Description

Using the Template Editor App, Using Themes, Using the Code Editor, Using History, Using Backups, Using Diagnostics

Template Editor

Bring back a serious template editing workflow for Invision Community 5 with a dedicated AdminCP editor for source templates, theme-specific template overrides, source CSS, and theme-specific CSS overrides, plus recovery tooling, revision history, and app-level baseline protection. Template Editor is built for administrators and developers who need a practical way to inspect, edit, compare, recover, and audit IPS theme source changes without falling back to raw database work.

What It Does

Template Editor restores a focused editing experience around IPS 5 theme source assets while adapting to the modern IPS 5 runtime model:

• Source Templates are edited through a full editor workspace for both global source maintenance and theme-specific override work, then published back into the IPS 5 source pipeline

• Source CSS can be browsed and edited from the same workspace in both global and theme-specific scopes with change tracking and recovery support

• Backups, Baselines, History, and Diagnostics give you the safeguards needed before and after making live source changes

Instead of treating template edits as unmanaged one-off modifications, Template Editor layers structured recovery and auditing on top of the IPS 5 template and CSS system.

Key Features

Full Template Editing Workspace

• V4-Style Editing Experience: Includes a dedicated left-hand file tree, multi-tab editing area, revision note field, variables dialog, and recovery actions in a purpose-built editor workspace

• Multi-Tab Workflow: Open and work on more than one source template or CSS file at a time instead of being limited to a single record view

• Global Edit Mode and Theme-Specific Editing: Work in the default global source scope or open the workspace for a specific theme when you need template overrides or theme-specific CSS changes

• Live File Navigation: Browse application, location, group, and file structures from the editor pane with active file highlighting and search support

• Editor Engine Choice: Switch between Monaco and CodeMirror from the workspace preferences depending on your editing preference

• IPS Template Syntax Awareness: The editor is built for IPS template control tags such as {{if}}, {{elseif}}, {{else}}, {{endif}}, {{foreach}}, and {{endforeach}}

• Block-Aware Matching: IPS control structures are easier to follow while editing thanks to block-aware matching behavior for nested template logic

• Unsaved Change Protection: Warns before closing editor tabs or leaving the page when unsaved work is present

• Light and Dark Scheme Support: The editing workspace is styled for both ACP color schemes instead of being hard-coded to one visual mode

Source Template Publishing for IPS 5

• Global Source Template Publishing: Edit and publish IPS 5 source templates through the actual live source pipeline used by the suite

• Static Recompile Integration: Publishes trigger the appropriate IPS compile steps so front-end output reflects the new source state

• Optimistic Lock Protection: Prevents silent overwrites when the live source changed after the editor loaded the file

• Drift Detection: Detects when the current runtime row and shipped template source no longer match, helping prevent accidental writes into an inconsistent state

Source CSS Editing and Tracking

• Integrated CSS Browser: Browse shipped source CSS from the same editor shell used for templates

• Editable Source CSS: Make source CSS updates with revision notes and recovery tracking instead of editing rows manually

• Change Visibility: Changed CSS is surfaced in the app’s change tracking and recovery tools so it can be audited like template edits

• Shared Recovery Model: CSS participates in the same baseline, revision, backup, and restore architecture used for source templates

Baselines, Revisions, and Recovery Safety

• Immutable Initial Baselines: Before the first live source change, the app captures an original baseline so there is always a restore point anchored to the shipped app state

• App-Level Recovery Snapshots: Each app can maintain a locked recovery baseline for full app-level restore workflows, not just single-file rollbacks

• Revision History: Every authored save can be tracked so you can review, compare, and restore earlier work later

• Pre-Recovery Backups: Automatic protective snapshots are created before restore operations so recoveries can be reversed if needed

• Stored Revision Notes: Saves and restores can carry explicit notes to make the audit trail readable instead of leaving behind anonymous source mutations

Template-Aware Recovery Architecture

• Shipped Source Recovery: The app can restore source templates from the app’s shipped Templates content instead of depending only on live runtime rows

• Version-Aware Template Snapshots: Baseline Template snapshots are captured per app version to preserve the original shipped source before edits or later upgrades alter the working files

• App-Level Baseline Provenance: Diagnostics can report whether the app baseline was built from a stored XML snapshot, current shipped XML, or a runtime fallback source

• Safer Full-App Restore Direction: The architecture is designed around restoring the original shipped source state for an app, not just overwriting isolated rows without context

Operational Visibility and Admin Tooling

• Themes Area: Review global source changes plus theme-specific template and CSS override activity from the app's theme-aware management layer

• History Area: Review authored and restored revisions with member attribution and saved notes

• Backups Area: Manage full recovery snapshots, including locked baselines and restore points created before recovery actions

• Diagnostics Area: Inspect template state, shipped-source lookup results, and app recovery readiness from dedicated ACP diagnostics tools

• Status Indicators: The editor UI surfaces modified, baseline, inherited, and drift-aware state markers directly in the workspace

Use Cases

Template Editor is especially useful for:

• administrators migrating old IPS 4 template editing habits into IPS 5

• developers who need a controlled source-template editing workflow inside the ACP

• communities that want app-level recovery protection before touching shipped template or CSS sources

• staff teams that need revision history and member attribution for live template changes

• sites that regularly customize suite output and want stronger rollback and diagnostics tooling

AdminCP Areas

The app includes dedicated AdminCP management areas for:

• Templates

• Themes

• History

• Backups

• Diagnostics

Why It Stands Out

IPS 5 no longer exposes the same source-template editing workflow many administrators relied on in IPS 4. Template Editor does not just add an edit box back. It rebuilds the workflow around the IPS 5 source model with baseline capture, revision history, template-aware recovery, multi-tab editing, and diagnostics so template work can be done with far more operational safety than direct edits.

Developed by InvisionMarketplace.com - Professional Invision Community Applications