Package Types ID: PM-GS-PT
There are a number of different types of packages officially recognized by Marketpath, as well as several other ways to organize packages your own way:
Package Types
Full site
- Full site packages contain all the other packages and assets necessary to create a new site.
- These are by far the fastest way to build a site but are not necessarily compatible with existing sites.
- Full site packages are automatically available in the theme selector when creating a new site (as long as the user has access to the package, that is).
Page
- Page packages generally contain assets and other packages as necessary for either a single or a small number of page templates - to be used when creating a new page on your site.
- Generally page packages should NOT include sample content, but you should be able to view the demo and instructions for the package if you need assistance creating pages using it.
Widget
- Widget packages generally contain assets and other packages as necessary to output markup with configurable and/or predefined appearance and functionality (eg: pagination, banner, CTA, blogroll, tag cloud, etc…).
- Widgets will not typically do anything special by themselves but must be included by another template - likely with some configuration involved - to output to the live site.
- Widget packages primarily contain partial templates, javascripts, and stylesheets that output markup with configurable and/or predefined appearance and functionality.
Form
- Form packages contain assets and other packages as necessary to display a form on the live site.
- This should at least include one form template and other supporting assets (typically javascript and stylesheet assets plus other supporting templates).
- Form packages are NOT guaranteed to support all of the options of Marketpath CMS forms, so it is important to read the documentation on form packages before installing them. Generally speaking, form packages that are Marketpath Approved will support all of the options of Marketpath CMS forms.
Gallery
- Gallery packages contain assets and other packages as necessary to display a gallery on the live site.
- This should at least include one gallery template and other supporting assets.
Data
- Data packages contain reusable data or configuration objects.
- Some examples are packages for reusable datastore definitions, a reusable list of objects (eg: US States), or a specific snippet to be included in the header or footer of multiple sites.
- Will not typically include any other packages, and should only include the smallest number of assets necessary for its stated purpose.
Component
- Component packages contain reusable “components” (ie: partials, javascript libraries, etc…) that make up the building blocks of larger packages and of sites.
- These packages will not typically do anything special by themselves but must be used according to the instructions to achieve their intended purpose.
Package Labels
Every package has to select one of the previously defined package types - which provides consistency and reliability. However, it can be limiting to stick to categories that someone else has predetermined. To make things more flexible, users may optionally add arbitrary "labels" to their packages. where each label consists of a key and a value. Some common label keys are "framework", "standard", and "industry", but you can use whatever key you want. Furthermore, packages can have multiple labels with the same key (eg: industry=entertainment, industry=tourism, and industry=restaurant).
Package Collections
We will cover this in greater detail in the next lesson, but package collections make it easy to curate a specific set of packages for any arbitrary purpose that you might find beneficial.