A very important feature by which node_block would enable trusted but not technically sophisticated users of a site to employ easily the power of blocks:

Simply save a list of info boxes created so far, and allow users to select these boxes to add to a different page by checking them off on a list.

I may be missing something major and obvious, but it seems to me that right now every block can only be created from scratch, that pre-existing blocks are not available to add to a page. Please correct me if I'm wrong!

Thank you,

benjamin melançon

member, Agaric Design Collective
http://AgaricDesign.com - "Open Source Web Development"

web worker, PowerToExchange
http://PowerToExchange.com - "Of, By, and For Entrepreneurs"

person, People Who Give a Damn
http://pwgd.org - "building the infrastructure for a network of everyone"

Comments

mlncn’s picture

mlncn commented

Link back to the project in question: http://drupal.org/project/node_block

Note to people new to Node Info Boxes: To actually turn node_block on, so that users can add blocks to nodes, you not only have to enable it like all modules but you must configure it in the oh-so-intuitive administer > settings > node_block

With the (I hope simple) feature I'm requesting I think node_block will be immensely valuable and powerful.

Suuch’s picture

Suuch commented

Hi,
Thanks for the feedback. There is an access control issue with showing all the available blocks that made me decide on showing only the custom blocks for regular users.

Blocks provided by modules can/must be enabled by the administrator for all site users (or a subset using some PHP trickery--the administrator is queen after all). This is as a result of the way Drupal handles block visibility (blocks are not assigned per user per page, but just per page). Allowing multiple normal users access to a module's (not custom) block means user1 can twiddle block1's settings one way, and user2 another way. Whoever twiddles last has the upper hand that is why by default there's only 1 user.

Got ideas on how to achieve this with the current Drupal block config?

mlncn’s picture

mlncn commented

I'll have to look at the code some... but I think creating a new access permission to add node_blocks, but not edit them, would be the best way of handling the issue of lots of people modifying each others' blocks.

That should be enough for most purposes. One or a few trusted AND PHP-knowledgable users can actually edit blocks, and will have to just not step on one another's toes, while a new set of trusted people could add or remove blocks from any given page.

That's my intended use: I create the blocks, which the client can then add to any given node.

Maybe there's already a module to assign any given block from the node posting page and I missed it-- or perhaps it should be a separate module?

Suuch’s picture

Suuch commented

Please go ahead and patch the current module to include this functionality. It will be better to have a single module that's fully customizable for multiple uses.

We'll gladly patch the current module with any improvements you make.

Suuch’s picture

Suuch commented
Status: Active » Closed (fixed)