Quick Search for Elements Add-on Idea

I've been using MODX Revolution to build my client's websites for almost two years now. I love it, and I've become very fast at being able to build websites with it. Problem is, I'm faster than the Manager in several cases.

Even in my first few weeks with the Manager (then 2.0.8), I found myself wishing there was a quicker way to edit an element, rather than:

• finding it in the tree
• knowing its id

Finding it in the tree can simply take too long, especially on large sites. In a lot of cases I resort to expanding the ENTIRE tree just so I can use CTRL+F in the browser to highlight said element in the tree.

Imagine this:

• keyboard shortcut opens a modal window
• modal window contains a typeahead search filed that searches while you type, and displays Elements with a similar name
• hit enter, highlighted said element is opened, maybe in a new tab

typeahead.js is now on GitHub, and looks like it could be used for something like this
https://github.com/twitter/typeahead.js

So, Community. What do you think?

This sounds like a no-brainer. I would use it for sure.

I also like your idea of entering the element name in the query string as a shortcut.

Brilliant! Or maybe just a plugin that does typeahead when you hit "[[" in your textareas… and searches in the various Elements based on what the next character is…

Is it done yet JP?

I've never been a fan of all the ajax going on in the Manager. Simple hover or jquery trees would suffice. Your method sounds cool, I could never remember all the element names though.

Quote from: revitalagency at Feb 21, 2013, 01:04 PM

I've never been a fan of all the ajax going on in the Manager. Simple hover or jquery trees would suffice. Your method sounds cool, I could never remember all the element names though.

For you then, another similar method might be something Ryan Thrash brought up at MODXpo Netherlands. This would probably have to be a feature of Ace or Codemirror, but imagine, when editing an element if other elements served as hyperlinks to open them in a new tab. Maybe it's context menu style, so you aren't accidentally "clicking" them when trying to just edit text.

This "mini" modal window could also grow in features over time, maybe doing things like listing recently edited Elements by type.

Quote from: markh at Feb 21, 2013, 01:00 PM

Is it done yet JP?

hehe the plan is:

• gain community interest
• get it on Github
• release

So I think it's about 1/3 done already. The third third might be a big third though

Quote from: jrotering at Feb 21, 2013, 12:45 PM

This sounds like a no-brainer. I would use it for sure.

I also like your idea of entering the element name in the query string as a shortcut.

I really like this idea too, although I think the 'modal box' idea is probably going to be preferred for most. I'll let ya know if I figure it out though because it could be, maybe a separate addon

Quote from: revitalagency at Feb 21, 2013, 01:04 PM

I've never been a fan of all the ajax going on in the Manager. Simple hover or jquery trees would suffice. Your method sounds cool, I could never remember all the element names though.

I like that you bring up other possibilities, because I think something like what you are mentioning would be needed to make the Manager responsive for small touch screen. You know, kinda like Mark did with Handyman!

A responsive manager has always been on my to-do list, even had a client say he'd pay for it an iPad friendly version. But I digress back to the thread. I'm not opposed to modals. I can make modals with 4 lines of code so its no browser overload. I really like the idea of a "recently edited" sort option. Thats how I sort my file list when coding anyway.