By boardgame on

I would like my users to be able to add content related to a specific menu item.

Example:

  • Shoes
    • Red
    • Blue
  • Shirts
    • Red
    • Blue

So, I'd like the user to be able to click a create content link on the page for red shoes, and have links to the content created be viewable on the page for red shoes.

I don't want the user to have to classify anything, just click add content and have it be associated with that menu item.

How can I make this type of restriction?

Comments

boardgame’s picture

boardgame commented

I am not finding much in my searches for answers to this question, so I'll ask another.

Is it something that isn't possible with current contributed methods?

Is Drupal not designed to handle this type of thing?

Is it that users are supposed to be trusted to tag things appropriately when a clear relationship would obviously be preferable to anyone trying to manage site content?

Is it something that would require new code to pull off?

I'm slowly getting the impression that the viewpoint of drupal is to throw as many nodes into one box, with each node being randomly tagged by users, and hope that a search engine will come along and organize the contents of the box.

Are menus which represent specific folder directories (and actual specific identification) discouraged by drupal as a matter of best practices for use?

justageek’s picture

justageek commented

I don't know exactly how to do what you want, but I know it is possible, and this:

"I'm slowly getting the impression that the viewpoint of drupal is to throw as many nodes into one box, with each node being randomly tagged by users, and hope that a search engine will come along and organize the contents of the box."

is completely off-base. Essentially, you create a vocabulary called Color using Taxonomy module, then add your terms Red and Blue. You link this vocabulary to one or more types of content. when a user creates a piece of content linked to that vocabulary, the colors appear in a simple drop-down list.

I don't think it is unreasonable to ask the user to choose a color from a list, if that is a deal - breaker, then good luck finding any cms for your users. I've used a ton of cms products, none work out of the box like that, limiting a single user to a single category. All would require customization. It just depends on which one you want to customize, I guess.

boardgame’s picture

boardgame commented

Would you know whom or what article I should track down to find out how to do this?

To your other comments, my question then is what is the point of the menu system then?

I would think it would be to outline the preferred organizational directory the site administrator chooses. If items are "tagged" with different relationships, I have no problem with that, as long as that item has one true destination and organization in the structure of my site.

I understand the whole free-association concept of taxonomy, and this kind of anti-directory approach, but for me, a hybrid of directory and tagging would be far preferable... if I could find it.

I should also mention that the example I used in my original post was random, my site actually focuses on fixed destinations/geography. I should have mentioned that to clear up why exactly I think a directory would be best.

  • Canada
    • Alberta
    • Quebec
  • USA
    • California
    • Georgia
markabur’s picture

markabur commented

the node hierarchy module can help with what you're trying to do. when a writer is looking at a given page in the hierarchy, this module lets them add a "child" page under it, and can automatically create a corresponding menu item.

cog.rusty’s picture

cog.rusty commented

Very useful for adding to menu hierarchies which consist of single posts.

cog.rusty’s picture

cog.rusty commented

Generally you can't do "post here" in the exact way that you have conceived it without writing your own module. It would be cool, but Drupal by default doesn't work that way.

- Its menus are mainly for keeping organized paths which you put in them, and nothing more.
- Only a content type can provide a node/add/sometype link for adding new posts (but obviously you don't want a "red shoes" content type).
- Taxonomy is Drupal's tool for what you want. Taxonomy, together with the views module, can provide you with perfectly organized section pages, but it does not provide "post here" links. There is a taxonomy_defaults module, but even that involves a corresponding content type.
- There are modules for doing some automatic things to menus depending on taxonomy.

Some modules can get you closer to what you want, and custom code can get you exactly where you want. In any case, it is necessary to learn how Drupal does things, to get a better feeling of how you can steer it about.

Personally I would love to see a module which, when you are on a taxonomy view, can look at the URL and add categories to the posts which you make there using a node/add/sometype link. But nobody found it useful enough to develop it.

boardgame’s picture

boardgame commented

You've definitely covered my broader question. I'm going to have to totally rethink everything I've done so far. I'll update as soon as I figure out what to do.