enable manual initialization via global flag

src/bootstrap.js

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import 'EditorWidgets';
 import 'MarkdownPlugins';
 import './index.css';
 
-export const ROOT_ID = 'nc-root';
+const ROOT_ID = 'nc-root';
 
 function bootstrap(opts = {}) {
   const { config } = opts;
@@ -24,13 +24,24 @@ function bootstrap(opts = {}) {
   console.log(`Netlify CMS version ${NETLIFY_CMS_VERSION}`);
 
   /**
-   * Create mount element dynamically.
+   * Get DOM element where app will mount.
    */
-  let el = document.getElementById(ROOT_ID);
-  if (!el) {
-    el = document.createElement('div');
-    el.id = ROOT_ID;
+  function getRoot() {
+    /**
+     * Return existing root if found.
+     */
+    const existingRoot = document.getElementById(ROOT_ID);
+    if (existingRoot) {
+      return existingRoot;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * If no existing root, create and return a new root.
+     */
+    const newRoot = document.createElement('div');
+    newRoot.id = ROOT_ID;
     document.body.appendChild(el);
+    return newRoot;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -68,12 +79,7 @@ function bootstrap(opts = {}) {
   /**
    * Render application root.
    */
-  render(<Root />, el);
-
-  /**
-   * Return true to indicate bootstrap success to caller.
-   */
-  return true;
+  render(<Root />, getRoot());
 }
 
 export default bootstrap;

src/index.js

@@ -1,63 +1,22 @@
-/**
- * This module provides a self-initializing CMS instance with API hooks added to
- * the `window` object.
- */
 import React from 'react';
-import bootstrap, { ROOT_ID } from './bootstrap';
+import bootstrap from './bootstrap';
 import registry from 'Lib/registry';
 import createReactClass from 'create-react-class';
 
-let initialized = false;
-
 /**
- * Allow init of the CMS.
+ * Load Netlify CMS automatically if `window.NC_MANUAL_INIT` is set.
  */
-function init(opts = {}) {
-  if (initialized) {
-    console.error('Bootstrap attempted, but Netlify CMS is already initialized!');
-    return;
-  }
-  initialized = bootstrap(opts);
-  return initialized;
+if (!window.NC_MANUAL_INIT) {
+  bootstrap();
 }
 
 /**
- * Allow reset of the CMS to allow render after unmount
+ * Add extension hooks to global scope.
  */
-function reset() {
-  initialized = false;
+if (typeof window !== 'undefined') {
+  window.CMS = registry;
+  window.createClass = window.createClass || createReactClass;
+  window.h = window.h || React.createElement;
 }
 
-const CMS = (function startApp() {
-  /**
-   * Load the app, bail if root element exists or no-auto element.
-   * Use <div id="no-auto" /> in your app if you are not persisting the root element.
-   *  (in example: as a React Route)
-   */
-  if (document.getElementById('no-auto') || document.getElementById(ROOT_ID)) {
-    console.log('CMS is running in manual mode. [using init() to initialize]');
-  } else {
-    init();
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Add extension hooks to global scope.
-   */
-  const api = { init, reset, ...registry };
-  if (typeof window !== 'undefined') {
-    window.CMS = api;
-    window.createClass = window.createClass || createReactClass;
-    window.h = window.h || React.createElement;
-  }
-  return api;
-})()
-
-/**
- * Export the registry for projects that import the CMS.
- */
-export default CMS;
-
-/**
- * Export the init, reset and registry standalone. (optional)
- */
-export { init, reset, registry };
+export { registry as default, bootstrap as init };

webpack.dev.js

@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ module.exports = merge.smart(require('./webpack.base.js'), {
       `webpack-dev-server/client?http://${ HOST }:${ PORT }/`,
       './index',
     ],
-    init: './init',
   },
   output: {
     path: path.join(__dirname, 'dist'),

webpack.prod.js

@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ const UglifyJsPlugin = require('uglifyjs-webpack-plugin');
 module.exports = merge.smart(require('./webpack.base.js'), {
   entry: {
     cms: './index',
-    init: './init',
   },
   output: {
     path: path.join(__dirname, 'dist'),

website/site/content/docs/beta-features.md

@@ -7,6 +7,15 @@ We run new functionality in an open beta format from time to time. That means th
 
 **Use these features at your own risk.**
 
+## Custom Mount Element
+Netlify CMS always creates it's own DOM element for mounting the application, which means it always
+takes over the entire page, and is generally inflexible if you're trying to do something creative,
+like injecting it into a shared context.
+
+You can now provide your own element for Netlify CMS to mount in by setting the target element's ID
+as `nc-root`. If Netlify CMS finds an element with this ID during initialization, it will mount
+within that element instead of creating it's own.
+
 ## Manual Initialization
 Netlify CMS can now be manually initialized, rather than automatically loading up the moment you import it. The whole point of this at the moment is to inject configuration into Netlify CMS before it loads, bypassing need for an actual config.yml. This is important, for example, when creating tight integrations with static site generators.
 
@@ -15,7 +24,10 @@ Injecting config is technically already possible by setting `window.CMS_CONFIG`
 Assuming you have the netlify-cms package installed to your project, manual initialization works like so:
 
 ```js
-import { init, registry } from 'netlify-cms/dist/init'
+// This global flag enables manual initialization.
+window.CMS_MANUAL_INIT = true
+
+import CMS, { init } from 'netlify-cms'
 
 /**
  * Initialize without passing in config - equivalent to just importing