BaschtDotCom: John Cleveley - Working with the Admin Generator

John Cleveley - Working with the Admin Generator

Neat Helpers for each generator in lib/module/GeneratorHelper
PHP vs. YAML - poll: Is it the right tool? maybe.
Make use of custom filters with adding a add*ColumnQuery to your filter classes
Make use of custom css & overriding individual templates and actions (quick & easy)

Creating a custom theme

Create a container Folder for your new Theme in data/generator/sfDoctrineModule/your_theme.
Copy the generator files from the standard theme: parts, skeleton, template.
Tell the admin generator to use your new theme (See ref guide).

Admin Events

admin.pre_execute - Notified before any action is executed
admin.build_criteria ...

Cool Plugins

sfAdminDashPlugin
- Joomla Style admin / replacing admin.css
- Adds Dashboard + Configurable Admin navigation
sfAdminThemejRollerPlugin
- Looks stunning, makes u/o jQuery
- Theme rolling system + popup filters

Admin

Normal CRUD operations
NON-technical users - need to add data
Ownership over _all_ data

Bespoke

Public interface to data
Sophisticated sorting and searching of data

10 Commandments

1 Understand the client's workflow
1 Think about security from the start
1 Look through and understand the cached php
1 Change table_method for reducing queries
1 Use bespoke form classes
1 Keep all form configuration in the Form Class
1 If you make changes to multiple admin modules: Create a theme.
1 Think about small screens and target browser
1 Create functional tests - guard against regression
1 Maintain good MVC

Talk of @jcleveley at SymfonyLive2010.