Starting out on the right foot (Major Project)
17 posts by 3 authors in: Forums > CMS Builder
Last Post: April 5, 2011 (RSS)
By Ginslinger - March 29, 2011 - edited: March 30, 2011
Currently the database holds a little over 4,500 records with more being added on a regular basis. The current program does a decent job but is very limited in how the information is displayed unless I want to be constantly doing template updates when ever security or software updates are performed. (which sometimes seems to be too often)
I currently have a CMS Builder licence that is not being used and thought I would explore the possible use of it for this application.
Currently we have around 20 main categories with maybe 100 or so subs used throughout the main categories.
Kind of wondering if maybe someone could shed a little light on the best way to get started with this project. The main features that are needed I have listed below.
Main Categories with numerous sub levels of each main.
Advanced search functions
Keyword listings
Ability to display 6 to 10 photos for each listing.
Appreciate any suggestions or ideas that could get me started in the right way.
I am not sure if some type of database tool could be created to convert the records that are already present so that maybe something that I would need to explore rather than creating all the current records from scratch.
Re: [Ginslinger] Starting out on the right foot (Major Project)
By Jason - March 30, 2011
Yes, you can use CMS Builder to accomplish all of these features. You can use a Category Menu to create your category structure. There are also a number of search functions that come with the software. For examples of different searching functions, see here:
http://www.interactivetools.com/docs/cmsbuilder/viewer_search.html
Any search functions you need that aren't covered here can always be custom made.
I think the best way to start would be to install CMS Builder and then create your sections with the fields you need. Once you have everything structured the way you want, we can look into trying to move your information from you current database to CMS Builder. I'm not sure exactly how your current system is storing information, so this would be something we would look into through our consulting service. If your interested in this, please email consulting@interactivetools.com and we can let you know what would be involved with this.
Hope this helps get you started.
Jason Sauchuk - Project Manager
interactivetools.com
Hire me! Save time by getting our experts to help with your project.
http://www.interactivetools.com/consulting/
Re: [Jason] Starting out on the right foot (Major Project)
By Ginslinger - March 30, 2011
As an example the current pages are structured to show all the manufactures listed with sub categories displayed when a person clicks on the manufacture of choice. Can you provide an example of the best way to approach the creation of this structure.
I even thought of using a search url to display the main categories (Manufactures) for the front page. I do however need this to be easy to add new categories and subs as needed.
Re: [Ginslinger] Starting out on the right foot (Major Project)
By Jason - March 30, 2011
At this stage you don't need to worry about how this information is going to be displayed on your front end pages. From what you're describing, you'll need 2 sections: 1) A category menu to hold your category structure and 2) a multi-record section to hold your diecast car information.
For your category section, all you really need to store is the name of the category. The sub-category tutorial should give you enough information to get you going.
For your car section, just create a field to store each piece of information you need to know about a car. For example, some fields you may need would be:
-Name
-Description
-Keywords
-Price
-Pictures (upload field)
-Release Date
-etc
You can add a list field that pulls from your category section so that you can assign each car record to a category.
Hope this helps. Let us know if you run into any issues.
Jason Sauchuk - Project Manager
interactivetools.com
Hire me! Save time by getting our experts to help with your project.
http://www.interactivetools.com/consulting/
Re: [Jason] Starting out on the right foot (Major Project)
By Ginslinger - March 31, 2011 - edited: March 31, 2011
Have no clue where to go from here with all the different categories.
Re: [Ginslinger] Starting out on the right foot (Major Project)
By Jason - April 1, 2011
If you go into the section editor for your category section and click on the advanced tab, you can set the maximum depth your categories can go. For example, if you set it to 2, you can't go down more than 1 level of depth (Parent => Child). By default, this field is blank, which means you can go as deep as you want.
The next step would probably be to actually create your different categories.
Let me know if you run into any issues.
Jason Sauchuk - Project Manager
interactivetools.com
Hire me! Save time by getting our experts to help with your project.
http://www.interactivetools.com/consulting/
Re: [Jason] Starting out on the right foot (Major Project)
By Ginslinger - April 1, 2011
Strange thing is when I tested adding a record to say Auto World - American Motors it goes to Ertl - American Motors which I had already created a record under.
Is having the same sub category (American Motors) under both Auto World and Ertl the issue?
Re: [Ginslinger] Starting out on the right foot (Major Project)
By Jason - April 1, 2011
When you're looking at your drop down, do you see American Motors in two places?
Probably what's happening is you're accidentally assigning your listing to the wrong category. If you only have the name "American Motors" to go from, you have no way of knowing which one it is. When dealing with sub categories, I find it's best to set the label value of your drop down list to "breadcrumb" This will allow you to see what the parent category of the category your selecting is. It's also always a good practice to set the value of your drop down to be the "num" field.
Hope this helps
Jason Sauchuk - Project Manager
interactivetools.com
Hire me! Save time by getting our experts to help with your project.
http://www.interactivetools.com/consulting/
Re: [Jason] Starting out on the right foot (Major Project)
By Ginslinger - April 1, 2011
Now where do we go from here.
Re: [Ginslinger] Starting out on the right foot (Major Project)
By Jason - April 1, 2011
Excellent. So if you have both your sections set up the way you want them, the next step would be looking into importing your data from your current system. Since we have no way of knowing exactly how things are being stored there, we'd have to do some investigations to see exactly how feasible this is.
If you'd like to start that process through consulting, please send an email to consulting@interactivetools.com. The other alternative would be to simply re-create your records into the new CMS Builder sections you created.
Hope this helps.
Jason Sauchuk - Project Manager
interactivetools.com
Hire me! Save time by getting our experts to help with your project.
http://www.interactivetools.com/consulting/