[UX] Disambiguate "Layouts" vs "Layout templates" in the admin interface.

[jenlampton]

I noticed that the tab on the Layouts page is labeled Install new Layouts when it should really be Install new Layout TEMPLATES as per our new disambiguation between Layouts and Layout templates.

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PR by @seancav03 backdrop/backdrop#2599
Updated PR backdrop/backdrop#3278 (includes commit above)

[klonos]

To be absolutely exact...

• "Install new layouts" should be "Install new layout templates"
• "Update layouts" should be "Update layout templates" (but should really go entirely [UX] Merge all the "Update core/module/theme/layout" pages into a single page. #2714)
• "Settings" should really be "List layout templates" or "Available layout templates" (because people are not just viewing a list in that page; they can also enable/disable templates)

In theory we should start calling the contrib projects "Layout templates" as well (and rename things in the b.org menu structure, and documentation/references too).

[jenlampton]

The settings page may have more settings than just allowed layout templates, so settings is fine there. Others tho, :thumbs up:

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On Sat, Mar 23, 2019, 11:45 PM Gregory Netsas ***@***.***> wrote: To be absolutely exact... - "Install new layouts" should be "Install new layout templates" - "Update layouts" should be "Update layout templates" (but should really go entirely #2714 <#2714>) - "Settings" should really be "List layout templates" or "Available layout templates" (because people are not just viewing a list in that page; they can also enable/disable templates) In theory we should start calling the contrib projects "Layout templates" as well (and rename things in the b.org menu structure, and documentation/references too). — You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#3607 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAYSR8aEJgCcEjNoBFGuaOG9II-z3btoks5vZwMFgaJpZM4cCg41> .

[ghost]

In writing https://api.backdropcms.org/documentation/overriding-layout-templates, I struggled knowing what to call these things (for lack of a better word). 'Layouts' seems to be obvious, because that's the directory name where they're stored, and 'templates' might refer to the *.tpl.php files in those layouts, but then I saw this and was like "Uh...what!?"

I thought 'Moscone Flipped' was the layout, 'cause it's stored in /core/layouts/moscone_flipped; but 'Default layout' is the layout and 'Moscone Flipped' is the template...? Argh!

[jenlampton]

Yeah, it's confusing.

A "Layout" is a specific path (or path pattern like node/%) that contains both block placements and configuration options, including which Layout template is in use. Example: This is my Home Page layout. (It could be 2 columns, stripes, custom, etc)

A "Layout project" is the thing you download from https://backdropcms.org/layouts. It can contain one or more Layout Templates.

A "Layout template" is one of the things that you find inside a "Layout project", and usually contains a .tpl.php file, but might not (though this is rare -- the core Boxton one-column layout is an example of a layout template that does not contain a `.tpl.php file).

[klonos]

I was just surprised that had we agreed on the names...

I don't think have never agreed. See: #3607 (comment) and #3607 (comment) 😅

Any of these PRs is still better than what we have now! :)

100%

[klonos]

@yorkshire-pudding thanks for taking the time to review and provide feedback 🙏🏼

Yeah, renaming the /layouts and /core/layouts folders and reorganizing the structure within them is a whole other can of worms 😓 (and we're a bit late to make that change, even if we wanted to - it'll break lots of things, so maybe a 2.x thing ...may just leave it alone). Same goes for the type = layout lines in .info files. I think that developers can live with the fact that layout template projects are simply called "layouts" (or to be more precise, they have layout for the machine name of their type) 🤷🏼‍♂️

The goal here is to make it less confusing in more obvious places and user-facing text, which includes this PR here, changing what we call these in our documentation and inline comments, and perhaps renaming certain things in b.org.

[jenlampton]

I had a look in the core folders for layout and the only one with more than one template in is legacy. I half expected moscone and moscone_flipped to be two templates in one folder but no, they each have a separate folder with a separate .info file.

All layout templates need to have an .info file, so it would be impossible to have any two layouts share one. Looking at core isn't a great example. We don't have very many core modules with submodules either, I can think only of the field modules that do that (number, text, etc).

In most cases the project you download from backdropcms.org is going to contain a set of layout templates that all use the same layout framework (something like bootstrap, zen, etc) but have different configurations of rows and columns.

Yeah, renaming the /layouts and /core/layouts folders and reorganizing the structure within them is a whole other can of worms 😓 (and we're a bit late to make that change, even if we wanted to

Oi, you mean renaming them to layout-templates? I hadn't thought of that :/

if you still insist on calling these "layout projects", can you please rebase your PR, so that people can play around with the UI and compare the two alternatives? Thanks.

I did end up rebasing my PR: backdrop/backdrop#4304 but I expect we'll probably use yours. I did a quick code review (of your PR) and found a few unnecessary comment changes, but otherwise it looks good!

[klonos]

Oi, you mean renaming them to layout-templates? I hadn't thought of that :/

Yes, either layout-templates or layout_templates ...either way, it's not ideal DX to have a thing called "layouts" which doesn't make sense, since layouts are config .json files that is kept under the config folders - the /layouts and /core/layouts folders hold layout templates, but as you can understand and as I said, whole different can of worms there 😓

I did a quick code review (of your PR) and found a few unnecessary comment changes, but otherwise it looks good!

Thanks. Reverted those 👍🏼

[stpaultim]

I don't feel too strongly about any of the issues that were discussed here. Just happy to see progress with either PR. I just looked at both Sandboxes and think they look good.

[klonos]

@jenlampton @stpaultim @yorkshire-pudding you've all chimed in here recently, indicating that you like where this is heading, however have you actually had the chance to test or review the code? I would really like this in for 1.24.0 (and 1.23.2), so pwetty pwease 🙏🏼 🙂

[yorkshire-pudding]

@klonos - which one should I look to test/review?

[klonos]

@yorkshire-pudding mine is this: backdrop/backdrop#4303 ...but in general, hovering over a PR link in the sidebar should reveal a pop-up which indicates the name of the repo it's coming from:

[yorkshire-pudding]

Thanks @klonos - I've tested this in the sandbox and all looks good and I think makes more sense than what is there currently. I've also reviewed the code and think it looks fine.

[ghost]

I reviewed @klonos' PR and tested in the sandbox. Looks good to me. I'm not sure about @jenlampton's 'Layout project' terminology... Perhaps something to discuss in a new issue. FTR, if necessary, I'd prefer something like 'Layout bundle'.

I've merged backdrop/backdrop#4303 into 1.x and 1.24.x. THanks to @klonos, @jenlampton, @stpaultim & @yorkshire-pudding for their feedback here.