New to Contao - Few Questions
Hi
We are working with a client that wished to use Contao. We normally use Expression Engine / Wordpress or custom write our own using Code Igniter. After looking through the Contao user guide we have the following questions;
1. We're seeing .html on the end of the URLs in Contao driven sites, so we're assuming Contao generates and publishes content as static pages? And doesn't generate content dynamically on the fly?
2. Is mod-rewrite / .htaccess the only way to do custom URLs e.g /services/ instead of /services.html?
3. We're doing custom development with 3rd party API's and also have user generated data how/can we use straight PHP / MySQL for these areas? Or would this need to be written as a Contao module / extension?
4. Can we create our own data channels from primitives ( text field, drop down, radio, WYSIWYG etc ) and have this data populated from the Contao backend? Or are we restricted to the build ones?
Thanks for reading any responses appreciated.
Chris
Re: New to Contao - Few Questions
Quote:
Originally Posted by chriskuta
1. We're seeing .html on the end of the URLs in Contao driven sites, so we're assuming Contao generates and publishes content as static pages? And doesn't generate content dynamically on the fly?
Contao generates contents dynamically. However you can choose a cache time for each page.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chriskuta
2. Is mod-rewrite / .htaccess the only way to do custom URLs e.g /services/ instead of /services.html?
Yes, without mod_rewrite your pages urls will always starts with index.php.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chriskuta
3. We're doing custom development with 3rd party API's and also have user generated data how/can we use straight PHP / MySQL for these areas? Or would this need to be written as a Contao module / extension?
Contao is highly configurable through hooks and insert-tags
You will find a tutorial about writing custom insert-tags for Contao here .
You can also put your php code directly into a page through the {{file::}} insert-tag.
Plese note that writing a custom extension is a straightforward process. Here there is an excellent tutorial about writing custom extensions for Contao.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chriskuta
4. Can we create our own data channels from primitives ( text field, drop down, radio, WYSIWYG etc ) and have this data populated from the Contao backend? Or are we restricted to the build ones?
Chris
Yes, you can change built-in widgets properties trough the loadFormField hook or writing you own Widget. In Contao every "primitives" are coded extending the Widget class.
You will find the complete api at http://api.contao.org/.
