[Typo3-dev] Typo3 as Flash CMS

[Andreas Borg]

Hi Johannes,
Im currently working on a protfolio site for us as a webdesign
company, so that would include some news feeds and
some sort of portfolio section. The point is that although
our forte is flash design we want the content that CAN be
available in html to BE available, especially in regards to search engines.

The first goal is not to make a database rich site with alot of complex
low end data (like a detailed ecommerce site), but simply a site
that loads flash files into a flash container. Does that make sense?

/a


"Johannes Reichardt" <mailbox at gramba.net> skrev i meddelandet
news:mailman.146.1093465566.11015.typo3-dev at lists.netfielders.de...
> Well would be interesting what you want to achieve - what sort of site
> do you want to make?
>
> - Johannes
>
> >Hi all,
> >I wish to discuss some architectural issues involved
> >with using typo3 as a CMS for flash. Im doing this from
> >the point of view of a flash coder, but I know there is alot
> >of interest in this development out there, and I hope we can
> >get a discussion going.
> >
> >Sorry if it is a long email.
> >
> >There are at least 3 ways of mixing/matching flash and html.
> >1. put swfs in any html page as a content type but the menu control
> >is still a classic typo3 html menu
> >2. let flash be the menu controller utilising the xml output by
> >one of the menu xml extentions (I have had most success with Benjamins
> >and Ingmars great efforts), but load the content into either another
normal
> >frame or into the top frame.
> >3. let flash take over the full window, and all content be loaded into
> >a movieclip container, ie. the main.swf will serve as the top frame
> >in a frameset. This technique might be the least considered from the
> >point of view of classical backend coders, and it was started (for better
> >or worse) by the classic www.2advanced.com site.
> >
> >There is already support for the first 2 approaches, using for instance
> >Ingmars
> >extension (and adding some support for more content types), but it is the
> >3rd
> >approach I will focus on.
> >
> >If you install and configure the following extensions
> >1. XML for Flash (bf_xml_for_flash)
> >2. XML contentrendering (xml_contentrendering)
> >3. XML Menu (ingmar_xmlmenu)
> >
> >You will be able to get some xml like
> ><bf_xml_for_flash>
> > <menu>
> ><section level="1" label="Home" name="6" link="index.php?id=6"
> >target="bf_xml_for_flash"  type="444" >
> ><subsection level="2" label="News" name="20" link="index.php?id=20"
> >target="bf_xml_for_flash"  type="444" />
> ></menu>
> ><tt_content uid="4">
> >  <header><![CDATA[Welcome to FC Bigfeets homepage]]></header>
> >  <bodytext><![CDATA[Et in ...]]></bodytext>
> > </tt_content>
> ></bf_xml_for_flash>
> >
> >That is a good start. But one soon realizes there are some info missing.
> >There is obviously the issue with other content types that needs to be
added
> >to the xml (it is after all just an experimental extension still, good
one
> >at that).
> >But there is also the issue about what part of flash should handle the
> >content data.
> >Normally, typo3 has all sorts of ways of rendering html content, via TS,
or
> >TV
> >or what have you, and normal XML can also be rendered via an XSL
stylesheet,
> >ie we have a display layer that knows what to expect and how to render
that.
> >
> >A general setup in flash could be, a main.swf that gets told somehow from
> >where
> >it should load the menu xml data (either via variables hardcoded in the
swf
> >or
> >better yet via variables passed in through the embedding html), a set of
> >resource
> >files (such as graphical assets that needs to be preloaded), a display
layer
> >and
> >various content. What I mean here by display layer is an xml literate swf
> >that can
> >interpret the loaded data, and in its turn load the content, be it text,
> >images, mp3 or
> >other swfs.
> >
> >The menu xml data above is missing info about what swf or movieclip in
flash
> >is supposed
> >to handle the content xml.
> >
> >What I have decided to do is to separate out the menu rendering typeNum
from
> >the
> >content rendering typeNum, so when I go index.php?id=home&type=444 I get
> >only
> >the menu xml, and when I go index.php?id=home&type=555 I get only the
> >content xml
> >of that page (including multimedia and images). Next Im trying to divide
> >what goes where (
> >after all a menu can be a content on a page also) and what info should be
> >where. This
> >is where I wish wise CMS builders like you lot could throw a helping
hint.
> >Im thinking
> >that the menu xml needs to contain 3 things, a) descriptions (like title,
> >thumbnail and maybe
> >an abstract - which is available in an advanced menu), b) the link to
where
> >the content
> >xml can be loaded from and c) the display layer that should handle it, ie
in
> >this case probably a
> >swf file.
> >
> >With that logic the main.swf can load and render a menu tree, and when
you
> >click
> >on some option it would both load the display handler (an swf) and the
xml
> >data
> >into that handler. All that remains then is to have the display handlers
and
> >the data
> >correspond to eachother - but that is the same for all content types in
> >typo3.
> >
> >First question...is this good logic?
> >
> >Second..if it is, where should the display swfs be stored? Im thinking
they
> >are
> >really page templates for flash and they could be stored (and be made
> >accesible quite
> >easily in xml) in the file list of an advanced page header. Only trouble
is,
> >swfs arent
> >allowed file types there.
> >
> >Where else could one store them? One could put the display swf as the
first
> >content element in a page and simply assume that the first element will
know
> >what
> >to do with the rest. Not so nice but it could work.
> >
> >Else? One could maybe have another tree which corresponds to
> >the content pages, but which only contained these swfs that serve
> >as templates for displaying the content xml. I have no idea of how one
> >would do that, but it might be possible? (Like separating display
templates
> >from data templates)
> >
> >Is there any other development on xml content rendering going on out
there?
> >Any other thoughts please.
> >
> >Is xmlrpc an option? Have no experience with that.
> >
> >Has anyone experimented with flash remoting and typo3
> >(http://www.amfphp.org/)?
> >I haven't but I guess that using that one could do away with the xml
layer
> >between flash and a cms
> >altogether. Does anyone know what functions could be made available that
> >way?
> >Is it a feasible approach?
> >
> >Best regards
> >/Borg
> >
> >elevated.to
> >
> >
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> >
> >
> >
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