[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #37974: Add multi-panel feature to pages through add_theme_support

[WordPress Trac]

#37974: Add multi-panel feature to pages through add_theme_support
-----------------------------+------------------------------
 Reporter:  karmatosed       |       Owner:
     Type:  feature request  |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal           |   Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Themes           |     Version:
 Severity:  normal           |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  ux-feedback      |     Focuses:  ui
-----------------------------+------------------------------

Comment (by melchoyce):

 Replying to [comment:22 westonruter]:
 > Replying to [comment:19 karmatosed]:
 > > @westonruter unfortunately though child pages is a horrible experience
 from a user perspective. Both from functionality and discoverability.
 >
 > I think you may have misunderstood
 [https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/37974#comment:18 my latest
 comment]. In my latest comment I tried to explain that the user would
 never see the child pages with the theme active. The child theme would
 hide the existence of the child pages of any such multi-panel pages. The
 child pages would only be editable via the custom UI that is crafted for
 it, such as in the customizer. Nevertheless, the child pages can still be
 used as the storage mechanism that would both be still searchable and it
 would have a degree of cross-theme compatibility, as if a user switched to
 a different theme the panel content would still be available, though it
 would shown as traditional child pages in the non-twentyseventeen theme.
 Again, twentyseventeen could hide the fact that child pages are used as
 the storage mechanism for the panel content.

 That sounds way, way overcomplicated. Customize posts isn't in core. We
 shouldn't rely on a feature that may or may not be merged into core to
 power another interface we'd ideally like to get in this cycle.

 Of the proposed ideas, the most intuitive so far to me feels like
 @babbardel's suggestion of using the menu interface. It's familiar and has
 the benefit of being able to add new pages from the setup, so you could
 quickly outline your page and then go back in after and fill in the
 content. How long would it take to create a testable prototype that works
 with either https://github.com/WordPress/twentyseventeen or a stripped
 down multi-page theme? Would be great to compare against the existing
 multi-panel interface, which has tested the best of everything we've tried
 so far on WordPress.com.

 How do existing themes handle interfaces like this? I know many are around
 that have rolled their own solution. What do those solutions look like?
 Can any themers chime in?

--
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/37974#comment:23>
WordPress Trac <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/>
WordPress publishing platform