SiteFinity 5 - Nested Master Pages

I am attempting to create a parent masterpage which contains a primary nav, breadcrumbs, secondary nav, and a main area. The navigation areas would utilize SiteFinity's widget controls.

A secondary child masterpage that will have the actual content area. The child master page will be the one that is used for the content pages. The child masterpage should not ever be able to interact with the widgets stored in the parent masterpage navigational content containers.

I tried to execute the recommendation from this thread http://www.sitefinity.com/devnet/forums/sitefinity-3-x/general-discussions/nesting-master-pages.aspx   but am getting an error that " Could not load file or assembly 'Telerik.Cms.Engine' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified."  Perhaps this is not a part of SiteFinity 5? I didn't see this dll in the bin. 

Hi Robert,

The thread you linked refers to Sitefinity 3, which is an older architecture. Versions from 4 and up use a new architecture, new DLLs.

However, with the new architecture comes a new Layout Editor, that, in my opinion, eliminates the need for nested master pages.

For a video of this in action take a look here: http://www.sitefinity.com/devnet/video-tutorials/pages-management/page-layouts.aspx

You can create a base template using the master page file, then create new templates that use that template as a base, with differnt layouts (Two Column, Three column, etc)

The base template can have the sitefinity widgets, elminiating the need to embed these onto the master file itself.

Hope this is helpful!

Hello SelArom -

That is exactly where I started. I created a master page with content containers. In that master page within sitefinity I loaded the navigation widgets. Then created content pages from that master page.

Unfortunately, I don't think that video addresses the issue. The problem I see is that is an "editor" can still edit all of the layout regions in the master page from within the content page. I want to be able to lock certain zones down from any kind of layout/widget changes to protect the integrity of the design. I've tried to explicitly set the permission on those nav widgets and also denied rights on the editor role. There is no change in functionality. See attached.

hmm this doesn't sound like expected behavior. indeed the purpose of the templates is exactly what you've desribed. Adding elements at the template level makes them non-editable at the page level.

can you show me a screenshot of the page level editor showing the template-level items as editable?

Technically, that part appears to be true. The widgets in the master template can't be touched. But what can still be manipulated is the physical areas. I can still load in more widgets and mess around with the layout. See attached. I had to redact certain parts.

I basically need some instruction on how to protect the content containers.

I found that thread and thought perhaps that would be the answer. I've also tried multiple .master pages outside of sitefinity. Imported the parent, added widgets. Then import the child which inherits parent but it doesn't render the parent's widgets.