CMS field overrides with _schema.json are really fun yet powerful

[jamestagal]

Hi all,
I just wanted to show how you could add a list item or a paragraph to your content when they are defined as components (that aren't part of default content). See screencast of a list item example.

Screen.Recording.2023-01-17.at.11.20.07.am.mov

1. In your _components folder create another folder and call it item. Then, in the _defaults.json file there, add a default list item as follows:

{
	"item": "Another list item"
}

2. Next in your _schema.json file in the content when you want this item to be applied in, (in my case it was for the courses content) add the field name/s and item as the option specifying the type as a component.

{
  "list1": {
    "type": "component",
    "options": [
      "item"
    ]
  },
  "list2": {
    "type": "component",
    "options": [
      "item"
    ]
  }
} 

3. Make sure you put your item/s into an array in your data source, as follows:

"list1": [
        {
        "item": "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit."
        }
 ],
"list2": [
        {
        "item": "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit."
        }
 ],

4. Finally loop over the item in your html template as follows:

        <ul>
          {#each list1 as l}
          <li>{@html l.item}</li>
        {/each}
        </ul>

Hope that is helpful.
Thanks the guidance on this one @jimafisk
Ben

[jimafisk]

Thanks for the guide @jamestagal!

[dindinet]

Hi @jamestagal and @jimafisk

Firstly brilliant project. Great sollution to Git backed CMS and especially previewing. I am a fan of the NetlifyCMS but the Preview templating is a pain in the ***. The NetlifyCMS 'workflow' using branches is very helpful for teams that require reviews.

I tried to implement adding new faq items with the bigspring template using CMS field overrides.

				{
					"question": "New faq Q?",
					"answer": "new faq A"
				}

I tried to follow @jamestagal example but while not breaking the CMS I could not for the life of me get the 'Add New Faq item' button to surface. My problem I think was where to place all the files especially the _schema.json. I did not follow step 4. I figured the faq.svelte code would work as is.

Do either of you have an idea of what would be required to get the result I am after?

Regards
DaveL

[jamestagal]

Yes nice example @jimafisk and great to see you are exploring Plenti's CMS features @dindinet.

Just a note. The only difference with my example and the one Jim illustrated is that I created that item as a component from a content type in Plenti. So in my case my field override is placed in the _schema.json file of that content type not in a component as a component override. Hope that further clarifies the difference. Happy days! 😃

[dindinet]

Hi @jimafisk @jamestagal

I followed the instructions from @jimafisk for adding faq_items. That worked. I then tried to implement something similar for the blurbs on the privacy-policy page and the terms-conditions page. However, the interface offered up faq_item as an add an item option in the cms for the two pages.

I failed to get that to work, I'm still swingining at windmills with this stuff. I haven't built up a mental model of what plenti is doing in the build.

@jimafisk Might it be feasable to add a true or false add_new key to any content array and have the cms discovery auto add an
'+ item' button. (similar to the NetlifyCMS list widget). If this were possible it would be really helpful for content that is deeply nested.

	{
		"name": "faq",
                    "add_new": true
		"fields": {
			"items": [
				{
					"question": "Will updates also be free?",
					"answer": "Lorem, link ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit."
				},
				{
					"question": "Discounts for students and Non Profit Organizations?",
					"answer": "Lorem, link ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. "
				}
			]

		}
	}

Regards
Dave L

[jimafisk]

However, the interface offered up faq_item as an add an item option in the cms for the two pages.

The way we figure out which schema to apply is by comparing the key structure of the JSON on the page to the key structure of the defaults for the component (so a _defaults.json file is required). This lets us track components without needing separate mapping config, but it requires unique key structure. If both the faq and blurbs components used the same items convention, then Plenti wouldn't be able to distinguish between them. However, that doesn't appear to be the case, so adding the components (plenti-themes/bigspring@794ca6f) seems to be working on my end:

See Blurb Component screenshot

That said, this theme was developed a while ago and I actually think this would be better as a wysiwyg field widget. I've actually gone and converted that (plenti-themes/bigspring@549c406):

See WYSIWYG screenshot

If you want these updates, just pull the latest theme changes into your project: plenti theme update bigspring

Might it be feasable to add a true or false add_new key to any content array and have the cms discovery auto add an
'+ item' button.

Unfortunately that violates our principal of unstructured JSON. There are no required keys to allows folks to pull from a variety of content sources and APIs that they might not necessarily have control over. I often use a component-based architecture with the name / fields convention, but it's possible to use Plenti variety of dissimilar ways based on user preference.

[dindinet]

Hi @jimafisk

I had another play with this. To get the CMS to offer an appropriate set of components for different pages I ended up creating
a folder for each page in the content folder. This was to allow for each page using it's own schema and defaults file.

I thought I had seen somewhere that by using a naming convention like _schema_contenttype.json and _defaults_contenttype.json
I need not have created the separate folders. Did I dream that?

Starting to get more of a handle on it and still enthusing about plenti. :)

Dave L

[jimafisk]

To get the CMS to offer an appropriate set of components for different pages I ended up creating
a folder for each page in the content folder

If that fits your project requirements, that's totally valid! The way I typically structure pages is I use a pages type with a schema that defines the component library available to all pages. Each page typically uses a different set of components on the actual page, but the component library works as a type of "page builder" that editors can use add/remove or move content around.

I thought I had seen somewhere that by using a naming convention like _schema_contenttype.json and _defaults_contenttype.json

Yes that does exist, it's called a "single" content type. You can define a schema for a single type by creating a JSON file with _schema_ prepended to the front of it (like _schema_mytype.json). There are no _defaults for single types though, since defaults are used to add more instances of the same type and these are one-off by definition. There are some more details here: https://plenti.co/docs/types

Starting to get more of a handle on it and still enthusing about plenti. :)

That's great, thanks for sharing your progress!