I have a simple news page, consisting of articles. Each article has a heading, text and image. The articles are displayed in a list, with the most recent article at the top.
I’ve spent a couple of hours looking into setting a custom Block for each article, but I’m afraid that it is beyond me. So I’m wondering what’s the best way to do this?
A Structured field?
Or is there a way in the Panel for me to create one article with three fields for the heading, text and photo – and the client can duplicate this group of fields, in the Panel, to create another article?
The client doesn’t actually need or want subpages. The intention is to write a short monthly article, of one or two paragraphs. If the best route is subpages, but we don’t want anyone to go to the subpages, I presume I could set up the template to display the subpage content (heading, text and image) without actually linking to the subpages? So the subpages are “hidden” because there are no links to them.
If the subpages are built using the Page Builder and the default Blocks, is it possible in the parent page to display the content of the Blocks?
Or
Is it possible to create an “article” block, consisting of the default heading, text and image blocks? Blocks with in a block. This might be easier to create than an entirely new block.
You don’t have to display subpages in the frontend. What you can do is display the content of the subpages with related articles. Normally, such articles are used as “teasers”, for example as an overview page on a blog. However, you can also use the concept to display the full content of your subpages. This means there is no need to go to subpages. Take also a look at the stater kit for this.
The whole process can then be automated: Newest articles appear in first position. The latest article can be highlighted visually, e.g. with a larger image or larger font. You can add pagination so that the page does not become infinitely long.
If you are not yet familiar with these functions, I recommend you watch the screencasts. This will make the theoretical part easier to understand visually.
Take also a look at the demo kit.
After logging in, click on Blog and view the preview in the frontend.
And download the demo kit to analyze the structure.
Sorry if I miss the point here. But from my perspective, this doesn’t make sense, unless you need a manual selection of the subpages. Otherwise, just looping through the (sorted) children is totally sufficient to get a list of the subpages and their content.
You’re right, of course! Related articles are the wrong way to do this. But the blog example from the demo kit would be a good way for @Mark_E , right?
Yes, but we already have notes and albums in the Starterkit, which is probably easier for beginners, because it is annotated.
But the principle is always the same anyway: parent page and children, then display the children in the parent page, without a link to the children in this case.
Additionally, a route that redirects children to the parent or a template for the subpage with a redirect to the parent, so that subpages are not accessible.
So, why pages rather than a structure field?
pages are more flexible (with draft, unlisted and listed state)
you can, if required, easily assign different blueprints/templates and therefore also different output, should the need arise sometime in the future
more easy to update programmatically then structure field
probably more performant with many items
easier to translate
…
Some of this might not be an immediate requirement, but it’s always good to be prepared for future requirements.
I think the big advantage of pages, rather than a structured field, is if the client has a lot to say about a particular news article they can link to the subpage, with a ‘read more’ link.
The client recently had a very famous UK singer song writer do a fundraising gig for them, so I think the above approach gives them scope to write a lot more on the subpage.
Thanks for all your help, helping me think this through
You’re right, of course! Related articles are the wrong way to do this. But the blog example from the demo kit would be a good way for