ECI 2.0 Update
I’ve uploaded the latest 2.0 files to the public test blog at www.importcsv.eu/eci2 and that seems to be running fine without any re-installation being required, which is a good sign that I’m getting it right. I worked on the WYSIWYG Design page over the last couple of days and I focused on making it easy while still being advanced, cool actually. Those of you who wants to setup multiple designs per project i.e. different post layout per category or product type, will find the new design page a great tool. The idea is that we create a design and can even test it, before completing the overall project configuration. You generally get your design/s ready first and save them. Your design is then available for any number of projects and you can create more designs from an empty beginning or edit an existing design then save it so that it becomes a new design, just by changing the Name field.
Another thing I’ve started doing is adding “About” panels, they will provide tutorial support with text right now but when the plugin is complete I’ll put some YouTube videos in them. You will find “About” panels everywhere and the content for them is stored in seperate .txt files. This allows those files to be updated and the text copied then pasted onto the blog where I will also keep a guide. I’m also hoping to finally get translating done on this plugin and this text file approach will make it a little easier I think, I hope. All the “About” panels can be hidden on request, so once you get to know the plugin and know what you need for your project, just hide them. I’m all about not just keeping the interface tidy, but keeping it easy. I’ll gradually allow more and more configuration so that we can personalise the interface and hide the things we’ll never use.
ECI 2.0 is a long term project for me and it is being designed for long term blogs. That’s the mission but the great mission is to provide such functionallity that meets everyones needs but keep it easy enough for the most basic users/projects. I’m just about to code the function that generates posts. Once done the plugin can be used and we’ll have a Beta as I hoped I would 2 weeks ago.
http://www.importcsv.eu/eci2 I’ve tried it.
I think it would be easier use tabs instead of drop down menus.
Lets say you press “Start projects” and then select tabs :
Start new project | Manage data source | History of All | Etc
jquery ui tabs could be used (as example).
Drop downs are not bad but they look a bit messy when you see too many of them on one page (IMHO)
I was looking at tabs in some plugins and I have to agree with you. I won’t get around to adding it for some months but I’m looking forward to trying.