code changes that mean a lot of thorough work.

Happy to help as far as I can be of any, erm, help

YL