Why is it that we can't change template modifications without debug / dev?

[S Thomas]

Title

 

[Ozzy47]

My guess would be to circumvent noobs from changing things they should not be touching.

 

[S Thomas]

It would make more sense to tie this to style / template admin privileges, because, well. That's what is about. Like really, you can change templates at any given time, but you can't create nor change template modifications without dev / debug? How does that make sense?

 

[Ozzy47]

Well most template modifications are going to be tied to addons, so in order to change them one would think you need to be in dev mode, most addon developers are not going to support any changes to their addons, so it is best to keep that stuff less accessible.

 

[S Thomas]

Makes sense.

 

[Ozzy47]

You do know you can enable dev/debug mode on a IP basis, that way only specific IP’s can see it?

 

[Jeremy P]

They would be overridden when the add-on is updated.

 

[S Thomas]

Yes, but I have only administrative privileges in XF, not on the server itself. So I can't switch that to my ip on a regular base nor create a local dev copy myself. Would need to ask the customer.

 

[S Thomas]

They would be overridden when the add-on is updated.

Not when you create the modification yourself and assign it to a dummy addon (that's what I did)

 

[Ozzy47]

Yes, but I have only administrative privileges in XF, not on the server itself. So I can't switch that to my ip on a regular base nor create a local dev copy myself. Would need to ask the customer.

You could ask the customer to set it that way for you, since you are doing work for them it makes sense.

 

[Jeremy P]

I suppose, but that's really more of a creative work-around than the intended use-case. At that point I'm curious why it doesn't make more sense to just edit the templates directly.

 

[S Thomas]

Because the original modification comes from an 3rd party addon - but I actually changed that part in the template. So the 3rd party modification does not work anymore. Integrating that into the template would mean addon uninstall would leave leftovers in the template. With the dummy addon, the customer simply has to uninstall that aswell.

 

[Jeremy P]

Ah. I would consider contacting the add-on author to see if they can make the template modification compatible with your changes, but I suppose that works in a pinch.