Developing a custom content editor app

This page describes how to develop a custom content editor app based on the Magnolia Content editor.

Compatibility note

Custom content editor and block definitions created in the Magnolia 5 UI framework must be migrated.

Before you start

This section mentions what you should be aware of before creating an implementation of the content editor.

Understanding the content model: block, composition

A block is a well-defined page section which, together with other blocks and additional meta information, can form a single content composition.

In the context of the content editor app, each item (e.g. a story in the stories-app) is a composition of N blocks of editable content, such as headings and paragraphs, complemented by meta information such as the required fields for the lead and title of the story:

A compostiion example viewed as JCR nodes

Declaring the ContentClipboard component

When creating a custom content editor app, you must ensure that you declare the ContentClipboard in the proper scope. In other words, you need to make sure the id reflects your particular custom app.

This should be as part of the <components> in your XML-based module descriptor. 
  <components>
    <id>app-my-stories-browser</id> (1)
    <component>
      <type>info.magnolia.ui.framework.ContentClipboard</type>
      <implementation>info.magnolia.ui.contentapp.action.clipboard.JcrClipboard</implementation>
    </component>
  </components>
1 Declaring the custom app. The format is app-<YOUR-APP-NAME>-browser. In this example, the app is called my-stories.

Required node types

The content editor UI expects nodes of the type mgnl:block, mgnl:composition and mgnl:collection. These node types are defined in the file content-editor-nodetypes.cnd which resides in the magnolia-content-editor submodule.

Hoewever, registration of these node types is handled by the stories-app via the XML-based module descriptor.

Dependencies on the content editor modules

In any case, your implementation of the content editor depends on the following modules:

  • magnolia-content-editor

  • magnolia-block-api

  • magnolia-block-templating

Besides the requirement for these base modules, you must also ensure that the system registers the required node types.

If your custom content editor is created with a light module, your bundle must contain the stories-app module. If created with a Magnolia Maven module, you can register the node types within your custom module.

If you are using a preconfigured DX Core webapp or bundle (see the list of preconfigured Magnolia bundles), it already contains the stories-app and all the required modules.

Workspace

To store new content items with your custom content editor, you can use

  • the stories workspace provided by the stories-app module,

  • or a custom workspace defined by your custom module.

Multilingual content

The Content editor and the Stories app don’t yet support multi-language content.

Defining a custom content editor app

Developing a custom content editor app is similar to creating any other 6 UI app because it is based on the info.magnolia.ui.framework.app.BaseApp app class.

You can build your custom content editor app within a light module.

Here is an overview how to define a content editor app:

  • Create a YAML app descriptor with its subapps.

  • The browser subapp is just a browser descriptor from the UI (info.magnolia.ui.contentapp.configuration.BrowserDescriptor).

  • The detail subapp should extend info.magnolia.editor.app.ContentEditorDetailSubApp.

Creating the descriptor and subapps

Create a YAML app descriptor.

Typically, you need at least the following two subapps:

  • The browser subapp. Use a regular browser descriptor class info.magnolia.ui.contentapp.configuration.BrowserDescriptor.

  • The editor subapp. Use info.magnolia.editor.app.ContentEditorDetailSubApp, which extends info.magnolia.editor.app.ContentDetailSubApp.

    Action definitions
        actions:
      close:
        class: info.magnolia.editor.action.CloseContentEditorActionDefinition
      save:
        class: info.magnolia.editor.action.SaveContentActionDefinition
      saveAndPublish:
        class: info.magnolia.editor.action.SavePublishContentActionDefinition

Using mgnl:composition in the app descriptor

Set the mgnl:composition node type:

  • As one of the allowed node types of your app:

    datasource:
  $type: jcrDatasource
  workspace: <workspace-name>
  allowedNodeTypes:
    - mgnl:composition
    - mgnl:folder

    (Instead of <workspace-name>, use stories, articles or the name of your custom workspace.)

  • As the primary node in the dropConstraint in a content view of the browser subapp:

      browser:
    class: info.magnolia.ui.contentapp.configuration.BrowserDescriptor
    workbench:
      contentViews:
        - name: tree
          $type: treeView
          dropConstraint:
            $type: jcrDropConstraint
            primaryNodeType: mgnl:composition
          columns:
            - name: jcrName
              $type: componentColumn
              nodeTypeToComponent:
                mgnl:folder:
                  icon: icon-folder
                  showPath: true

  • As node types for the datasource and item provider in the detail subapp:

      editor:
    class: info.magnolia.ui.contentapp.detail.DetailDescriptor
    subAppClass: info.magnolia.editor.app.ContentEditorDetailSubApp
    datasource:
      $type: jcrDatasource
      workspace: stories
      allowedNodeTypes:
        - mgnl:composition
        - mgnl:folder
    itemProvider:
      $type: jcrNodeFromLocationProvider
      nodeType: mgnl:composition

Creating a composition of fields and blocks

You can use a combination of the following field types to create a composition of editable elements for your editor form:

  • Expanding text field

    • type alias: expandingTextField

    • class: info.magnolia.editor.app.field.ExpandingTextFieldDefinition

  • Collapsible composite field

    • type alias: collapsibleCompositeField

    • class: info.magnolia.editor.app.field.CollapsibleCompositeFieldDefinition

  • Multi block (a set of blocks). The developer of the editor defines what block types will be available to the editor. The actual number of blocks added and their mutual position is determined by the editor.

