Blocks
Blocks are Sutra CMS’s abstractions for adding content types (and functionality) to a page. Blocks are added to editable areas of a page and can be arranged and ordered however you like.
Blocks come in many shapes and sizes (metaphorically). From content creation editors like WYSIWYG and markdown, simple “contact us” type forms, file managers, hero unit displays, navigation, fully interactive applications — whatever you can imagine — can be articulated with a block.
Default blocks
Sutra CMS comes with a set of default blocks for WYSIWYG content, navigation, page links, search, images, code formatted output, html insertion, etc.
When you add a block to your site you are presented with the full list of blocks to choose from. When you create a new site record, a number of blocks are added for you automatically.
The default blocks live in the _dsa_mosaic_WEB_cms_blocks module.
Various forms in this module are used to define each block. Additional
blocks may be added here with successive updates to Sutra CMS.
Block builder
Depending on your site design and content creation guidelines, some content could use an additional layer of structure than that afforded to you by the basic set of content blocks.
Of course you can code blocks with the specific structure you need but this requires a programmer and an update to the server.
The block builder is a tool that allows designers and content creators to build structures of content without needing access to the coding layer. This is done by assembling and ordering a collection of fields, each of which has pre and post hooks to wrap each field in html. Each field type can also be specified as required and if it is allowed to repeat.
See Block Builder for details.
Custom blocks
The extent of what Sutra CMS can accomplish is realized when you start coding your own custom blocks. Using this approach you can create blocks that leverage enterprise resources server-side, use client-side javascript libraries for UI effects, grab data via web services, etc.
Servoy is the IDE that you use to develop with. Advanced form based development, javascript for your business logic, any JDBC compliant database as your data source—all integrated together with an advanced debugger.
Additionally, the Sutra CMS API includes a lot of functionality to help with the heavy lifting.
See Coding a Block for details.
Servoy Web Client Block
Sutra CMS comes with a special block worth its own mention: the Servoy Web Client (SWC) block.
This block allows you to easily assign any SWC form to a page by simply selecting your SWC module and form from selector fields (we go grab all the available modules and forms for you). So if you don’t like the complexities of client-side web programming and want to speed things up, code your business logic with Servoy Web Client and then just include anywhere on your site.
See Servoy Web Client Block for details.