Re: Draft block administration UI spec

> Sorry forthe delayed reply.
>
> On Jun 30, 2009, at 7:58 AM, "Chris F" <lists@...> wrote:
>> ----Original Message-----
>>
>> Chris, Kevin, thanks for feedback.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Jun 28, 2009, at 9:04 PM, Chris F-2 wrote:
>>
>>> If you allow a block to be displayed in multiple areas, is there a
>>> way for a
>>> block to say "only display in sidebar if im not displayed in
>>> content"? Or
>>> another might be display in both. If you create a module where a  
>> theme
>>
>>> blocks a certain location, you may want an alternate location to be
>>> displayed? Would this logic be better handled in the module through
>>> code or
>>> through the admin UI?
>>
>>
>> Initially, at least, I doubt that we'll allow duplicate block
>>
>> placement. I can see, however, how this might be required at some
>>
>> point. Perhaps, at some point, block duplication through the admin UI
>>
>> would be allowed. I'll defer how this is handled to Bharat and Tim.
>>
>> ======
>>
>> So this will be handled on the admin side and not internally in the  
>> module? I guess that should be ok. I guess also if you place it  
>> twice in the admin (eg left and right side bar), then it should  
>> display as the admin has set it up that way, even if it is duplicated.
>>
> It makes sense that a module would define whether or not a block it  
> provides may duplicated. I suppose your right, Gallery's core and  
> theme system wouldn't be responsible for this aspect, just the storage  
> and retrieval of block placement settings.
>
>
>>> Are blocks always square shaped by nature? (as in a full sized div).
>>
>>> If you
>>> would like to place icons directly above an image for example, would
>>> you use
>>> a block or not? Just thinking in addition to this - maybe the
>>> creation of an
>>> "icon" block that is displayed directly above an image that other
>>> modules/blocks can add their icon to the list?
>>
>>
>> Blocks are rectangular in shape. Blocks are not intended to be placed
>>
>> within the album or photo content region. I'm not sure what you intend
>>
>> to do here by placing icons.
>>
>> ======
>>
>> What I was thinking here, was whether blocks are always square  
>> styled "widgets" or whether you can use them for other functionality?
>>
>> Such as where you already have a set of icons being "view full  
>> size", "return to album", "view comments" and "view slideshow".  
>> Adding a block that contains another set of icons defined in a  
>> module that is placed in a different area.. for example 'content'  
>> just above the photo. That way I can add a block with the icons  
>> "view other sizes", 'view exif', etc.
>>
>> Any reason why they can’t be included in the content region? I might
>>  decide to make an ‘exif’ block that will be displayed under the  
>> image. Or a ‘view comments’ block or a ‘forum url list’ block.
>>
> This seems to be beyond the scope of block management. Sure, modules  
> can provide links and buttons, but these should be assigned to menus,  
> not blocks. The menus themselves are blocks, I suppose.
>
> Anything beyond this seems out of scope for most.
>
>>> In terms of zones/views (home, album, photo, etc). Are you able to
>>
>>> define
>>> custom zones? If i created a page for example that is called exif
>>> which is a
>>> full screen representation of the exif details of an image - how
>>> would i
>>> define a block to show on this page?
>>
>>
>> I'm using the term region, rather than zone. If a module or G3 core
>>
>> provides a view then yes, it would have regions. Regions are defined
>>
>> across all views, you cannot assign a region to just one view.
>>
>> =====
>>
>> How will these regions be defined? Will there be an admin for these  
>> if one wanted to add a new region (for example "footer2")? I assume  
>> there will be a bit of code that goes into views to define each  
>> region? What if I were to add a region that didn’t exist in one of m
>> y views?
>>
> They'll be defined in the theme.info file in each theme. The view  
> templates will need to have a corresponding variable in them to mark  
> the location of each.
>
>>> In terms of writing a block module, will there be data passed easily
>>
>>> to
>>> this? Eg album/photos, is there easy access to both of those bits of
>>> data?
>>
>>
>> Not sure I understand what you mean here. Modules can provide blocks.
>>
>> What do you mean by a "block module"?
>>
>> ====
>>
>> By this I mean simply a module that just provides a block with  
>> content in it and nothing else. Rather than a module that has a  
>> whole lot of other functionality other than blocks.
>>
> Sounds like you might want to override a module template. You can do  
> this already and I would expect that block template for modules would  
> be no different.
>
>>> I guess also in the calling of a block module, the location will be
>>
>>> passed
>>> through to it so it can display differently depending on location -
>>> will
>>> this be the case?
>>
>>
>> No. My thinking is that blocks can be added to views, ordered within
>>
>> template regions, and that's it.
>>
>> ====
>>
>> Reason I was thinking this, is my block might display differently in  
>> different regions. For example if it was in the right side bar I'd  
>> use a vertical list. If it was displayed in the footer I'd use a  
>> horizontal list.
>>
>> Or would this be defined in the module itself.. that the block will  
>> only “fit” into certain size regions? (ie only side bars, or only  
>> header and footer)
>>
> I would control this with CSS descenent selectors, like this:
>
> #gAlbumGrid .moduleBlock {...}
>
> #gSidebar .moduleBlock {...}
>
> This method is currently used in the default theme to do just this.
>
>>> Also i'm guessing that for this bit a lot of the internal
>>
>>> functionality in
>>> g3 can be exposed as block modules to allow turning this on/off,
>>> changing
>>> location and easy customisation by authors if the block doesnt
>>> exactly suit
>>> their needs.
>> The template system in G3 already allows theme developers to override
>>
>> a module's default block template within the theme (http://gallery.menalto.com/node/88326#comment-311328 
>> ).
>>
>> =====
>>
>> For this I wasn't thinking display/html/css, more functionality and  
>> content.
>>
>> Take for example the existing functionality on the right hand side  
>> of a photo called "photo info”. This currently displays  
>> “title”, “name” and “owner” of the active photo.
>>
>> If this internal functionality was created as a block, I could  
>> easily take the code and modify it for my needs. I could for example  
>> create a module called “photo info 2” that displays “title”,  
>> “name”, “image size”, “image type”. I could then disable  
>> the g3 photo info block and display my own there instead.
>>
>> Popular tags is a candidate for this, well as available rss feeds.
>>
>> I’m thinking everything should be replaceable/movable in the side ba
>> rs.
>>
> Sure.
>
>>  Chad Kieffer wrote:
>>
>> Hello,
>>
>> I've posted a draft block administration UI spec on the codex and  
>> have added a link to this spec in the related Trac ticket. The UI  
>> takes queues from both Wordpress and Drupal block admin interfaces.
>>
>>
>> Feedback is welcome. http://codex.gallery2.org/Gallery3:Block_Management_UX
>>
>>  thanks,
>>
>> Chad
>>
>
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