Creating inline editors for widget properties

Inline editors allow content editors to configure the properties of widgets. They can be used as an alternative to the property configuration dialog, or in combination with it.

Unlike the configuration dialog, inline editors are interactive elements directly within the output of the related widget. For example, inline editors can range from basic value inputs to more advanced options, such as file uploaders or text areas with rich formatting options.

The editors are visible only in the Kentico administration interface when working with pages that contain editable areas. However, the configured properties then affect the appearance or functionality of the given widget on the live site.

Implementing inline editors

To create an inline editor for a property and integrate it into your widgets:

1. Add an editor view model class to your MVC project.

   • The model class should contain at least two properties – the name and value of the widget property managed by the editor.

   • We recommend storing the view models of inline editors in a designated folder, for example: ~/Models/InlineEditors/<editor name>/

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       public class CustomEditorModel
       {
           public string PropertyName { get; set; }
           ...
       }
     
     
       

2. Create a partial view that defines the inline editor’s interface.

   • Make the partial view use the view model that you created for the editor.

   • The view code must encapsulate inner HTML elements using the Kentico().BeginInlineEditor() helper method. Specify the following parameters for the method:

     • A unique identifier of the inline editor.
     • The name of the widget property managed by the editor.
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    @using Kentico.PageBuilder.Web.Mvc
    @using Kentico.Web.Mvc
   
    @model CustomEditorModel
   
    @using (Html.Kentico().BeginInlineEditor("custom-editor", Model.PropertyName))
    {
        ...
    }
   
   
    

   • We recommend storing the partial views of inline editors in a designated folder, for example: ~/Views/Shared/InlineEditors/
3. Create a JavaScript file containing a self invoking function that registers the property editor. Every widget property editor must be registered using client-side code.

   • To register the property editor, call the window.kentico.pageBuilder.registerInlineEditor function.

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       (function () {
         // Registers the 'custom-editor' inline property editor within the page builder scripts
         window.kentico.pageBuilder.registerInlineEditor("custom-editor", {
           init: function (options) {
               var editor = options.editor;
               ...
           }
         });
       })();
     
     
       

     Specify the following parameters when calling the registerInlineEditor function:

     • The identifier of the property editor, i.e. the first parameter set for the BeginInlineEditor helper method in the HTML code of the editor’s partial view.
     • An anonymous object with an init property function that is executed whenever the given property editor is loaded. Use this function to run custom JavaScript that modifies the widget’s content or behavior based on the property value. The options parameter is an object that wraps the following properties:
       • editor – the DOM element encapsulating the editor
       • propertyName – the name of the related widget property
       • propertyValue – the value of the related widget property
       • localizationService – the localization service
   Executing scripts on inline editor events

   If you need to execute custom scripts on certain events, you can use additional property functions of the anonymous object defined when registering the inline editor.

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    // Mandatory:
    init: function (options) { ... },
    // Optional:
    destroy: function (options) { ... },   // Executed when a user deletes a widget containing the inline editor
    dragStart: function (options) { ... }, // Executed when a user starts to drag a widget with the inline editor
    drop: function (options) { ... }       // Executed when a user successfully drops a widget with the inline editor
   
   
    

   Only the editor property is available via the options parameter in the destroy, dragStart, and drop propertyfunctions.

   • To notify the widget about changes in the property value, dispatch a custom event named updateProperty (within the init function that you registered for the editor).

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       // Creates a custom event that notifies the widget about a change in the value of a property
       var event = new CustomEvent("updateProperty", {
           detail: {
               value: "newValue",
               name: propertyName
           }
       });
       editor.dispatchEvent(event);
     
     
       

     The updateProperty event’s data must contain the detail property, with the following values:

     • value – the new value of the widget property.
     • name – the name of the related widget property.
     • (Optional) refreshMarkup – bool value that determines whether the event automatically triggers a refresh of the widget’s entire markup from the server. True by default.