    • type alias: multiJcrBlock

    • class: info.magnolia.editor.block.jcr.MultiJcrBlockDefinition

Example collection

The following definition creates a collection consisting of four editable elements:

  • A two-row title field (title).

  • A composite field (datesAndSlug) for:

    • Story date.

    • URL slug of the story.

  • A multi block (blocks) that can hold multiple instances of block types text and image.

    form:
      properties:
        title:
          $type: expandingTextField
          label: Story title
          rows: 2
        datesAndSlug:
          $type: collapsibleCompositeField
          label: Date & Slug
          collapsed: false
          itemProvider:
            $type: currentItemProvider
          properties:
            created:
              $type: dateField
              label: Story created on
              defaultValue: now
            jcrName:
              $type: slugField
              label: URL slug
              placeholder: Add a URL slug ...
        blocks:
          $type: multiJcrBlock
          blocks:
            - text
            - image
          initialBlock: text
          defaultBlock: image
          itemProvider:
            $type: currentItemProvider
Rendered as

A rendering of a content editor composition.

The multi block

An editor node defined using multiJcrBlock creates a block set and specifies what block types are allowed in it and their appearance.

The Content Editor module comes with four predefined types of block you can use in your editor:

  • text

  • image

  • video

  • externalLink

You can also define your own content block(s).

Multi block properties

initialBlock

Specifies what will be created as the initial, automatically added block when creating new content (or when no block is available). Example:

initialBlock: text
defaultBlock

Defines the block type which will be pre-selected in the block picker dialog. Example:

defaultBlock: image

Block picker dialog

linkableApps

Defines the app(s) whose resources you can link to from the text block. Example:

linkableApps:
  - pages
  - assets
  - contacts

Content i18n and migration to version 2.1 (and higher)

Internationalization (i18n) of content is supported since version 2.1 of the Content Editor module.

If you are upgrading from Magnolia 6.2 or from a 1.x version of the Content Editor, please mind the migration procedures below to enable i18n in the Stories app, as well as in other Content Editor based apps you may have.

Compatibility of content and block definitions

Block definitions and data structures created in the older versions of the module must be migrated.

Flat vs nested content structure

The data model has changed for internationalized stories. Whereas in versions 1.3.x and 2.0.x of the module, the mgnl:block elements are stored in a flat node structure,

stories
└── story1
    ├── 0
    └── 1

in the i18n-supported version (2.1 and higher), the nodes are locale-nested under intermediate nodes of type mgnl:contentNode, named blocks_de and blocks in this example:

stories
└── story1
    └── blocks_de
    │   ├── 0_de
    │   └── 1_de
    └── blocks
        ├── 0
        └── 1

This must be reflected in your MultiJcrBlockDefinition, where you need to add and enable the i18n property.

Instead of the CurrentItemProvider, the CompatibleBlockProvider is set as the default provider, which can resolve both flat and nested block nodes. You do not need to declare it in your block definition.

Example definition
blocks:
  label: Blocks
  $type: multiJcrBlock
  i18n: true
  blocks:
    - text
This applies only to the 2.0.x block definitions. Block definitions created for version 1.3.x (5 UI) of the module are not compatible with the 2.1 version and must be fully migrated.

Migrating content

There are two ways you can migrate the non-i18n blocks to the i18n-compatible hierarchy: using a version handler or a Groovy script.

We strongly recommend you have the latest version of the Content Editor before migrating your content.

In versions prior to 2.1.3, the MigrateBlockToIntermediateParentTask doesn’t preserve the order of nodes when migrating to the latest version. Running this task can actually reorder the nodes to an incorrect state.
Version handler

When upgrading the Stories app submodule to version 2.1 or higher, all block nodes in the stories workspace will be moved to intermediate nodes, see the MigrateBlockToIntermediateParentTask task.

Groovy script

You can run the migration task in the Groovy app, especially in case a block node is stored in another workspace.

Example Groovy script
import info.magnolia.editor.setup.MigrateBlockToIntermediateParentTask
import info.magnolia.module.InstallContextImpl
import info.magnolia.module.ModuleRegistryImpl
import info.magnolia.objectfactory.Components
import javax.jcr.Session


Session session =  MgnlContext.getJCRSession("stories");
task = new MigrateBlockToIntermediateParentTask("stories", "/", "blocks");
task.execute(Components.newInstance(InstallContextImpl.class));
session.save();

The parameters in the MigrateBlockToIntermediateParentTask:

  • stories - workspace name

  • / - path

  • blocks - name of the intermediate node, the name of the multiJcrBlock field.

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