[This post is part of the developer's manual preview published on this blog. You can find temporary TOC here.]
Generally speaking (though this is not a requirement) every Sitefinity module has one or more command panels. Command Panel usually consists of several links which allow end user to navigate through main features of the module. On the abstract level, though, Command Panel is only a control and developer can use it for any purpose he or she may seem fit.
The following image shows the Command Panel used by News module:
Sitefinity 3.6 has brought a lot of novelties to the Command Panels. Here are some of them that we will explore in the coming articles of this topic:
- ControlPanel class comes with built in Command Panel for generating automatic commands
- ProviderControlPanel class comes with two built in Command Panel classes - one for selecting the provider and one for automatic generation of commands
- It is possible to have more than one Command Panel in the module. Depending on the business rules, command panels can be hidden
- Command Panels can be created from custom controls or user controls
- Built-in Command Panel can be bound to collection of commands, thus making the command generation “semi-automatic”
While Sitefinity 3.6 does offer a great deal of productivity enhancements through automation of common tasks, no flexibility has been sacrificed. The following screenshot of Contacts module Command Panel demonstrates how RadTreeView, Repeater and standard Commands can be all used inside of a Command Panel: