# File-based Snippets/Layouts with Support for Radiant Tags? **URL:** \ **Category:** Radiant CMS\ **Created:** [August 25, 2008, 6:20am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756 "2008-08-25T06:20:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 6:20am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/1 "2008-08-25T06:20:19Z")
Will we ever see the light of day for this feature. I personally despise editing code/indent-heavy layouts/snippets in Radiant. What are the limitations that prevent this feature from being implemented? ---
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 6:31am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/2 "2008-08-25T06:31:48Z")
Arik J. wrote: > Will we ever see the light of day for this feature. I personally despise > editing code/indent-heavy layouts/snippets in Radiant. What are the > limitations that prevent this feature from being implemented? Would it help you to use an external text editor of your choice for editing the entry of a text box in Radiant? I remember that there is a Firefox extension that can open up an external text editor of your choice. I searched it up and found this: [http://lists.radiantcms.org/pipermail/radiant/2007-May/004928.html](http://lists.radiantcms.org/pipermail/radiant/2007-May/004928.html) Hope this helps. Cheers, Mohit. 8/25/2008 | 12:29 PM. ---
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 7:03am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/3 "2008-08-25T07:03:59Z")
Sorry Mohit, but that really doesn’t help. I think it’s a fairly important feature to be able to modify Layout/Snippets outside of the web UI. Also, relying on one browser platform to get this done is quite silly and actually defeats the purpose of a text-editor. Eh… just a thought. ---
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 9:08am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/4 "2008-08-25T09:08:33Z")
I seem to recall an extension for VIM that allowed you to edit stuff in Radiant using VIM. You might give that a try. I can’t imagine file- based stuff making it into core though. Perhaps the closest we would get to that would be an import/export feature. –John ---
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 12:44pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/5 "2008-08-25T12:44:58Z")
Yes, as I told in a previous post ([http://www.ruby-forum.com/topic/163688#new](http://www.ruby-forum.com/topic/163688#new)) I’m actually using Andrew’s extension to dump my Radiant layout for the following pourposes: - backup & versioning: via “rake file\_system:save” I dump the layout onto the filesystem, than I make some html/css changes here and there, I git commit -a -m “New css layout bla, bla …”, and load the layout back into the DB via “rake file\_system:load” - port my Radiant layout to the separate Rails app layout, which I like to look and feel the same way: smoothly cat & past some dumped html/css files between the two applications modifying destination partials files name, and app/views dir scructure accordingly That’s working fine for me until now. I’m using radiant-0.6.9 as a gem, and the commit commit 625ba8e31b7ffe3d9ca50019cf20bf942b9290c3 Author: Andrew N. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) Date: Thu Jul 31 07:19:04 2008 +0100 thanks Andrew lgs ---
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/6 "2008-08-25T15:13:22Z")
Andrew N. wrote: > The file\_system extension exists for this purpose. Check it out: > > [GitHub - nelstrom/radiant-file-system-extension: Save a Radiant site to the file system for easy editing and/or version control. Load from file system back into the database](http://github.com/nelstrom/radiant-file-system-extension/tree/master) > > I should warn you that it is still under development, so if you do use > it, take care! I would appreciate feedback on any problems you > encounter. > > Drew Does this jive with the Styles N’ Scripts extension? If so, I think you’ve solved a really large problem for me. ---
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 10:41am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/7 "2008-08-25T10:41:41Z")
The file\_system extension exists for this purpose. Check it out: > **[GitHub - nelstrom/radiant-file-system-extension: Save a Radiant site to the file...](https://github.com/nelstrom/radiant-file-system-extension/tree/master)** > > master I should warn you that it is still under development, so if you do use it, take care! I would appreciate feedback on any problems you encounter. Drew ---
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/8 "2008-08-25T16:35:58Z")
> These modules would be added to the SnS extension itself, rather than > in the FileSystem extension. If you had SnS installed without > FileSystem extension these modules would do nothing, but if you had > both extensions installed, then FS would pick up the extra > functionality provided by those modules in the SnS extension. (It > might be necessary to specify the load order of file\_system extension > before the others) The only thing extra you would need to do is to test for the existence of the FileSystemExtension and then add your models to its list: if defined?(FileSystemExtension) FileSystem::MODELS \<\< ‘Stylesheet’ \<\< ‘Javascript’ end Then the extension will pick up those models, add the basic functionality and attempt to add their specialized modules as well. The extension is very helpful when you are working on a big site, or one that you want to manipulate significantly offline. I’d call the support for Pages shaky at best, and I’d still recommend manipulating those in the regular interface. However, the other models – snippets, layouts – are very simple and easy to manipulate in the filesystem. Thanks, Drew, for offering to maintain this extension! Sean ---
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/9 "2008-08-25T16:19:30Z")
On 25 Aug 2008, at 14:13, Arik J. wrote: > > Drew > > Does this jive with the Styles N’ Scripts extension? If so, I think > you’ve solved a really large problem for me. Not yet. That was the first question to be asked when I announced this extension: [Layouts, snippets and site assets on the file system? - Radiant CMS - Ruby-Forum](http://www.ruby-forum.com/topic/152887#709163) so I can probably say it tops the list of desired features. Sean answered the Q in the same thread. Sean designed the extension for the Redken site, which included a couple of additional models. I have basically taken Sean’s extension and stripped out all of the Redken specific functionality. If you look at the extension as it was when I first checked it in to github: [Created a git repo from Sean Cribbs original file\_system extension. · nelstrom/radiant-file-system-extension@cf20284 · GitHub](http://github.com/nelstrom/radiant-file-system-extension/commit/cf20284c13f3a43d00408086e628c2c13337380c) you can get an idea for what Sean means when he says “you can just create an appropriately named module”. In particular, I draw your attention to the files: /lib/file\_system/model/part\_type\_extensions.rb /lib/file\_system/model/template\_extensions.rb These files describe the save and load functionality for PartType and Template models. I have discarded them, because the corresponding models were custom built for Redken. On the other hand, I have maintained the page\_extensions.rb file, because the Page model is part of Radiant core. I think it would be quite straightforward to add the functionality in a similar fashion for ‘text-assets’ such as stylesheets and javascript files. If I understand Sean’s design correctly, I think his intention was that extension authors could make their custom models play with the FileSystem extension by adding modules such as (using SnS as an example): /lib/file\_system/model/stylesheet\_extensions.rb /lib/file\_system/model/javascript\_extensions.rb These modules would be added to the SnS extension itself, rather than in the FileSystem extension. If you had SnS installed without FileSystem extension these modules would do nothing, but if you had both extensions installed, then FS would pick up the extra functionality provided by those modules in the SnS extension. (It might be necessary to specify the load order of file\_system extension before the others) I’m offering these pointers to help anyone get started on this who wants it. I have my plate full just now (and a vacation as of next week) so I won’t be able to have a go at this myself for at least a month. Cheers, Drew ---
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/10 "2008-08-25T16:56:31Z")
> I’d call the support for Pages shaky at best, and I’d still > recommend manipulating those in the regular interface. Agreed. The Page model is far more complex than Snippets and Layouts, because it has\_many PageParts, and acts\_as\_tree. I’m road testing the extension myself at the moment, and have noted a several bugs. I’ve already fixed a few of them, but others keep cropping up. I hope to announce progress in a separate thread soon. > Thanks, Drew, for offering to maintain this extension! It’s a pleasure. I really needed it to help me refactor a large site which has been getting out of hand. With the file\_system extension, my workflow has become so much more manageable. It is a huge relief! Cheers, Drew ---
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/11 "2008-08-25T18:49:40Z")
@Joe Van D. Whoa. Take it easy there mister. We’re not trying to change the world here! lol. ---
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/12 "2008-08-25T19:08:58Z")
Back in December 2007 I wrote a quickie extension for someone to have two separate sites, one being preview and one being live. In the end, we decided it would be easiest to copy a SQLite3 database file from the preview site to the live site (luckily on the same box). No version control, but it was an easy way to keep them separated. BTW, you could achieve what you mention also with the import/export extension (which I added a few fixes to the other day). It would not be easily readable (it’s all YAML), but it can maintain all the original data, including data that isn’t expressly written in the file\_system ext. Sean ---
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/13 "2008-08-25T18:45:32Z")
I just had a crazy idea. I’m looking for a way for users to have a “draft” version of the site. When it’s ready, they click a button and the pages/snippets/layouts that are published get transferred over to the new site. What if: When they click “Publish Site”: - test site does a “rake file\_system:save” to save the test db stuff to the file system - files are checked into git - production site does a checkout - production site does a “rake file\_system:load” to load the files into the db And Tada. You have a simple, version controlled site where people can preview their work. Joe On Mon, Aug 25, 2008 at 1:40 AM, Andrew N. ---
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/14 "2008-08-25T23:08:12Z")
It just so happens that I was playing around with getting the file\_system extension to work with SNS when I came across a nasty conflict. It seems that SNS uses the attribute “filename” instead of name. Because the file\_system extension uses this as well, it leads to all sorts of nasty issues. If you change the attribute to ‘name’ (or anything else for that matter), then everything works nicely. But I can’t figure out how to reset the filename attribute in the class extension and keep the whole thing working. Maybe Chris will be kind enough to change the filename attribute in sns or someone else has an idea. It would be great to get these two plugins working together! Keith ---
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/15 "2008-08-25T23:57:22Z")
On Aug 25, 2008, at 4:35 PM, Sean C. wrote: > > > > list: > > if defined?(FileSystemExtension) > FileSystem::MODELS \<\< ‘Stylesheet’ \<\< ‘Javascript’ > end I just tried this out with my hacked version of SNS (with “name” instead of “filename”) and for the most part it works. The only things is, while the names of the models get loaded in the constant list, the model extensions do not. If you manually add the Model names in the file\_system extension, then they do load (and strangely, if you inspect the list, the added model names are there twice). Again, odd, bu it is actually working and I can now export css and js files from the SNS extension. Once I get this oddities cleaned up I will try to fork it. Keith B. ---
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/16 "2008-08-25T19:21:18Z")
I wrote an extension that is being used in production that does something very similar. We have a staging environment and a production environment. The production environment is read-only. The users make all their changes on the staging environment. When they are ready to migrate the changes to production, they go to a Staging tab on the staging environment and click a button. Behind the scenes, the radiant content is copied from the staging environment to the production. It can copy the data between two environments on the same machine or two environments on different machines (via ssh gem) simply by changing a flag in the config file. Because the extension uses mysqldump, right now it is limited to only mysql databases. So far, the client has tentatively been agreeable to me open-sourcing this extension. Two things have kept me from pursuing that, namely time constraints and my thinking that this might not be useful to anyone else. If others think this extension might be useful to them, I can move it up my priority list. Jamey ---
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 7:34am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/17 "2008-08-26T07:34:09Z")
Hmm. Still giving me problems. It seems like the array is loading, but e´the model extensions are not… Keith ---
**Author:** ![imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ce7236/32.png) [@imakethings](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imakethings)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 3:14am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/file-based-snippets-layouts-with-support-for-radiant-tags/146756/18 "2008-08-26T03:14:28Z")
Oh, I forgot to mention that your extension must load before the file\_system extension for this to work: config.extensions = [:all, :file\_system] – should do the trick in config/environment.rb. Sean