Simple Input Tabs

[uitdecom]

Thank you for this!
(I know people want extra options and so on, but I really like the (get)simplicity of this. I usually don't use a plugin when it is doing more then its main purpose. It only makes it slower, and more things can go wrong.)

Am I right in thinking this is also ideal for adding a page-excerpt-tab, so you are able for instance to create a homepage showing all of these excerpts (I normally use the meta-description for this)

[jason.dixon.email]

I have a quick question about tabs and switching langs. If I am using it in English populate the pages/tabs, but another user who is using another language goes to edit, it will be distinct because of chosen editor lang?
I didnt quite follow what you were saying there. :/

Well what it 'should' do is switch languages for each person. The language picked is based on what is selected in the settings menu.
This change includes the main tab, which should now function correctly no matter what language it is in (and therefore no matter what it is called).

Every other tab is of course hard coded to the name you give it in the template.

[jason.dixon.email]

Thank you for this!
(I know people want extra options and so on, but I really like the (get)simplicity of this. I usually don't use a plugin when it is doing more then its main purpose. It only makes it slower, and more things can go wrong.)

Am I right in thinking this is also ideal for adding a page-excerpt-tab, so you are able for instance to create a homepage showing all of these excerpts (I normally use the meta-description for this)

Yeah that should work. Though you might be a tad limited as it will post up the entire tabs content?

Glad you're liking it!

[islander]

Huston, we have a problem.
Something appears to have broke. I created a single new tab on a fresh install. Added text in "main", added text in "other", everything is fine. Went back to "main" to modify, all text had been reset to "Add your content to the section: Main". Added again, switched back and forth between tabs, main has cleared its self again.
This was done on a fresh install using default settings with this being the only plugin installed. Poop.

[Timbow]

So I can use this plugin to manage more complex page layouts, yes? Like a three column layout which I currently have to do with components?
Can I also use it for tabbed content on a single page, much like on your page http://simpleinputtabs.internetimagery.com/index.html instead of using a sub menu to link to different pages? Or have I got that wrong?

Looks useful

[jason.dixon.email]

Huston, we have a problem.
Something appears to have broke. I created a single new tab on a fresh install. Added text in "main", added text in "other", everything is fine. Went back to "main" to modify, all text had been reset to "Add your content to the section: Main". Added again, switched back and forth between tabs, main has cleared its self again.
This was done on a fresh install using default settings with this being the only plugin installed. Poop.

Ah bugger. Alrighty lets figure this out.

Does the second tab you made save its data?

What tags are you using on the page? get_page_content? insert_page_content? and with what in the brackets?

In the pages XML file (under data/pages) what does the area in 'content' say?

[jason.dixon.email]

So I can use this plugin to manage more complex page layouts, yes? Like a three column layout which I currently have to do with components?

Yeah thats the idea.

It lets you make a template with all the content you like, and then you can ship the template with the plugin file. Since all the options to run the plugin are taken from the template itself, you can shape the experience of the user without them having to mess with options in order to be compatible with your template.

Can I also use it for tabbed content on a single page, much like on your page http://simpleinputtabs.internetimagery.com/index.html instead of using a sub menu to link to different pages? Or have I got that wrong?

Looks useful

Hmm... well that page is a single html page using simple jquery/javascript. What you're asking for there is not really the intention of the plugin. I had considered allowing that option, but I think it would end up being a different plugin all together.

[jason.dixon.email]

Alright I should have fixed the problem with information not being saved when tab switching.

1.5b - Go get it.

[islander]

Thanks Jason, will give it another go.

Edit: All works perfect now. Thanks for the great work.

[jason.dixon.email]

Thanks Jason, will give it another go.

Edit: All works perfect now. Thanks for the great work.

Phew, thats good to hear.

[ChriS]

My fault with the shortcode, this code does it well:

Code:

<?php insert_page_content(); ?>
<?php insert_page_content("SecondContent"); ?>

I have tried it together with I18N Plugin (Multilanguage). For the second language the additional tab was not showed. Maybe you can check this, because the I18N compatibility is very important for me and I think for the many multilanguage users.

