Element Helper for MODx Revolution

Element Helper is a MODx plugin for automatically creating elements from static files without the need for the manager.

Installation

Install through the MODx package manager. A guide for the package manager can be found here

Usage

Note

It is recommend that you only use this plugin during development of your site as it runs every time a page is loaded. You can disable it by simply going to the Elements tab in the manager and selecting 'Plugin Disabled' on the 'element_helper' plugin.

Initial Setup

Before you start using ElementHelper you need to set up a directory for your elements. To do this create a folder named elements in the core directory of your MODX install and then create folders for chunks, snippets, templates and plugins within the elements folder. If you'd like to change the location ElementHelper looks for elements see the Configuration section below.

Chunks, Templates, Snippets, Plugins

Simply create your chunks, templates, snippets and plugins within their respective folders and they will automatically be created when you reload the manager or a frontend page.

Template Variables

Template Variables are managed using a JSON file, if you're using the default settings create a template_variables.json file within your elements folder. To create a simple text template variable add the following to your template_variables.json file:

[{
    "name": "example_text_tv",
    "caption": "Example Text TV",
    "type": "text"
}]

Expanding on that example you could add an image template variable that is assigned to two templates called 'home' and 'standard_page' with the following:

Note: The "Template Variable Access Control" setting must be set to "Yes" for the template_access feature to work. See the Configuration section for more information.

[{
    "name": "example_text_tv",
    "caption": "Example Text TV",
    "type": "text"

},{
    "name": "example_image_tv",
    "caption": "Example Image TV",
    "type": "image",
    "template_access": ["home", "standard_page"]
},{
    "name": "example_migx_tv",
    "caption": "Example MIGX TV",
    "type": "migx",
    "template_access": ["home", "standard_page"],
    "input_properties": {
        "formtabs": [
        {"caption":"Info","fields":[{
            "field":"titles", "caption":"Title"
            }]
        }],
        "columns": [{
            "header":"Title", "width": "160", "sortable":"true", "dataIndex":"titles"
        }],
        "btntext": "Test Label",
        "autoResourceFolders": "false"
    }
}]

Template Variable Properties

• "type" The input type of this TV (all types should be lowercase)
• "name" The name of this TV, and key by which it will be referenced in tags
• "caption" The caption that will be used to display the name of this TV when on the Resource page
• "description" A user-provided description of this TV
• "category" The Category for this TV, or 0 if not in one
• "locked" Whether or not this TV can only be edited by an Administrator
• "elements" Default values for this TV
• "rank" The rank of the TV when sorted and displayed relative to other TVs in its Category
• "display" The output render type of this TV
• "default_text" The default value of this TV if no other value is set
• "properties" An array of default properties for this TV
• "input_properties" An array of input properties related to the rendering of the input of this TV
• "output_properties" An array of output properties related to the rendering of the output of this TV

Configuration

The following configuration optons can be found by going to System Settings within your MODX manager and selecting the elementhelper namespace.

• Automatically Remove Elements : Allow elementhelper to remove elements if you delete their source files (this will also remove TVs when you remove them from the TV JSON file).
• Chunk Path : Set the path to you chunk elements
• Plugin Path : Set the path to you plugin elements
• Snippet Path : Set the path to you snippet elements
• Template Path : Set the path to you template elements
• Template Variables JSON Path: Set the path to your template variable JSON file
• Template Variable Access Control: Allow elementhelper to give template variables access to the templates you set in the template variable json file. Note: Turning this on will remove template variable access from all templates unless specified in the template variable json file.
• Element History: Keeps track of elements created with ElementHelper. You shouldn't ever need to edit this
• Elements media source: Set a media source for your static elements
• Description key: Set a key that will be used to find descriptions for your element files
• Default Description: Set a default description for elements created with files