Page specific text and sitewide text options removed- why?

[partywolf]

In previous versions of WPB, you had the options of adding a content area that was page specific or there was another module for site-wide content. This was a really great feature and we used it a lot.

In 11.5 there is only the one module for content "Text and Images" and depending on where you place it in your layout, it automatically changes from page specific to site-wide. The developers have tried to make this user friendly by highlighting the "on this page" areas green and the "on all pages" area blue as you drag the module.

Unfortunately the functionality of the new version is not as good as the old one. For example, you can not have page specific content in the "header" area any more. Nor can you have site-wide content in your main page area. Inside a side column, it was handy to put things like address and phone number details which appeared on every page. You can't do that now.

What's worse, is that in upgrading from to the latest version, it breaks the layout of all previous websites that used these features. It looks like WPB takes a random guess at where that content should be placed and then vomits your design back onto the screen.

Why make such a major change in functionality? What was wrong with having the two separate modules? It worked much better and was way simpler, while letting you be more creative with the design.

PLEASE devs, give it back to us!

 

[dave-ha]

I agree to what partywolf suggests. The editor of a site should be able to freely choose where to put content on the site.

As it seems, the change happened with version 11.0:

8. [*] Site-wide concept changes. Header and Footer are now site-wide areas, so every module put in them is displayed on the whole website. Sidebars and Content have a page-specific area in the center and site-wide areas at the top and the bottom.

@ Parallels: Why were these areas limited? Could the restriction be removed in the next release?

 

[custer]

For example, you can not have page specific content in the "header" area any more.

This is true for 11.5, but we're fixing that in v12 with visibility settings for modules in Design areas:

Nor can you have site-wide content in your main page area. Inside a side column, it was handy to put things like address and phone number details which appeared on every page. You can't do that now.

You actually can have site-wide content in your main page area and inside your sidebars in v11.5. There are site-wide areas on top and on bottom of main page area and sidebars:



I'm not sure why you have trouble getting site-wide content there -- can you elaborate?

What's worse, is that in upgrading from to the latest version, it breaks the layout of all previous websites that used these features. It looks like WPB takes a random guess at where that content should be placed and then vomits your design back onto the screen.

It's not random, but unfortunately, we couldn't forsee all possible combinations of module placement with the old scheme, so some designs might look different after the upgrade. No data is lost, though, so users can restore their websites to former glory even in the worst cases.

Why make such a major change in functionality? What was wrong with having the two separate modules? It worked much better and was way simpler, while letting you be more creative with the design.

Several reasons:

1. We wanted to introduce the concept of Design Templates, so that hosters and design studios could create their own designs and end-users could choose between different Design Templates without losing their website data. To achieve that, you must have a clear separation of what you consider to be design, and what you consider to be content. Before v11 we didn't have this clear separation, so changing design without changing content wasn't possible, because there was no "design" and "content" areas.

It's a bad idea to include page-specific modules in Design Templates, because Design Templates can be applied to a completely different website that doesn't have the page where your page-specific module is supposed to be located. It's also impossible to properly position these page-specific modules if they were, for example, sandwiched in the middle of Header area between two site-wide modules, because if you apply a different design without these site-wide modules, your page-specific module will have nowhere to go.

2. We wanted consistency and simpler user experience. Having both modules and site areas to be possibly site-wide or page-specific creates more confusion for customers (it's like having two tools for doing the same task).

 

[partywolf]

This is true for 11.5, but we're fixing that in v12 with visibility settings for modules in Design areas:.

And once again I ask "when is v12 due for release?".
Also from this screen shot, it seems like it's specific to the home page. Can you have page specific content on other pages? Our site had specific content on all pages.

You actually can have site-wide content in your main page area and inside your sidebars in v11.5. There are site-wide areas on top and on bottom of main page area and sidebars:
I'm not sure why you have trouble getting site-wide content there -- can you elaborate?

You are now restricted to the content fitting into the columns. We had a mixture of site-wide and page specific content across the top of the page in the header area. You can't do that any more.

It's not random, but unfortunately, we couldn't forsee all possible combinations of module placement with the old scheme, so some designs might look different after the upgrade.

THAT'S RIGHT!!! you can not foresee all possible combinations!!! So don't mess with your established system of doing things!!!

No data is lost, though, so users can restore their websites to former glory even in the worst cases.

Yes by spending several days recreating the layout using HTML code and custom DIV tags to try and emulate a design that worked perfectly. Thank you so much for making us do a stack of extra work.

Several reasons:

1. We wanted to introduce the concept of Design Templates, so that hosters and design studios could create their own designs and end-users could choose between different Design Templates without losing their website data. To achieve that, you must have a clear separation of what you consider to be design, and what you consider to be content. Before v11 we didn't have this clear separation, so changing design without changing content wasn't possible, because there was no "design" and "content" areas.

It's a bad idea to include page-specific modules in Design Templates, because Design Templates can be applied to a completely different website that doesn't have the page where your page-specific module is supposed to be located. It's also impossible to properly position these page-specific modules if they were, for example, sandwiched in the middle of Header area between two site-wide modules, because if you apply a different design without these site-wide modules, your page-specific module will have nowhere to go.

That's all well and good, but let your users choose if they want to use the new concept of "Design Templates" and warn them of the changes and restrictions. Leave the old established way of doing things there as an option. Then your users can make an informed choice if the new Design Templates are more useful, then they can take advantage of that. An upgrade to a CMS should not break a site made in the previous version.

2. We wanted consistency and simpler user experience. Having both modules and site areas to be possibly site-wide or page-specific creates more confusion for customers (it's like having two tools for doing the same task).

No it's not, it's like having 2 tools for 2 different tasks. If you want to combine them into one tool, then give an option or a check box for page specific or site-wide (as it looks like you might be doing in v12). In the meantime we're stuck rebuilding websites that worked fine before the upgrade. There's no easy way to drop back to the previous version of WPB either so for now, we're stuck with this version.

 

[dave-ha]

Custer, thanks for your explanations.

I understand that the new concept depends on a clear allocation for content blocks. The new concept seems to be targeted to novice users who can now easily view their websites with different templates.

Designers will like it less because of the restrictions for page-specific content and layouts. Could you find a way to add more flexibility with a future release?