WPCE v3 Docs

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Glossary ​

Corporate Template ​

The baseline WordPress theme we use at OWNBIT. It's tailored for usage with WPCE and builds some nice abstractions on top of it.

Definition ​

→ Element Definition

Document ​

A WPCE document, or document tree, is a tree-like data structure which represents a collection of document nodes. Structurally speaking, a document is nothing more than a document node (usually going by the root ID) which has no parent node.

When referring to a WPCE document, usually this means the content data assigned to some post or page (i.e. a tree of element nodes).

However, the document tree is not strictly bound nor dependent on any WordPress-like structure; it really is just a generic tree structure. Internally, WPCE uses the document tree to represent not only document contents, but also other tree-like data.

Document Node ​

A document node is a single node in a document tree. Its structure is not strictly prescribed, but a regular document node always has at least

Most of the time when talking about document nodes, we mean their more concrete representation, element nodes.

Document Tree ​

→ Document

Editor ​

The WPCE editor is a Vue app. Given a set of element definitions and some environment options, it allows users to create and edit documents.

Used in WordPress, the editor replaces the default block editor ("Gutenberg").

Element ​

The term "element" can refer to the definition of a certain kind of document node, as well as to such a document node itself. Think of this dichotomy as the difference between a class and an object in object-oriented programming: "The Section element" probably refers to the definition of a section, while "a Section element" most likely points to a specific section node in a document.

In ambiguous situations, a definition could be called an "element definition" while a concrete node may be referred to as an "element node".

Element Definition ​

An element definition is a JavaScript object which describes the structure of a certain kind of element. A set of definitions is used to provide the editor with information on how to structure a document.

TIP

Learn more about element definitions.

Element Node ​

A certain sub type of document node, following the structure prescribed by an element definition.

In addition to the default document node properties, it also has

  • properties, which maps the values of the node's properties to their property names
  • visible, which is a boolean value indicating whether the node should be rendered on the front end
  • selected, which tells whether the node is currently selected in the editor

…and some more.

Input Type ​

An input type defines how the editor should surface a certain element property to the user.

There are plenty of built-in input types that ship with WPCE (see the Built-in Input Types section in the sidebar), but you can also define your own.

Instance Manager ​

The instance manager is a JavaScript controller object which serves as a kind of "environment hub" for the WPCE. As such, it contains all the information and tools needed to communicate and integrate the WPCE and its WordPress environment.

In the WordPress backend, the instance manager is exposed as the global window.wpce variable.

Node ​

→ Document Node

Property Form ​

The property form is a UI component which manages a bunch of cohabiting properties, usually defined for a certain element. The term may also be used as a stand-in for "this specific property and its neighbors".

Note that input types can have nested properties, so there can be nested property forms with their own sets of cohabiting properties as well.

WPCE ​

Short for "WordPress Content Editor". The term can refer to the WordPress plugin as a whole, or to the WPCE class, resp. its only global instance, the $wpce object. The WPCE class which is at the core of the plugin's public PHP API.

WPCE Developer ​

A WordPress user (usually an administrator) which has the "User is a WPCE developer" checkbox enabled.