Support for custom content types?

[aspa]

Hi,

Does Share support working with custom content types in Alfresco 3.2?
Can I create custom content objects in Share?
What about viewing and editing custom content objects?

[nancyg]

Hello,

You should read the section in the wiki on the forms engine, http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Forms, which is used for the viewing and editing metadata pages within the Share client.

Nancy

[aspa]

Hi,

Thanks Nancy.
I also found the following blog entry related to this:
http://edlovesjava.blogspot.com/2009/07/alfresco-forms-engine-customization.html

It's a bit awkward though if you need to create the custom content item in Alfresco
Explorer before you can view and edit it in Share.
Is it possible to create the custom content item in Share?

How does this play out with MS Sharepoint protocol support?
Can custom content item fields be edited in MS Office programs?

[sselvan]

@aspa

It's a bit awkward though if you need to create the custom content item in Alfresco
Explorer before you can view and edit it in Share.
Is it possible to create the custom content item in Share?

I don't think there is anything awkward creating custom content in Alfresco and using that to view or edit in Share. Share is built on top of Alfresco repository, so these base design (configuration) work has to be done in Alfresco and that has to be used in Share. Share is just one of the web components on top of Alfresco.

How does this play out with MS SharePoint protocol support? Can custom content item fields be edited in MS Office programs?

I don't think we can edit metadata anytime from the MS Office Plug-in (for Alfresco). We can only do major Document Management operations like Checkin, Checkout and few others etc., All - Correct me if I am wrong!

[ssaravanan]

Custom content is something specific you want for your business need.
Which you first need to make it available in the alfresco repository, before you can access it
from web front using Share, which is an app using SURF framework to talk with the repository.

[timpigden]

Hi, I've also noticed this discrepancy between share and the normal web interface. You can create content items in the normal interface and edit them in share - but why can't you create them in share by default? Is this a deliberate design decision or just something that got missed out this time around? It's unclear as a newcomer to alfresco why these things are as they are - because in most of our envisaged usage Share is simply a better way of doing things. To force the users to use 2 interface techniques because we're missing one part seems to be shooting ourselves in the foot.
Within our Sites there is a clear opportunity to include "records" consisting of meta data and some plain text and to use these in combination with the wiki and the document storage but it looks to me that I can do everything except create them.
I know we could build our own applications to do the front end and any amount of alternative solutions available within Alfresco, but if this was thought a worthwhile end-user function in main alfresco why not in share too?
Tim

[mikeh]

Create Content is in Share v3.2r2.

One thing that needs to be made clear that isn't particularly obvious - Share is really v1.3, as it was introduced with Alfresco v3.0.  There are bound to be discrepancies between the two web clients as Share is so much younger. Give us time and we'll eventually migrate most (if not all) of the functionality.

Thanks,
Mike