I've been asking the same question in the wrong forum. I'm so sorry.

Building a NewsDesk module, I am left with the question what the best way to populate a "tab view" of a news item with a tab template as produced by exporting a tab.

My module would have a "module view" and a "tab view" (next to the "edit view" and the "settings view")

I've peeked into the announcements source code and I've borrowed a lot of ideas and source fragments from there. But I need some help on the best procedure to populate an empty control with a tab template. I cannot think of any example that would use this procedure, but I believe it is the best way to give non-developer designers access to the ultimate design of the module. I would even imagine a "designer view" to separate the design settings settings from the administrative settings. It also provides This would also provide a basic flexibility in the display of banners. I'm also planning to review my dataprovider to include "override tab templates" on any news item.

Just one mystery: how to populate my tab with most settings (such as skin and other modules with their containers) from a template.

Wikis, blogs, open source examples, anything to help me on the way?

I'll publish the sources on the forge when finished.

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The one-eyed in the land of the blind.

Anyone wanting to have a look at the development:
The original site is here: http://www.khmerscientific.com/
A demo of the DNN version is here: http://ksj.cup.edu.kh/

Originally, my new skin was an exact replica of the original skin (I lack the artistic talents required from a designer) but I then was instructed to widen the skin and to apply the theme of the university portal.

I've used a lot of ideas from the announcements modules, but I've changed a lot as well. Since now all modules display news items from the same news item base, I've modified the presentation, so that I can have one module for the editors (on a page only accessible to editors) from where they can add/modify an article, even when they are not in "edit mode". On the other hand, a module without "[EDIT]" in the template will no longer be force-fed a [EDIT] token.

I have more issues than the one I am struggling with now. First, there is a problem with accessing the taxonomy, then I failed to mahe the token replacements functions inside DNN work on my NewsDeskInfo object. I also have to take a deeper look at the caching routines. But those issues are not pressing.

I've written my own selection routines, so I do not need taxonomy. Yet, I will definitely try to solve this issue. I've noticed shortcommings at the current system, so I will rewrite that again anyway.

I've also written my own replacement routines, but the DNN routines should complementary to mine. I'm sure the issue is a minor one, but the system works (almost) perfectly without it.

Caching, I understands how it works in general, but I still must figure out how to implement it in DNN. It certainly is an important issue and I do not want to hastily implement it without in-depth understanding.

So, those issues are open but can be solved later. The pre_init event however is now a top-priority: finding a way to build complete pages on-the-fly. Add a skin to the tab and copy banners or modules from other places on panes in that tab and add one module for the news item to be displayed, that's the strategy I have in mind.

Would that work?

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The one-eyed in the land of the blind.