This article is directed to the web development community, but anyone who's job is to maintain content on their website will find our new tool useful.
Hot on the heels of the release of SilverStripe 3.1 stable release is Webbuilders Group's first SilverStripe 3.1.0 module, CMS Preview Preference.
View Modes
SilverStripe 3.0 introduced the ever so helpful preview button. V3.1 takes this feature to the next level by introducing the "split" view mode.
Split Mode
As you can see split mode shows you both the CMS edit screen on the left, and a live preview of the current page being edited on the right. Very cool! This is ideal for users with high resolution monitors. In fact the split mode only works when viewing the page on a monitor that is at least 1380px wide. Split mode is the default view mode in SS v3.1 (the other modes being edit and preview mode). Regardless of the users monitor resolution, some users might not like using split mode as it limits the width of the edit screen. The SilverStripe developers provided a means of changing the default view mode through code but this presents one problem. Changing the default view mode changes it for all site admins (anyone who is using the CMS to manage content). What if you like split mode by default, but the other CMS admin likes edit mode? This is where our module comes in.
Preview Preference Module
Our new module allows each admin to set their preferred view mode from the edit member screen located in the Security section of the CMS. Simply select your prefered preview mode, and click save.
Our module is available for free on github. Enjoy!