[zedseries_imex_ui] Im.Ex. export/import contents

[ga.n]

Hi all,

I have just released a beta version of ZedSeries Im.Ex. an (I hope) useful extension to share contents between Contao installations.


More information (and some screenshots) can be found at http://imex.zedseries.com

Any feedback will be really appreciated

[ramjet]

Amazing ga.n. :D
Thats also the best documentation - i like the idea of simple step-by-step lightbox slides.Hopefully i'll test it out soon.

[ga.n]

Amazing ga.n. :D
Thats also the best documentation - i like the idea of simple step-by-step lightbox slides.Hopefully i'll test it out soon.

thanks

Yes I hope to write the documentation soon, but I think that the commented screenshots are a quick way to get an overview of the extension.

I also published two sample packages:

- A "Contact us" page with a form and a thank you page
- A dropdown navigation menu (a bit more than a proof of concept, but it works :D)

They can be downloaded from http://bit.ly/fT4nWe

[Ben_360fusion]

From a quick look through the doocumentation this looks like a prety powerful module.

Could this be used so people can create bespoke packages they could then share so others can install them on thier own website?

So for example if you had created news pages with everything needed you could export this as a 'news package', and then install it on another website and all the pages would be set up and ready to go?

Ben

[ga.n]

From a quick look through the doocumentation this looks like a prety powerful module.

Could this be used so people can create bespoke packages they could then share so others can install them on thier own website?

So for example if you had created news pages with everything needed you could export this as a 'news package', and then install it on another website and all the pages would be set up and ready to go?

Yes it is exactly what the extension does. You can create a "news package" and it will be the last time you create a "news package" from scratch

And yes you can import the "news package" into an existing installation do some modifications and re-export them as a new package.

The above applies to every kind of contents (calendar, news, faq, pages, articles, newsletter etc.) you can create with Contao.

[Doublespark]

Looks like a great tool, any idea if it will work with catalog or isotope?

[ga.n]

Looks like a great tool, any idea if it will work with catalog or isotope?

Thanks

It should be able to export catalog definitions (not catalog tables)

I never installed the isotope extension so I do not know.

If you want to try please post any bug or problems to the project bug tracker at http://dev.zedseries.com

Thank you

[Ben_360fusion]

This is prety amazing. People can now create extensions that could be installed and work straight away without having to create pages and modules then put modules on pages, then style the pages and modules.

Have you seen this discussion: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1970&start=10#p11669

So you someone could potentially make a full working shop using Isotope and then someone else could install it into an existing site and all pages, modules and everything could work straight away. Instant shop.

Great work!

[Ben_360fusion]

Can the packages your module creates be installed from the extension repository?

This could be the break we've been looking for.

[ga.n]

Can the packages your module creates be installed from the extension repository?

This could be the break we've been looking for.

I am about to launch a website to share contents created with ZedSeries Im.Ex.

stay tuned

[mechaflash]

=D Will definitely try this when migrating my test sites to the official server. This will work great since I don't have access to the server all the time, I can still do my testing/implementing at my workstation then migrate anything I've upgraded or built to the server easily.

[ga.n]

I have just launched contaotemplates.com, hope this will be appreciated by the community. It features (once registered) an upload form that extract the information from an Im.Ex. package and categorize it properly. It also works with theme for Contao (.cto).

[schlauchbagmachine]

Hi ga.n,

first of all thanks for this very usefull extension!
I'm currently trying to put multiple installations into one and wanted to give your extension a try.

So far I could not export the package because of errors which could be identified in the log
as write permission problems. Do you know if the are any problems with the safe mode hack?

This is what I found in the logs when trying to export the package, beside that I also can not edit the package name because it is not saved which created a similar error message.

Details: Cannot create file "system/tmp/26900099d03e466b461df8c8a41d74ae/graph.xml"
Function: ZedSeriesImExService::run

The directory is on 777 but it is changed when the system access it.
Im using Version 0.8.0 rc1 build 5 & 6
Contao Version 2.9.5

Best regards
Sabri

[schlauchbagmachine]

Short update,

I tried it on another system without safe mode hack and it worked.
So the safe mode hack seems to be the problem.

Another problem is that the zedseries_lib is not assigned with that latest version when installing the zedseries_imex_ui,
but after updating to 1.5.0 it works.

[schlauchbagmachine]

Another error I found,

private and thumbnail are missing fields in tl_zedseries_imex_iarchive.
After creating them I can import the package.

But it worked and I thank you for that nice extension!

[ga.n]

Another error I found,

private and thumbnail are missing fields in tl_zedseries_imex_iarchive.
After creating them I can import the package.

But it worked and I thank you for that nice extension!

Thanks for reporting these problems I will take a look as soon as I can.

However the zedseries_imex_ui has zedseries_lib 1.5.0 stable as requirement, I do not know what happened but I will test this too.

[ga.n]

Short update,

I tried it on another system without safe mode hack and it worked.
So the safe mode hack seems to be the problem.

Im.Ex. uses standard Contao functions to create files so it sounds very strange to me

Have you filled in the "Exporter working directory" and "Importer working directory" under Im.Ex. settings?
I am talking about these

If you can provide more details it would be great

[Edit: the bug on missing fields on import was fixed in 0.8.0.rc1 build 8]

[schlauchbagmachine]

Of course i can give you more details, what exactly do you want to know?

[ga.n]

Of course i can give you more details, what exactly do you want to know?

did you select the importer and exporter working directories (under Im.Ex. settings)?

[schlauchbagmachine]

Sorry for the late reply, but yes i did select them.
I also thought I did a handling mistake at first, but when it tried it on the server without the SMH it worked.

[Ruud]

Why is this extension not yet catching on? I find it really useful if I want to add certain pages from one installation onto another existing one! Also useful for importing packages from the website http://www.contaotemplates.com/ (if only more templates)

I must admit I install to get my stuff done, then uninstall again...

[ga.n]

@schlauchbagmachine:

can you please send me a pm through the forum so we can stay in touch in order to try to resolve this issue? thanks

@Ruud:

I do not know either , besides the templates, the package you created is a great example of why I created this extension. Simply reuse contents.

There are some features I will implement in the next releases like "variables" for packages (e.g. create a "contact form", mark the destination email address as variable so users that install the package can be fill in the value while installing the package)

Sometime ago in the forum there was a thread about creating "standard" css for the various modules (e.g. news, pagination), I think that Im.Ex. is the right tool to easily distribute these css files to other users. (here http://goo.gl/KqebP there is a sample css for the zedseries_maps extension).

The last release features a way to upload the package with just one click from inside the Contao backend. So anyone who have a contaotemplates account can upload the package. I recently upgraded the contaotemplates.com website and now packages can be marked as "private", this way only the owner of the package can see and download it (and yes, the owner can made available the package to other contaotemplates.com users).

Unfortunately this is a spare time project (since the first release I received only a donation for this extension) so I do not have the time to mantain the extension, promote it and create packages