When you say you want the option to change input fields, do you mean to replace the main edit box? As in, an 'image' field might just have an image upload button and nothing else?

Initially when making the plugin I thought about that and just figured it was best to keep it as flexible and simple as possible. After all, you can sill insert images/make links etc in the main content box. The only thing on that list you can't do is make a drop-down and check-box.

If it is desired to have different fields I'll see what I can do. I'm not sure if replacing the editor is going to be technically possible (though I have some ideas), but I'll see if I can find a way. What sort of fields would you use from that list?

I agree to keep the backend as easy as possible. For the GS template creator flexible options would allow much wider use cases. I try to make an example of field usage (with I18N Custom Fields plugin):


Beside the feature to create different input type fields, the possibility to give a discription text could be useful for the content editor in the backend and in special cases the default value could also help tremendously to keep it easy for for the backend user. I18N Custom Fields does show the input fields under "Page Options" (see above image) while Simple Input Tabs needs a page reload to change between "tabbed content". I would like to propose if the display of all the additional content fields is not possible just under the main edit box? If it is not "shared content" like described some post before, it would be important enough to show all the tabs/content in the page edit IMHO. Following the most simple way, this would cause less complexity (reloading or ajax tricks) and the user normally should understand: I can edit all this on this page...

I hope I did show what I wish and try to summarize:
- I18N Plugin (Multilanguage) compatibility
- Instead of tabs just show the additional content below the main edit box (or as an option?)
- allow to define like in I18N Custom Fields, maybe with shortcode like this: <?php insert_page_content("SecondContent","this is the label text",txt,"default content for the field",indexno); ?>

This would be perfect and help to setup very advanced template layouts (CSS text and image formating) + special "hidden" content like meta tags (SEO, etc.). Again I think this should be in the long term a core feature to allow easy backend user experience and very cool advanced web design together (for non PHP coders).

[islander]

I have not tried this out yet with the I18N Plugin, and dont know why this wouldnt work with it, but agree that it is important that it does work with it.

As far as the other features, I think that that would change the extension from "Simple Tabs" to "Complex Tabs" and might be better in an advanced plugin.

[jason.dixon.email]

I have tried it together with I18N Plugin (Multilanguage). For the second language the additional tab was not showed. Maybe you can check this, because the I18N compatibility is very important for me and I think for the many multilanguage users.

Yeah I definitely want it compatible with i18n, so I'll have to check that. I have no idea why it would not be compatible... Can you expand on what you mean by tabs not showing up?
Are they not there on the page edit screen, or do they not show up on the webpage when viewed?
If they show up on the edit screen, but don't show up on the live page when viewed, can you try adding a -> to the front of the tab in the template and let me know if it shows up then?

Code:

<?php insert_page_content("->secondcontent"); ?>

Like that. Changing secondcontent for your tabname.

I agree to keep the backend as easy as possible. For the GS template creator flexible options would allow much wider use cases.
Beside the feature to create different input type fields, the possibility to give a discription text could be useful for the content editor in the backend and in special cases the default value could also help tremendously to keep it easy for for the backend user. I18N Custom Fields does show the input fields under "Page Options" (see above image) while Simple Input Tabs needs a page reload to change between "tabbed content". I would like to propose if the display of all the additional content fields is not possible just under the main edit box? If it is not "shared content" like described some post before, it would be important enough to show all the tabs/content in the page edit IMHO. Following the most simple way, this would cause less complexity (reloading or ajax tricks) and the user normally should understand: I can edit all this on this page...

Firstly, yeah it's a bit of a pain that you need to reload the page to switch tabs and I am still pondering ways to reload the editor with javascript and ajax. The reload method is to my mind the most reliable way to alter the default editors content and ensure that all data is saved successfully as it uses the CMS's own loading and saving methods, so realistically it might have to end up staying that way. It does mean that users save their data often (always a good thing ) and it also means that any changes to the template will update with each tab change (important when a new template has different tabs).

