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Merging Assets

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Nando

16 May, 2016 12:39 PM

Like I've said in my previous posts, we're looking to clean up our site set ups and wanted to get your thoughts in a few things.

Should we merge as many data definitions (as we can without data loss)? Would that have any kind of negative effect on the database or anything?

Same thing goes with configuration sets, content types, meta data sets and templates?

And regarding templates, merging most regions and having most html/content be set by formats - would that hurt anything?

1. 1 Posted by Ryan Griffith on 16 May, 2016 01:10 PM

   

   Hi Nando,

   I hope you don't mind, but I went ahead and made this discussion public to see if any of our clients would like to chime in on your questions.

   Should we merge as many data definitions (as we can without data loss)? Would that have any kind of negative effect on the database or anything?

   As long as the group and field identifiers (and structure( are the same, you should be able to "merge the data". I do not see there being any negative impacts on the database.

   I also know that some clients also use Web Services to migrate structured data from one Data Definition to another.

   Same thing goes with configuration sets, content types, meta data sets and templates?

   This really depends on your needs, but I would say in general the fewer the better in terms of maintenance. If you can avoid creating new Configuration Sets and Content Types for one-off cases, that would be ideal. Again, I don't foresee any negative impacts on the database.

   Note: if you do start merging Content Types, make note of Content Type Index Blocks since those would start including the new content.

   And regarding templates, merging most regions and having most html/content be set by formats - would that hurt anything?

   Quite a few clients seem to be going this route, the concept of one Template or one Format to rule them all. There are many benefits to going this route, with a couple of trade-offs: larger, more complex Formats and possibly longer rendering times.

   There are a few resources you can check out for inspiration:

   • One Template, Many Options - Designing a versatile template for a creative and flexible user experience - CSUC15 presentation
   • http://www.hannonhill.com/resources/blog/2015/cascade-bootstrap-awesome-webinar-walkthrough.html

   Please let me know if you have any questions.

   Thanks!

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2. 2 Posted by Wing Ming Chan on 16 May, 2016 01:45 PM

   

   Hi Nando,

   I have been promoting the one-region template approach for a few months now. I have succeeded in generating multiple sites using a master site with a single one-region template. I have also successfully implemented part of the new Hannon Hill site in less than four days, using the core of my Standard Model. I even made several Google Hangout recordings talking about this approach.

   Let me know if you are interested. I can give you more pointers.

   Wing

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3. 3 Posted by Nando on 16 May, 2016 01:53 PM

   

   Thanks Ryan and Wing!

   I do have some questions, especially for a 1 region template - how?

   You're including the head and body tags in that region? I was thinking of doing that but we have breadcrumbs region I can't figure out how to merge.

   It utilizes a "current folder and siblings" index block to build out the links, I know you can't locateblock an index block that isn't indexing a specific folder folder...

   For now, I've split my template into 5 regions (from 20) but if I could figure out the breadcrumbs issue I would do 1!

   I guess I could do specific index blocks for specific folders and use them accordingly for breadcrumbs... would that be the only way?

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4. 4 Posted by Wing Ming Chan on 16 May, 2016 02:07 PM

   

   I only need an index block, attached to the Base Folder of a site, to create a site-specific menu bar for site navigation. Everything else, including breadcrumbs and left nav, are generated in DEFAULT using global index blocks.

   As for various "regions", I can deal with all of them within DEFAULT. If you want to find out how, start with my introduction to the Standard Model One Template, One Region, and Lots of Velocity Tricks and How Wing implemented the HH redesign in the Standard Model. After these two, if you still think that you want to pursue, then go to the technical discussions One Template, One Region, and Lots of Velocity Tricks, Part 1 to Part 3.

   I also document everything in my site: The Upstate Implementation: The Standard Model, though currently I am rebuilding this part and adding more details.

   One more thing. The implementation of the Standard Model is reusable by anyone, and is shared on github. The implementation of the Hannon Hill site (including breadcrumbs, nav's, etc) is also shared.

   Wing

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5. 5 Posted by Nando on 16 May, 2016 02:22 PM

   

   we thought of doing that as well (index block/base folder) but the index block would be HUGE. We've already increased the limit to 1200 assets for our index block... How do you deal with that or is the index block size not a big deal?

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6. 6 Posted by Wing Ming Chan on 16 May, 2016 02:27 PM

   

   To generate the site menu bar of my site, I do need to index more than 1000 assets. But I do not need page XML, so that is not a big deal. The current rendering time of a page is about 2.5 seconds, and the DEFAULT region (the only region I have) takes about 1.6 seconds. For a small site, the two figures are 1.3 and 0.8, respectively.

   Wing

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7. 7 Posted by Nando on 20 May, 2016 02:06 PM

   

   1 region template completed! now to update all content types :)

   thanks for all the info Ryan/Wing!

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8. Nando closed this discussion on 20 May, 2016 02:06 PM.