Sidekick Library

The Sidekick Library serves as an extension for AEM Sidekick, enabling developers to create plugins for content authors. Among its features is a built-in blocks plugin designed to showcase a comprehensive list of available blocks.

Setup

In the repository:

• A library.html file that implements the sidekick library extension and points to the library spreadsheet.
• A config.json file that points to the html file.

In Google Drive or Microsoft Sharepoint:

• A library spreadsheet, containing paths to block documents listed in a sheet named "helix-blocks".
• A blocks folder with documents for each block.

Adding blocks

To add a block, a document needs to be added to the blocks folder in Google Drive/Sharepoint. Then the block name and path need to be referenced in the library spreadsheet.

The block document contains all variations of a block. Library metadata can be used to give the blocks plugin more information about the block and to differentiate block variations within the library view, for example by adding a name or description to each variation.

Editable blocks

The blocks plugin takes the plain html of a block and adds a data-library-id attribute and a content-editable attribute to every tag within the html.

If the content-editable attribute is set to true it is editable (this is the default but can also be changed via metadata).

The data-library-id attribute is necessary to copy altered content from the Sidekick Library view. Tags lacking this attribute won't permit copied changes; only the original content will be copied. Certain tags, such as div tags, are considered non-editable and won't receive these attributes.

If markup should be overwritten within the block code, it is necessary to transfer these attributes to the new markup.