Hello,

I just wanted to ask a few questions, really just to help me understand if what I want to achieve is possible using Couch.

1) Pages - how would I set up this up in a way that a client could create a new page? Is this achieved by defining a 'page' as a 'cloneable' template, where a particular page could be defined with different layouts (sidebar, no sidebar). A client then has then option as to what kind of page they would like.
M

2) When a client creates a said page, how would I automatically add this to the menu (unless otherwise stated to hide) is this achievable, I couldn't find anything on it(unless I'm not looking properly). Am I right in saying that when the page is created, it doesn't actually exist in physically, rather just in the database?

3) Is possible to create a screen on the backend, which could write in CSS to a file such as template.css.

For example - Give super admin the ability to change H1, H2 etc font sizes, colour, link colours, font.

I just want to understand what I can do with Couch. I really appreciate the help, just to know its possible would be sufficent enough.

Thank you as always

[KK]

Hi Steve,

I'll try to answer your questions.

By using clonable templates we can allow clients to create new pages dynamically.
However, please keep in mind that all the pages (created from the same clonable template) will have the same set of editable regions (i.e. those defined in the template).

That is the reason why we use separate templates for pages with different editable regions
e.g. pages of blog and portfolio will likely have very different editable regions and so we use two discrete templates to create their pages (e.g. blog.php and portfolio.php).

From your question, I have a feeling that you want the following kind of setup -
while creating a page the client can choose which type of page it is (e.g. simple page, a blog entry, a portfolio entry or contact) and then choose where in the menu hierarchy the page would appear.

As I tried to describe above, we cannot create multiple types of pages from the same template.
What we can do is -

a. use index.php as a clonable and nestable template (http://www.couchcms.com/docs/concepts/n ... maker.html) and define regions within it for very basic pages (e.g. define just a richtext and an image region).

b. for more complex pages use separate templates e.g. portfolio.php

c. Since the index.php in step a is nestable, it'll serve as a menu-maker too.
So for simple pages, create clonable pages of it and for complex pages use the other templates but create a page in index.php that 'masquerades' or 'points' to those pages.

This way, you'll have a menu that will represent the full site.

Please see http://www.couchcms.com/docs/concepts/n ... maker.html for details.

The discussion above is when the various pages have different editable regions.
If, however, pages are different only in their layouts (e.g. single sidebar, left sidebar. no sidebar etc.) and not in their editable regions (can happen for very simple sites) you can do the following -

a. Use a single template (e.g. index.php), make it clonable and nestable and define the regions common to all pages. Importantly also define a dropdown showing the layout options (left sidebar, right sidebar etc.).

b. On the frontend you can use the selected value of the dropdown to embed the relevant HTML layout.

Finally, to make the CSS editable please see viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7406

Hope it helps.