Experience editor doesn’t allow edit data-source properties option for nested data-source items

Question

We have a Datasource item having child items where root item is like a folder - inherited from standard template and allow some insert options to crate the child items.

Root item given as a data source to the component. All the fields appears editable in the Experience editor. But when we select the component in the Experience Editor to edit Datasource properties, the edit pencil icon doesn’t appear.

But when we define any filed at root item level , then the edit icon appears and only allow root item field to be edited.

Attached the screenshot of Data source structure.

Answer 1

as pointed out in the comments, you will need to utilize edit frames, in order to be able to edit multiple datasources within the same rendering.

In your question, you have no information about the presentation of your component, which might be relevant, but since you tagged it 'jss' I assume, that you are using JSS.

If that's the case, there was a question in the past about edit frames with JSS here: Edit frame with Sitecore JSS

Would be great, if you could share some further info on you problem and how your frontend is looking at the moment but I hope this helps you already.

Cheers, Simon

Answer 2

Understand that one rendering is bound to 1 datasource item (or no datasource item at all).

Edit frames will work. You can also use nested placeholders.

If you have multiple datasource items that comprise a single component, your top level component rendering would have one or more placeholders in which child renderings can be added. Those child renderings' datasource items would be the child items of the top level datasource item.

With this setup, all component parts can be added/removed/edited in Experience Editor, and you will get the pencil icons for each part. Leveraging branch templates along with "branch presets" is also helpful in these cases so that when you create the page / component, all of the datasource items are already created, and their associated renderings are already added to the appropriate placeholders.