Custom Views for Block List

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Last updated 1 year ago

Custom Views for Block List

Custom Views are used to overwrite the AngularJS view for the Block List in the Content editor. We can improve the editing experience by overwriting the default representation of our block entries with a custom view that will provide a better view of how the content will look on the frontend.

Creating the Document Type

For this tutorial, we will set-up a simple document type and create a new property using Block List as the property editor.

To create a Document Type:

Go to Settings.
Select the ... next to the Document Types in the Settings tree.
Select Document Type with Template.
- Using folders can help you organize your Document Types.
Enter a Name for the Document Type. Let's call it Product. You'll notice that an Alias is automatically created.
Click Add Group and Enter a Name for the group. Let's call it Product Details.
Add the following properties: \
Add another group called Features and a property with the following specification:
Name
Features
Alias
features
Data Type
Block List
Click Save. Your document type should look like:

Creating the Content Node

To create the Content Node:

Go to the Permissions tab of the root content node and select Add Child in the Allowed child node types. The Choose Child Node window appears.
Select the Product document type and click Save.
Go to Content.
Select ... next to the root content node and select Product.
Enter the Name for the article. We are going to call it Product.
Fill the required details in the Product page and click Save.

Configuring the Block List Editor

To configure the Block List editor:

Go to Settings and open the Product document type.
Click on the Block List property we created earlier. You'll see the Block list editor's configuration, as shown below:

In the Configuration section, we can add Available Blocks, define the range of blocks that can be added, control the live and inline editing mode, or set the property editor width. The Available Blocks in the Block List editor configuration differentiates it from the other property editors. The list you create with the Block List editor is based on one or more blocks. Each block is based on an Element Type.

To add blocks to our Block List editor:

Click Add in the Available Blocks. The Pick Element Type window opens. From here, you have the option to select an existing Element Type, if any, or you can create a new Element Type from the configuration screen.
For this tutorial, we will Create a new Element Type.
Setup a new Element type called Feature and use the following configuration:
Property Name
Alias
Editor
Name
featureName
Textstring
Details
details
Textarea
Image
image
Media Picker
Similarly, I'll set up another block called Hero.
Toggle Live Editing mode and select Submit.

Creating Custom Views for blocks

We can improve the editing experience by overwriting the default representation of our block entries with a custom view that provides a better view of how the content will look on the frontend. Currently, you can only pick HTML files for a custom view. AngularJS powers these views, and therefore you can write any AngularJS logic.

Let's create a custom.html file with the following configuration:

<section id="banner" ng-click="block.edit()">
    <div class="content">
        <header>
            <h1>{{block.data.featureName}}</h1>
        </header>
            <p>{{block.data.details}}</p>
    </div>

</section>

Once the HTML file is updated, make sure that you restart your application.

Assigning the View to the Block

Now that we have created our view, let's assign it to our block:

Go to Product in the Settings tree.
Click the cog wheel next to Features.
Select the Product - Features - Block List. The Editor Settings window opens.
Select Feature from the Available Blocks configuration. The Configuration of 'Feature' window opens.
Click Submit.

Adding Content to the Blocks

To add content to the blocks:

Go to the Content section and select Product.
Select Add Content in the Features group. The Add Content displays the blocks we created earlier.
Select Feature. The Feature window opens.
Enter the Name and Details in the Feature window. You will notice you can view the content as you type. This is because we have enabled the Live editing mode.
Click Confirm.

Creating `Settings` section for Blocks

Now, we have overwritten the AngularJS view for the content editor's block presentation by using our own view. Let's create a Settings section to control the data alignment of the block. To do this, we need to add a Settings model to our block configuration.

To add a Settings model:

Go to Product in the Settings tree.
Click the cog wheel next to Features.
Select the Product - Features - Block List. The Editor Settings window opens.
Select Feature from the Available Blocks configuration.
Select Settings Model in the Data Models section. The Attach a settings Element Type window opens.
Select Create new Element Type.
- Enter a Name for the element type. Let's say Feature Settings.
- Give it an icon.
- Click Add Group and Enter a Name. Let's call it Settings.
- Click Add Property and Enter a Name. Let's call it Block Alignment. An alias blockTheme is generated.
- Select Dropdown List as the editor. The Editor Settings window opens.
- In the Add prevalue field, add left, center and right as values.
- Click Submit.
Click Submit.
Click Save and Close.
Click Submit until you reach the Product document type.
Click Save.

We need to update the custom.html file with the following configuration:

<section id="banner" ng-click="api.editBlock(block, block.hideContentInOverlay, index, parentForm)">

    <div class="text-block" ng-class="{'block-left': block.settingsData.blockAlignment[0] === 'left', 'block-center': block.settingsData.blockAlignment[0] === 'center', 'block-right': block.settingsData.blockAlignment[0] === 'right' }">
        <div class="content">
            <header>
                <h1>{{block.data.featureName}}</h1>
            </header>
                <p>{{block.data.details}}</p>
        </div>
    </div>
</section>

Additionally, we need to update our stylesheet to use the color configuration. For this tutorial, I have created a style.css stylesheet with the following styles:

@import url(https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Montserrat|Source+Sans+Pro:400,700,300,600,600italic,400italic);

body {
 font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', sans-serif;   
}

h1{
    font-weight:900;
}

.text-block{
    padding:20px;
}

.block-left {
    text-align: left;
    border: 3px solid green;
    padding: 10px;
}

.block-center {
    text-align: center;
    border: 3px solid green;
    padding: 10px;
}

.block-right{
    text-align: right;
    border: 3px solid green;
    padding: 10px;
}

Assigning the Stylesheet to the Block

Now that we have updated our view and stylesheet let's assign it to our block.

Go to Product in the Settings tree.
Click the cog wheel next to Features.
Select the Product - Features - Block List. The Editor Settings window opens.
Select Feature from the Available Blocks configuration. The Configuration of 'Feature' window opens.
Select Add Stylesheet and browse to style.css.
Select Add Settings in the Settings model and select Feature Settings.
Click Submit until you reach the Product document type.
Click Save.
Restart your application. Now, when you head over to the Product page in the Content section and hover over the block you will notice the settings option.
Click on Edit Settings and you can see the Block Theme options we created.
Select a Theme of your choice and click on Submit to see the changes reflect on your block.