[scribus-dev] Editable master pages

[Gregory Pittman]

Louis Desjardins wrote:
> 2008/7/28 "Christoph Schäfer" <christoph-schaefer at gmx.de 
> <mailto:christoph-schaefer at gmx.de>>:
>
>     Hi guys,
>
>
> Hi Christoph,
>
> I have copied below the content of your attached file because I think 
> it's going to be easier for anyone entering this discussion to add 
> their comments.
>
> As the discussion goes further, I think the best place to pursue it 
> would be in the bugtracker where there are already quite a few good 
> ideas on that particular subject.
>
> What I am missing in this discussion is the many non-said things about 
> Master Pages. We seem to assume too many things from our experience 
> without naming them. To me, the first steps towards a solution to any 
> issue, is to identify clearly the problem. I think this still needs to 
> be done. So, before going into the "solution mode" we should establish 
> clearly what the problem is, make a list of what we like in the 
> current way and what we dislike or find unefficient. This list should 
> clearly state what we want to achieve in Master Pages and explain why, 
> give examples of real life scenarios, etc. We could also make a few 
> comparisons with what others offer, based on the facts. This is what I 
> mean when I keep on saying we need to put in more thoughts into this 
> issue. To me, "[…] is certainly one of the most requested features." 
> is not enough to start working on a "solution". But the discussion 
> could certainly benefit from the input of users. I would gladly read 
> any constructive and concrete comment on that subject.
>
> In other words, I respectfully think your proposal arrives too early 
> in the process.
>
> I also still think that this issue is not as high a priority as many 
> other features that require lots of care at present time (see our 
> previous discussions on this mailing list about 1.4 and a couple 
> others when we talk about priorities). Just as a reminder and sorry to 
> quote myself:

I was thinking the same as Louis when I received the note from 
Christoph. I may come back with more after I get a chance to go over and 
cogitate about it.
We hear many complaints about Master Pages from those who don't 
understand the concept. Nonetheless, we have a prototype of what we 
might consider "editable" content with page numbering, so that anything 
editable might be considered in the same context, ie, not freely 
editable, yet allowed to incorporate a list of items/data that might 
change from page to page (something like using a database of some sort). 
In that sense, Master Pages might be considered to align with content 
management of the likes of Drupal for websites.

For now, I will go back and read in depth, then, as Louis says, we 
should begin with proposals of features that such a change might have 
that clearly are of benefit to those doing layout.

Maybe Master Pages should be abandoned altogether, in favor of allowing 
all objects to have an attribute that allows them to appear on all 
pages, odd pages, even pages, or a list of pages. This would be a big 
change indeed, best put somewhere down the roadmap.

Greg