here's a really quick question...
Is there a type of Sitecore Editor control that I can use in the Template Builder to enable the product owners to add a free collection of strings in the CMS Editor?
I know that I can add a simple data object that has a single string field, add a number of these data objects and then add a Multilist to the Editor with that group of data objects as the Source, but that would mean that the product owners would have to add all of their strings as these data objects and then select them from the Multilist.
I'm trying to make it simpler for them, but I can't seem to find a Sitecore Editor control that enables them to enter a collection of strings directly in the Editor... is there one?
The short answer is no, there is no way to do this in Sitecore.
All hope is not lost, however. You can always create your own field type for something like this, but doing so does require a significant level of effort.
Related
I am attempting to create a WebPart in Kentico 11 that supports handling an n-length list of items. I found that creating a WebPart with property fields is pretty straightforward in Kentico, but I am having trouble finding documentation on how to best set up a WebPart that can lookup & output multiple model objects.
I've tried the following approach, but it has some drawbacks that I'm not entirely comfortable with:
Set up a Container page type to place instances of data objects inside. I restricted it to ensure that only my custom Page Type data object is available as a child of it.
Place a Pages DataSource in the template zone and direct it to the Container page.
Hook up a Repeater element to it and apply a transformation & content before+after to the Repeater.
While this works, it feels a little cludgey. Content editors have to be wise enough to know how to set up DataSources & Repeaters, plus how to bind them together and apply transforms, and additionally remember to fill in the content before and content after fields with the appropriate wrapping HTML markup.
This is not something that I expect a content editor should need to remember.
Is there a cleaner way to put lists of items inside of a template zone without needing to drag & configure a datasource and container page?
I did not see any way to set up a Page Type field in such a way that it would essentially model a one-to-many relationship with another Page Type. Did I miss something there? If I could do that, then I could write a transformation to handle the wrapping HTML markup, and the looping of children. Haven't been able to find a way to make this work though.
The best way to accomplish what you are asking is with a custom form control. In your case, the form control should be able to let users select multiple items.
You can actually use 'Sortable multiple object selector' marketplace item for this purpose. This form control will enable you to select multiple items based on a certain type (that you need to configure in code) and editors would simply use the select dialog to choose the items.
Is it possible to associate a view with different documents (not simultaneously of course)?
What I want to achieve: the application can have multiple documents of the same type, that can be added during runtime, and set of suitable views, the main of which is CFormview-based. The user can choose the number of the document to show per combobox in the toolbar. The views then associate themselves with this document and update with data from it.
Is it possible to achieve with CMultiDocTemplate?
If yes, how? especially is it possible to retrieve a document by it order number?
If not I'll probably have to abstain from using the templates altogether, which of course means more coding (and more questions to friendly community), but it will do what I want it to do and not Microsoft thought I should be doing
Yes, you could but not out of the 'box'. Instead I'd recommend a different strategy. Rather than trying to attach a View to an existing CDocument derived class LOAD the Views CDocument with the information you want. That could done by adding a simple Copy method to the CDocument or you could move your actual data into a separate class then just point the CDocument to 'data' you want.
Trying to change the CDocument instance for a CView is going against the MFC grain which normally means lot of ASSERTS.
I created a basic OOTB document library to store Word and PDF files. I have been tasked to also create a few columns to store some basic metadata about the uploaded documents, for example: AuthorFirstName, AuthorLastName, and a column that lists "topics" discussed in the document.
While I am generally familiar with most Document Library settings, and creating columns, I am seeking information on what column datatype might work best for "topics". In most situations, one uploaded document would have 1-4 topics.
I would rather the datatype not be a single line of text datatype, as I would rather not ask the user to separate the different values (topics) using a delimiter such as a comma or semicolon. I would like to offer users the option to sort or filter in the SharePoint views.
There also seem to be some limitations with the Choice datatype.
While Choice fields seem to support Fill-In Values, when a choice is not pre-populated, they only seem to allow 1 fill-in. I would like the user to able to use a repeating-table-like interface to add a topic, and click an "add" button, and repeat, and so on.
I think in your scenario the best approach would be using managed metadata feature (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-help/introduction-to-managed-metadata-HA102832521.aspx). It allows you to sort/filter library items, allows users to add new terms into metadata storage, etc.
Using a Lookup field to a custom List is something worth considering. The main advantage is that your data choices are stored separately from the main list and are easier to track and manage. The disadvantage is that you cannot easily have the user add a fill-in option as you desire. You would have to have a link from the library or the upload form to the options list where they would enter a new option separately from tagging it on the document.
Managed metadata is certainly an option as well, but it requires more overhead and sorting/filtering on that is a little trickier. Using a Lookup column is simple, although it does not meet all of your needs.
I'm trying to figure out the best way to handle a requirement I have for an Orchard module I'm building.
I have a ContentPart that has a few fields. One field is a ContentPicker that allows for multiple items to be associated to the part. The rest are descriptive information.
The issue I have is that I actually need to be able to include more than one of this ContentPart into a ContentType. I need to create a ContentType that has exactly 3 of this part.
Should I be making this into a field instead of a part? Is it even possible to have a ContentField that has other fields in it?
Or, should I somehow use all the same models and data structures, but somehow define it as 3 distinct parts?
Just wondering what the best practice to do something like this would be.
You can only have one part of each kind on a given type. You can't have fields that have other fields in it (instead - take an existing field and extend it with custom stuff).
As I understand, the actual problem is "how to make groups of fields with some metadata for each group", right? If so, there are a few approaches to solve the problem:
Create a custom field based on Content Picker (basically - take existing Content Picker and extend it with your metadata) and use this without the need for a separate part
Create one part to hold only the metadata for each field attached to it and attach 1 or more fields to it
Create 3 distinct parts. Parts should be thought of as extensions that add some unique features to an item. If you think it's logically ok to have 3 parts then go for it.
I have an odd issue.
I have client that wants a sharepoint list what is populated from a WCFService. That part is working quite well.
I have a bdcmodel that is mapping the WCF data and I can create an external list from the bdcmodel as well so that is working fine.
The issue I have is that one of the properties in the model is actually a collection of entities called Attributes. The objects in this collection simply have 2 properties Name and Value so really they are just a key value pair.
The client wants to see the list of attributes of the parent entity in the external list. So there would be an Attributes column and within that column would be the list of attributes for each parent object.
Is there even a way to do this? I am looking into Custom Field Types, but it seems like these are really intended to be singular values.
How would I create a list within and external list?
Any help anyone can give would be great even if its just to tell me that there really isn't a stable way to do this so I can go back to the client and tell them we will need to build a custom list to support this because the OOB external list and custom fields and custom field types won't support this kind of nested listing.
I decided to set up the custom field as a string and when I get my collection in from the BdcModel I am serializing it to JSON and then passing it to the field. When the field is viewed in display, edit or new I have overridden the FieldRenderingControl and I am tiling the collection out that way.