Has anyone successfully created a block for a user (not an administrator, nor from the Dashboard) to upload files to the File Manager? Is there anything like this anywhere, or ideas on how to do it?
This is a good idea, although the Form block just uploads the file without any attributes set (so it just floats in the file manager, useless for users).
I would be interested in a simple block which uploaded a file to a specific file set (defined in the block properties), so users could, on a particular project page, upload files which would be added to that project's file set. The File List addon could then show all the files for that project.
It could indeed be an interesting addition. I will soon try..
But what about permissions? The users will need to sign in before? Open fileset to everone ?
Good point.. well, for my usage permissions aren't really a problem (because my file manager isn't open to the public), but I can see why that might be a useful feature.
It would be really nice from a user's perspective if the uploader was AJAX too, rather than a drab old HTML form :)
sebastienj .. if you truly are thinking of making an add-on like this, in addition to the permission based option, I'd like to see in the dashboard "options" for the add on, such as permissions for certain groups or user status (subscriber, admin, whatever), do they have to be logged in, etc. And also would be great to have multiple submission blocks so there could be say a photo contest on one page about animals, set the uploader to upload to the animals page of submissions (set of photos), another page with a block to upload to a set of landscape images, or whatever ... then upon submission have an option in the dashboard if the submissions need to be approved by an admin before posting or no approval needed. So in the instance of a photo contest for example, an admin could let the images post automatically as submitted or require admin to approve the images before they post to the page so they don't get some risque photos posted, etc. Of course, I'm just using photo contest as an example .. anyhow. if anyone is seriously looking in to this, I'd pay $$ for an add on of this quality with all the option features in the dashboard for a truly custom experience depending up on what one wants to achieve by using the block.
Indeed, it would bring us one step closer to a client extranet/project management solution, so I'd be all in favor! Now, if only someone would create an all in one solution for that... :(
When you say file "folder," do you mean file "set" within the CMS, or do you mean an actual directory on disk? And are the user-specific sets modifiable only by them?
I am looking for something along those lines... i would rather the user not have to deal with the dashboard. I wanted them to be able to add a new area and be able to add an image to that area from a block. All the image blocks i have seen merely pull up the file manager, which they would have previously had to upload to. It would be ideal to have the ability to upload and add a new image to an area in one step from a block. Have you figured out how to accomplish this?
> It would be ideal to have the ability to upload and
> add a new image to an area in one step from a block.
You are aware that you can upload an image WHILE choosing an image from the file manager while editing a block (such as the Content block), right? It might not be what you're after, but I just wanted to make sure you were aware that you don't have to abandon your block/page editing session and go through the dashboard to get to the file manager just to upload a file.
That said, I'm looking to implement user-specific galleries at some point, and I'll certainly create my own "gallery manager," so I'll be thinking through some of these issues in the future.
Yes I am aware of that, and that was what I resulted to by making my block using code from the core image block. For usability sake, we should make things as simple as possible for the user. I understand why they built the file library like they did, it is more for sharing. In my mind, however, a user should be able to manage images like text. Add it, delete it. Of course they would need to browse, but that is all. Adding 4 more steps seems silly just because all files must go through the library. Honestly, they don't care for it, don't use it. C5 is a wonderful cms, so I cant really complain, I mean they expect so much from it because it is already so intuitive. Unless you are sharing files among pages, it seems silly from an average user's standpoint.
By file folder I mean an actual directory on the disk, yes. The block shows a list of the files, and there's an upload form as well.
The admin need to make a user dir directory which you specify when you add the block (and it need write permission for the web server).
I see a lof of functionality I want to implement, but that must come later.
The problem is I have made a lot of blocks, but to upload something to the marketplace it needs to be in a package instead. How do I easily put the block into a package?