I know what you mean though, about the confusion of tabs not being all on one page. Which is why I added the "display tab location" link. So users can load up the page and see directly where each tab will place its information.

the possibility to give a discription text could be useful for the content editor in the backend and in special cases the default value could also help tremendously to keep it easy for for the backend user.

You can already do that actually. If you put in a second argument into the tag within your template:

Code:

<?php insert_page_content("secondcontent","This is the default content you will see"); ?>

It will show up as default text before they put in any content, and will always show up whenever they click on the "display tab location" link.

Is it not possible to use both plugins together (simple input tabs and i18n custom fields)? I just see it as removing a lot of flexibility when swapping the default editor with a text area for the bulk of the content. But I can see where you are coming from when you want very specific and small things having their own field.

---

Aww maaaaaan I think I have figured out what the incompatibility is between this and i18n plugin.

i18n plugin ignores the template setting saved in the pages xml file, for different languages other than the main one when displaying the page. Which means Simple Input Tabs goes looking for the template saved in the file, it works fine, but then it doesn't show up when i18n picks a new one.

NOTE: SIMPLE INPUT TABS appears to work currently with the plugin under a certain condition:

When you make a new language version of a page BEFORE you save the page, open the advanced settings drop down and choose the same template as the previous page. After this first save i18n appears to hide the template from being accessed. This should ensure that the correct template (instead of the default one) is saved with the file.

Let me know what you guys experience if you use both plugins together. This is going to be tricky to work around. But I'll see what I can do.

[jason.dixon.email]

OK HERE IS A QUICK WORK AROUND

Can you guys using i18n give it a quick test and reply with feedback to be sure it is fully functional before I upload it to extend?

DOWNLOAD IT HERE.

[stevenatherton42]

Hello

Finally, with this plugin I've found a CMS that suits what I need.

However, I've installed the plugin, added <?php insert_page_content(); ?> into the template to load the main content.

I've then added a custom <?php insert_page_content("Scrollcontent"); ?> and inserted the content. Everything looked great and displayed as I wanted, but when I scrolled down I noticed "Scrollcontent" displayed for a second time directly after the insert_page_content();

Take a look at http://www.bytetheweb.co.uk/cms_test/ and you'll see what I mean if you scroll down a little.

Is there a fix for this, or am I doing something wrong?

[islander]

My guess is that you added the new "insert_page_content" but didn't remove the default "get_page_content" that was in the template, hence the data from the first tab displaying twice.
Remove that tag, and hopefully it will display as intended.

[stevenatherton42]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I did remove the "get_page_content" from my template and replaced it with "insert_page_content". The problem isnt with the "Main" content, but rather the insert_page_content("Scrollcontent") that I created. It's this that is being displayed twice rather than the main contentin "insert_page_content".

---

Further to my above post, it seems "insert_page_content" is displaying every tab related to that page. If I only use "insert_page_content("Scrollcontent");", it displays only that content. If I only use "insert_page_content();", it displays the main content as well as "insert_page_content("Scrollcontent");"

[jason.dixon.email]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I did remove the "get_page_content" from my template and replaced it with "insert_page_content". The problem isnt with the "Main" content, but rather the insert_page_content("Scrollcontent") that I created. It's this that is being displayed twice rather than the main contentin "insert_page_content".

---

Further to my above post, it seems "insert_page_content" is displaying every tab related to that page. If I only use "insert_page_content("Scrollcontent");", it displays only that content. If I only use "insert_page_content();", it displays the main content as well as "insert_page_content("Scrollcontent");"

Well that is odd... :S

Nice site by the way! I can't see where the content is being duplicated on the site but I understand what you're saying about the content being displayed twice. Hmmmmm....

I'm not entirely sure why it would be echoing everything... Do you have any other plugins running on that CMS?

What happens if you change:

Code:

<?php insert_page_content(); ?>

To:

Code:

<?php insert_page_content("->") ?>

Does it display the tabs location correctly, when you click the display tab location link?

Oh and... what version of the plugin are you using, and what version did you make the page with initially?

Hopefully that is enough questions to figure something out, haha.

[stevenatherton42]

I've messed around a little which is why you don't see the duplicated content any more.

