- RedDot CMS Blog
- 18.10.2019
- EN
rdb: Element naming conventions for RedDot CMS
This article covers basic rules on how to name elements when creating RedDot CMS templates.
If you have ever opened up a template and then looked at elements named “TopLeft”, “Home”, “GreenSeparator” you know what I mean. To make things easier you should add a prefix.
Using a name convention for RedDot CMS elements saves time
So the named examples above become:
“TopLeft” » “con_header” – describing a header,
“Home” » “anc_home” – a link pointing to the homepage,
“GreenSeparator” » “bg_separator” – a separator background.
Now there is no need to open up each element and check the attributes to see what they do. The prefixed name unveils the element type. I have used naming conventions since several years now and it saves me a lot of time.
Name convention list
Using the following list with CMS element naming conventions to enable CMS users to quickly determine element types:
- Anchor: anc_name
- Anchor, graphic: ancimg_name
- Area: area_name
- Attribute: att_type
- Background: bg_attribute
- Browse: brw_next and brw_back
- Container: con_name
- Database content: db_name
- Frame: frame_name
- Image: img_name
- Hit List: hitlist_name
- Headline: hdl_name
- Info: info_name
- List: list_name
- Media: med_name
- Option list: opt_name
- Standard field: stf_name
- Text: txt_name
- Sitemap: sitemap
- Transfer: trn_name
Using a Web Solutions Content Management Server (CMS) element naming convention to enable CMS sitebuilder to quickly determine an element type without checking its properties is a common best practice. By using a common set of element names you will save time and avoid templating mistakes when working within a collaborative team of RedDot developers where everyone speaks the same “templating language”.
Do you use conventions?