Eric Meyer has written and described a ‘.... slide show format based entirely on XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript.’ With this system it is possible create slide shows which look a little bit like PowerPoint but are in fact, simply one XHTML page.
I came across this presentation technique (known as S5) at a recent conference where some presentation where given in this way. When I exploreed Eric Meyer’s web page and downloaded the blank templates, it occurred to me that it may be possible to use ExpressionEngine to create the content for the slides and then deliver the presentation with this technique.
I have now succeeded in this and I do have an example of a presentation using this method. If you are interested to find out my approach to this and how things have worked out then read on. For a view of the entry system then click over the small image here.
I have been running the wysiwyg editor; tinyMCE on a couple of sites and have now succesfully installed within a copy of ExpressionEngine 1.3.
In fact it doesn’t seem any different from my experience with 1.2. It seems like a few people might find it useful to get some advice as to how to set tinyMCE up. One point before we begin though; tinyMCE does not work with Safari on MAC (up to version 2 anyway) and does not work with Opera as far as I can tell. The best browser on any platform is FireFox and it works with this and Mozilla / Netscape. Internet Explorer is also fine although you will need to take care when copying and pasting content from Word. Here, then are the steps to get tinyMCE working:
Note: Since version 1.4 of ExpressionEngine TinyMCE has been installable through an Extension. This is a much better way of installing. You can pick up the Extension right here
I have created a plugin for ExpressionEngine which cleans up some of the mess that tinyMCE leaves behind.
tinyMCE is a terrific ‘wysiwyg’ tool to help your content editors add a few formatting styles to the text that is entered into the fields in the ‘publish’ part of the control panel. The problem is that, by giving your editors (and I presume that you are using ExpressionEngine as a content management system rather than just a ‘blogging’ tool) - too much control, then there is a danger that this text formatting introduced anomalies in the markup of your pages. I have found that users of tinyMCE inadvertently wrap header tags in paragraph tags, introduce breaks in list, wrap paragraphs in paragraphs and enter empty paragraphs. Some of this happens when text is entered directly, but sometimes it happens when text is pasted into the fields from a word processor. The text, may include line breaks where paragraphs were intended, and you may even find other things happening that I have not even noticed!
Since the cat just brought a mouse into the house, I thought I should mention that TinyMCE over at MoxieCode now works with Safari version 1.3 (latest update)
Using a content management tool like ExpressionEngine is brilliant but even more so if you can get a bit of formatting in those entry boxes. I have implemented TinyMCE - a set of javascript routines that provides this functionality. Hitherto, I have been recommending FireFox, but now Safari on Mac also works because of the wonderful work reported by Dave Hyatt here
Addendum: It certainly displays the buttons but the formatting does NOT work. Back to FireFox and wait to see if this can be fixed,
Ready today! I hearby announce the launch of LenToScreen, a permanent subsidiary of PageToScreen.
Ready today! I hearby announce the launch of LenToScreen, a permanent subsidiary of PageToScreen.
Expression Engine 1.2 has a built-in ‘gallery’ option, which I have managed to customise for my own purposes. I am not using all of the features of this fabulous extension which includes commenting. One feature missing for me is the possible addition of customised fields, but I note that this is a requested item on the pMachine forum.
