Pages, request of "update-able" fields widget for records

[PatrickRQ]

Hello,

Would really appreciate if you could a widget for Pages which would be usable in a "record" page. The widget would display update-able fields for that specified record. For now it is not possible to put record data in side bar without deep modification across multiple files. Such widget would be very helpful.

The idea is to be able to move the front update-able fields to the side bar. Now it is only possible to display them within record view.

[opentype]

3 hours ago, PatrickRQ said:

 Such widget would be very helpful.

Why?

[PatrickRQ]

Most friendly location of the fields update area would be on side. By default it is located at the bottom of the record display.

Let's assume you have sidebar added via block manager. There is no way then to add the fields update area to the sidebar, as the record view is located inside the main template area. If you will try to add the fields update area to the right, as inline block element it will limit area where you display record content. In result it will be less readable, etc.

For categories there is a filters widget already which can be put in sidebar. A widget for record fields update would be handy too.

Anyway, I attempted to add such widget myself but do not know what I miss, as it does not appear in blocks manager even I added the widget .php file and template for it.

[opentype]

7 hours ago, PatrickRQ said:

Most friendly location of the fields update area would be on side.

Again, why? You’re just claiming these things. 

And I would imagine a lot of field types are not “friendly” at all to edit in a narrow sidebar. 

[Fosters]

I like the idea, but also agree with opentype that it doesn’t make sense for a lot the field types, but in some use cases it could be really handy.

 

We’ve used this approach in our projectmanager app, where the item details can be managed via the sidebar and AJAX without reloading the page.

 

https://invisioncommunity.com/files/file/8456-project-manager/

 

[PatrickRQ]

6 hours ago, opentype said:

Again, why? You’re just claiming these things. 

And I would imagine a lot of field types are not “friendly” at all to edit in a narrow sidebar. 

We should not consider any feature in extreme scenario where you have large number of items in sidebar, as any sidebar feature which is long makes no sense. However, usual usage of side bar is to keep up to 5 items. Being able to put it on side allows us to make it floating together with scroll, so it is always on hand.

Following your idea that large number of fields makes no sense we would be able to assume that category filters widget also has no sense if I will allow to filter with 40 filter types. Every feature should be used with some "sense of being" 🙂

Pages app is meant to build new solutions, so answering your question here: such widget would be a great completion for range of possible solutions that Pages allows to create. Currently I feel it limits our possibilities.

@Fosters, the app is nice, however it does not meet our needs yet. We are looking for ability to build own sets of submission form fields and being able to toggle their visibility basing on value of other fields. Connection to github would be also something handy, so issue marked as resolved would automatically fill a commit comment with issue ID. Such approach allows to track and manage bug tracker and src repository, which should be always well synced.

[opentype]

12 minutes ago, PatrickRQ said:

We should not consider any feature in extreme scenario where you have large number of items in sidebar, as any sidebar feature which is long makes no sense. However, usual usage of side bar is to keep up to 5 items. Being able to put it on side allows us to make it floating together with scroll, so it is always on hand.

Pages app is meant to build new solutions, so answering your question here: such widget would be a great completion for range of possible solutions that Pages allows to create. Currently I feels it limits our possibilities.

Following your idea that large number of fields make no sense we would be able to assume that category filters widget also has no sense if I will allow to filter with 40 filter types. Every feature should be used with some "sense of being" 🙂

Huh? I have not said anything about the number of fields. I spoke about the field types. For example: You can’t properly show the full editor in the sidebar, as you would need for an WYSIWYG editor field. You cannot properly show the unlimited uploads one could add to an image upload field. And so on. That’s by no means an extreme scenario. It’s just what logically follows from your feature request. 

[PatrickRQ]

Huh, mis-understood then, however I will still keep what I said. Pages is app to build different solutions, it should not limit our possibilities in any aspect. If you build application like some kind of tracker, etc you usually want to update some key fields where editing/updating WYSIWYG editor is something that is being done rarely, as it would be moderation of poster's content instead updating fields responsible for kind of "status" of specified topic/ticket, etc.

So, if Pages is app that allows to create different solutions it should bring such widget as a gap fill-out for possible solutions we (users) may build using it. The scope of available options should not make us feel limited.

 

 

[opentype]

If I would need this functionality on a certain page of mine, I would just NOT use the stock sidebar at all and instead use the IPS grid or column system to create a separate column. But since that would be delivered through the record template, there would be no limitations of what is available there. 

[PatrickRQ]

Thanks for reply. However, I personally I would prefer a widget I could even pay for. A widget would allow me to use it with more freedom across multiple Pages app, without further modifications to templates needed.

I also look for a plugin / hook that would allow me to change "requirement" of selected field from template level, so a field would be set to "required" but in case I need it to be not required I can force it from template level. I toggle fields on value of the others and I did not find a good way to handle field data for "hidden" fields which are configured to required. I am also ready to pay for such mod.