My answers below.
Enjoy Magnolia!
Cheers
Giancarlo
On Jun 22, 2007, at 6:53 AM, www bot wrote:
Hi,
I've started playing around with Magnolia. Its a wonderful product.
However, I have a couple of questions. Would appreciate any pointers
or links to appropriate documentation.
documentation.magnolia.info
1. Is there a way to create new content types (or paragraph types)?
For example, I'd like to have a content type called Article with
metadata fields like "headline", byline, author, and so on. I know I
can use one of the available paragraphs for this but i'd like to know
how to go about building a new custom type.
A paragraph typically consists of a so called "Dialog" and a
paragraph configuration to assign the dialog to a specific content
area. The paragraph also can assign a script to render the output of
the content.
The dialog is the browser-based window where the author adds content.
The dialogs are configurable and use existing "controls" as content
input fields. There are a lot of pre-developed controls.
I recommend to start with configuring your paragraphs and dialogs
using the standard controls.
2. Can I have multiple workflows? So for example, I'd like to have one
workflow for one content type and another one for another content
type? Can i have parallel workflows etc?
Magnolia's workflow is based on OpenWFE, so very powerful. You can
define so called workflow "process scripts", which are very flexible
and can do whatever you think the workflow should do. I recommend you
take a look at the OpenWFE site to get more information on how to
define a process. Magnolia comes along with a sample process. This
workflow is triggered when a page is activated.
3. Is it possible to automate content publishing from authoring to
public environment? If yes, can i put a schedule that publishes only
changed content?
Yes, Magnolia has a scheduler. But always keep in mind that the
purpose of having author/publish instances and workflow is to AVOID
automatic publishing. Imagine you have 5000 web pages. How do you
want to control them? The only way to be sure of having "correct"
content is to validate each and every page prior to publishing. The
workflow is one way to "delegate" responsibilities of content to
authors/editors.
Magnolia activates the whole page and also creates a version for each
activated page.
4. If i have to create a new look and feel, is it better to use site
designer or should i create something from scratch?
This depends on your project. For many layouts the Sitedesigner is a
great tool. It comes along with many useful paragraphs. As long as we
have manageable "Wire Frames" and a not-too-complex layout, we use
the Sitedesigner. Look at the Sitedesigner as a tool similar to
"Dreamweaver", a tool to prepare the layout and structure of a page.
5. Can magnolia do static publish or is it only dynamic publishing?
Hmh, not sure if I understood correctly. Publishing is the process of
moving content from one Magnolia instance (repository) to another.
Only the content is activated, not the scripts. Magnolia does not
know anything about .html output. The GUI gives authors the
impression they are activating a page. That's to keep things simple.
Keep in mind that if you have a front end Web server managing cache,
you will have to make sure your cache is updated as well when
activating pages.
Thanks for all the help.
Best regards,
wwwbot
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