tinymce, css files and SSI/PHP includes

[jsykes]

On May 28 2007 there was description for a potential new feature that would add some fields in the admin panel allowing css styles to be overridden by specifically naming css files. The thread was:

http://www.snippetmaster.com/forums/index.php/topic,1313.0.html

The implication was that this wouldn't be too hard to add in an upcoming mid-2007 release.

I use server side includes (SSI) to include common elements (headers, footers etc) on my pages. The SSI included files contain, among other things, <link> statements for my css style files.

As a result tinymce doesn't recognize my styles. This seems to be a documented limitation in several threads. The proposed May 28 2007 solution would have been an acceptable workaround, with the additional benefit of allowing me to limit styles. I've searched throughout the forums and don't see any further mention of this capability, but still see requests to solve the SSI/PHP include issue.

What happened to this feature?

I'm a new user of snippetmaster. I'm a web site developer and I'm trialing it as a possible solution for some of my simpler sites that don't need a large dynamic CMS system. I've just downloaded the latest snippetmaster lite release and don't see this feature. Not being able to see my sites styles would be a pretty significant issue for my clients. The use of SSI and php includes is a significant benefit for static sites, eliminating a lot of duplication and the configuration management issues that introduces.

Thanks, Jon.

[admin]

Hi Jon,

Due to lack of demand (nobody else wanted it), this feature never made it into release.    I can still add it, though.. I will make sure it's in the next release, due out mid February.

Best I can do is suggest you sign up for the announcements mailing list so you know when the next release with this feature is ready.

http://www.snippetmaster.com/news/

Cheers!

[jsykes]

That would be great! Thanks! I've just signed up for the announcements mailing list.

Would the new stylesheet dropdown be part of the "Editor Groups" tab within the "Admin Area"? That would seem like the most appropriate home for something that influences the behavior of the editor. It also has the added advantage of allowing me to use different sets of styles per user.

Regards, Jon.

[admin]

I am going to make it another one of the Snippet Tag attributes, as well as add it as a value you can set in the Editor Groups. 

[jsykes]

If it helps to prioritize, I would suggest:

1. Editor groups enhancement
2. Snippet tag attribute

My reasoning is that the snippet tag attribute would require an edit to each web page that contains the snippet tags. This starts to defeat the purpose of using SSI/PHP includes to eliminate duplication.

The editor groups option does duplicate my SSI included styles once, but it's only done once and affects all pages edited by users that are associated with that editor group. The ideal solution would be for snippetmaster to look down through the SSI/PHP include hierarchy, but the editor group style proposal seems like the next best thing from my perspective.

I think you'll find I'm not alone in finding this a useful enhancement. Snippetmaster seems to be a great product.  So far this is the only limitation I've found that would effect it's usage on my sites. I'll more than likely buy a rebrandable license when the mid-feb update comes out.

If you want any help with testing before the release, be sure to let me know.

Thanks, Jon.

[kitsguru]

I am in the same position as Jon using SSI. I just downloaded and installed SnippetMaster 2.2.3 for one of my clients. I used it once before but it is an awesome solution and I will be using it more but I need the SSI problem solved.

Some of my sites have hundreds of pages.

Jeff

[admin]

This should be in the next version due out very soon. 

[jsykes]

Do you have an update on when the next release will be available? It's been a long time since the last major release and the schedule for this one keeps slipping. It would be nice to have more confidence in the delivery date. Snippetmaster is a great application, but being proprietary with limited support really makes me question recommending this solution to my clients vs some of the open source full CMS applications.

Thanks, Jon.

[davert]

Not to be a pest, but how's the timeline looking? (May 18)