Implement the same system of Articles “Versions” for Custom Modules

[Chacapamac]

Joomla should implement the same system of Articles “Versions” for Custom Modules.

Custom HTML modules can sometimes be really complicated in their inner code and any code errors can destroy them. With articles, no problem, the great Joomla “Versions” system is there to create go to backup in case of problems.

If a Custom Modules code become mangled Joomla have no way to repair it or it can take hours of deep coding troubleshooting to bring it back. In the worst case you better to restore a working version of the site.

With the “Versions” system, no more problems, like articles you can create working versions of a custom modules if the code became corrupt.

Sadly, I cannot really help on this idea as my deep Joomla coding experience is extremely limited.

[waarnemer]

Imho, if you have code, you create a real module. Not an html module as that is not meant to carry any intelligence other than some bare html..

I only use html module for simple static content thingies... any intelligent stuff I create a real module.

[Chacapamac]

A complex custom module with lot of stuff can have the same complexity as an article. By experience, and less experimented editors play in these (Articles or HTML Modules) and often create mistakes that can costs hours of troubleshooting.

Why having a nice “Version” systems for HTML Joomla articles and have nothing for HTML Joomla modules?

It make no sens... Both are pain if you screw the code. This is why Joomla have the “Versions” system.

[Per Yngve Berg]

You should be able to find a module that shows an article.

[sozzled]

The guts of a J! website lie in articles. Although there are other extensions that people can use to display information (e.g. photo galleries, discussion forums, shopping carts/product listings, etc.), the J! CMS (and the development effort that goes into it) is focused on J! articles.

You can supplement those things with modules; you can tailor your web content with plugins and you can change the way that you display all of these things with templates. At the heart of J! is the article management (although there are other features, e.g. user management, media management, managing extensions, language features, etc., etc., etc.)

Way back in the days when we had J! 1.5 we didn't have version management for articles. If you edited/updated an article (and you "blew it") then you had to retrieve a previous version of that article from "somewhere". Along the way came version management for articles—some people use it and some people don't—which adds a little bit of overhead in terms of storage and processing. It's a useful feature; I've counted myself fortunate that I've dug myself out of holes of my own making by calling up an old version of an article and putting things back into order.

I agree with @waarnemer: if you use a module (or modules) that involve higher levels of "intelligence" beyond the vanilla-flavoured "custom module", then it's best to write your own installable module and maintain the different versions of that module on your PC. That way, if you blow something up, you can re-install the previous version of the module and you're back in business.

I don't spend a lot of time customising-to-the-nth-degree "custom modules". If I use a custom module with a lot of extra "intelligence"—to quote @waarnemer—I develop it off-site or away from my production website(s) and, yes, I frequently backup my websites so I'm not likely to fall into the trap of shooting myself in the derrière.

Interesting idea—to add version control to custom modules—but about as likely to get off the ground as a pigeon carrying a pallet of bricks on its back. Best wishes getting your idea to fly.

[waarnemer]

Well anyway.. when I setup a site. Content is what I allow authors to create.
Content is created and edited in components. Can be anything.

Modules in my philosophy are 'static' elements. Static as in no author touches the modules. Modules are to show available data (content) with some added intelligence and/or style, design etcetera. To show these in placeholders (module positions) assigned to a menu item.

Where these are shown is upto the sites functional designer which is not the same role as content author.

I see no real point in adding a versioning system to a module if you intend to use it as a sort of article.

Then follow @Per Yngve Berg, show an article in your module.
ACL rules like for any content still applies if required.
And no one messes with your modules. The content (article) shown still has versioning. And your module position is secured.

[Chacapamac]

Personally I still see both articles and Custom HTML modules as Joomla content and they both need to be edited from time to time. This is why people want a CMS.

I will turn my question/suggestion another way by asking.

Do you think it will be difficult to permit Joomla to use the articles “Versions” system and make it available in Joomla Custom HTML Modules for safe keeping or restoration of a previous version of Custom HTML Modules content?

The system is already present in Joomla, you just need to make it available in Custom HTML Modules, no?

[sozzled]

Do you think it will be difficult to permit Joomla to use the articles “Versions” system and make it available in Joomla Custom HTML Modules for safe keeping or restoration of a previous version of Custom HTML Modules content?

The question cannot be answered because the data for J! articles (which is managed by the com_content component), including versioning, is different to the data relating to modules (which is not managed by the com_content component).