I've came up with a simple solution that works for me which is to simply not use <?php insert_page_content(); ?> but instead specify a tag name each time: <?php insert_page_content("body"); ?> for example.

I only downloaded and installed the cms yesterday and only found this plugin today so everything should be the latest versions - 1.5b.

I have cumbe's contact form, i18n custom fields (disabled), multi user and exec-php installed.

Maybe it could be the i18n custom fields.. I'll try deleting once I get back on a computer and let you know.

Thanks for the great plugin by the way.

[jason.dixon.email]

I've messed around a little which is why you don't see the duplicated content any more.

I've came up with a simple solution that works for me which is to simply not use <?php insert_page_content(); ?> but instead specify a tag name each time: <?php insert_page_content("body"); ?> for example.

I only downloaded and installed the cms yesterday and only found this plugin today so everything should be the latest versions - 1.5b.

I have cumbe's contact form, i18n custom fields (disabled), multi user and exec-php installed.

Maybe it could be the i18n custom fields.. I'll try deleting once I get back on a computer and let you know.

You can absolutely name every tab. I know I've said everywhere that you need to have insert_page_content() somewhere on the page... but to let you in on a secret, the plugin is designed to work without it too.

Having the main content (empty brackets) just makes things easier for the user, and easier to transition templates to this plugin I feel. So long as you're not using get_page_content, it's not actually necessary to have one tag with empty brackets.

Yep, 1.5b is the latest so that cancels out that line of enquiry. Damn I hoped it might have been an easy fix. Haha.

Yeah, can you try removing and replacing those plugins one by one and refreshing the page to see if anything changes? Did you try using the arrow to see if it helps? It will hide the tab in the admin area when you use it, but on the page it might display the content correctly. Just throw "->" into the empty brackets in the template and refresh the page to see if the content displays correctly. If it does display correctly in using it, then I'm pretty confident it's a clash with another plugin editing the pages content data causing the issue.

Code:

<?php insert_page_content("->"); ?>

Thanks for the great plugin by the way.

No worries! I'm really glad you guys are liking it. It was one of those "I wish the CMS did this, but I cannot find a plugin that does it, so time to learn php" moments.

EDIT:

Ok I'm fairly certain that the problem lies within the exec-php plugin. Is it possible you can use the Dynpages plugin to do what you want instead?

EDIT2:

Updated the plugin to 1.6. Give that a try and let me know if it fixes your problems or if any issues pop up with it.

[jason.dixon.email]

Updated to version 1.6!

1.6 - Tweaked the way content is handled. It is now processed much earlier, which makes Simple Input Tabs more compatible with other plugins and lessens the server processing overhead when loading a page. The display tab location link, now provides links back to the relevant tabs for editing. Added a new compatibility mode that activates automatically if it finds a plugin that it will accept. If you want to activate it manually, you can do so by opening simple_input_tabs.php with a text editor and following the instructions near the beginning of the file.

Added a compatibility mode for the plugin i18n.

[islander]

Cool, will test it out this weekend.

[stevenatherton42]

I've updated to 1.6. It seems the problem was with the exec plugin. I don't need the exec plugin, so I'll delete it. I just tested to see if the new version would work with that plugin and while it's solved the duplicated content, its displaying the content along with error: Error 404: Content requested was not found.

I've made a test page with only:

<?php insert_page_content("ContactHead"); ?>
<?php insert_page_content(); ?>

and can be found http://www.bytetheweb.co.uk/cms_test/test so you can see what I mean.
The only plugins I now have installed are Simple Input Tabs, Multi User and Exec-PHP.

Without Exec-PHP it appears to work perfectly.

Many thanks

[jason.dixon.email]

That web page appears to be working fine.

Damn yooooouuu exe-php plugin! I thought it finally worked!

Ah well.

Many thanks

Thanks for your feedback!

[stevenatherton42]

Sorry, I disabled exec-php while I was messing around with something else. I've enabled it again if you want to try the link to see what I mean, but it really doesn't effect me.

I think I'm going to try my hand at plugin development. There's a couple of things that would come in useful.