Georgia
In this guide, we'll discuss:
- The CMS menu.
- How to create/delete/edit blocks in your portal.
- How to set page permissions in your portal.
- How to create new pages in your portal.
- How to switch from the nav links [Sitemap] block to dyn menu [Dynamic Menu] block.
- How to create/delete/edit links in your dynamic menu.
- Quick Look At The CMS Menu
- Home - Home page of your portal.
- ACP - (Administration Control Panel) This is the core of your Icy Phoenix. You'll find many different settings that will allow you to fully customize your website the way you like.
- Manage CMS - Manage all your Icy Phoenix and customized pages here.
- Configure CMS - Chose your default site page and control the width of both left and right columns.
- Dynamic Menu - Create a menu with the links you like.
- Page Permissions - Who can see each page of your website? Everyone, guests, registered members, moderators, administrators?
Now let's look into managing our Icy Phoenix and customized pages by clicking the Manage CMS icon.
Manage CMS
From this menu, you will be able to manage all the pages in your Icy Phoenix as well as the customized pages you create. You are also able to edit the standard pages to add or remove blocks.
Notice you are not able to delete Standard Pages in this control panel.
Let's start with the first Global Blocks section and create a new Global Block.
From this menu, you are able to do a variety of customizations. You'll notice:
- green and red arrows that allow you to move a certain block up or down. This is useful if you want a certain block to show above or below another block.
- edit and delete buttons that will allow you to edit or delete the specific block.
- the status box that shows if the block is active or not.
With a quick glance, you'll see where your block is positioned, the contents, and the permission level. Let's create a new block.
- Home - Home page of your portal.
- How To Create/Edit/Delete A Block
Several fields require your attention in order to successfully create a new block. Title your new block something unique that won't be confused with the blocks you create in the future. Think of where you want to place the new block and choose between:
- Page header
- Left
- Top/Center
- Bottom/Center
- Right
- Page footer
Decide if you would like the block to be active by ticking the check box in the status line. There are many options of different block types to choose from. For example, you may want this block to display the calendar, polls, online users, forum statistics, recent topics, etc. There is also a block file that allows you to add your own customized text/HTML. Select the Block File you would like to use. It is possible to create blocks only certain usergroups can see.
By selecting Guests Only in the View By options, only guests will see this block.
Selecting the Registered Users option will make this block viewable by registered members and not guests.
The permissions get more strict as you select Moderators and Administrators.
If the block is intended to be seen by everyone, select All.
The next few options are for Showing The Border and Showing The Titlebar. It's best to look at the pictures to understand what these two options are all about.
When Localize Titlebar is enabled, the portal engine will not display the Titlebar text (assuming the Show Titlebar is enabled) from the Block Title field. Instead, it will look at the language file included with the block in the directory: /language/xxxxx, where xxxxx is the forum language. The retrieved Titlebar text will be from the variable $lang['Title_yyyyy'] where yyyyy is the name of the block.
Select the usergroup that should see this block. You'll see different usergroup names depending on your setup. Editing a block works almost the same way except a lot of the work has already been done by you. By clicking the Edit option, you can edit everything just as if you were creating a new block! Don't forget to click Submit at the bottom to make sure your changes are saved. Deleting a block is as easy as clicking the Delete button on the Blocks Management screen.
- Page header
- How To Set Page Permissions
Setting page permissions is really easy and helpful in many ways. From this screen, you are able to decide who will see the listed pages. You can select ALL, REG, MOD, or ADMIN. You can also choose if you want the global blocks to be shown or not.
- How To Create New Pages
After heading back to the CMS Management page, click Add Site Page at the bottom. The details at the top of this screen explain:
Quote:
Give your new page a unique Name so you'll be able to find it easier the next time you need to edit or delete it. When naming the Filename, be sure to add .php after the title. Ex: testpage.php, cocacola.php, omglolhaha.php.
You may run into a problem if this is displayed under the Filename field. Here is the problem and solution:
Quote:
This may happen if you didn't CHMOD the correct folders/files when installing Icy Phoenix. Solve this for future page creations by reviewing the Icy Phoenix Installation Guide for the correct folders/files to CHMOD.
Enabling Site-Wide Blocks will display all global blocks on this new page. Disabling Site-Wide Blocks will display a clean page with no blocks. You will be able to add blocks to this page after you finish the new page. Just like before when creating a new block, Permissions must be set for this page. The default permission for any new page is ALL. Choose from ALL, Guests Only, Registered Members, Moderators, and Administrators. Now decide who has Edit Permissions: Publisher, Reviewer, or Content Manager. Publisher is selected by default. You can also select custom usergroups that may view this new page. When you are finished making the changes, click Submit at the bottom and you should see this box:
- How to switch from the nav links [Sitemap] block to dyn menu [Dynamic Menu] block.
If you are as lazy as I am and don't want to keep going back to a file to add/edit/remove links, here is how you can change all that by using the dyn menu [Dynamic Menu] instead of the nav links [Nav Links] block. You'll save yourself time and future heartache by taking a few minutes to make the change!
You should already have a dynamic menu ready to go by default upon Icy Phoenix installation. It's up to you to enable it and use it.
Let's start by changing our menu on the index (home) page. Go into your CMS menu (cms.php). Find the Customized Pages section in the last half of this page. Look for the page link that is similar to the picture up above. Click the "configure blocks" icon. Find your menu block (nav links, menu, etc.). Click the edit button.
Change your block file from nav links [Sitemap] to dyn menu [Dynamic Menu]. (Keep in mind I am using CMS ADV on this test board, so things may look a little different here than on your board. Just remember to make sure there are no borders, titles, or background checked.) Click submit.
You'll be asked for your menu block ID. By default, Icy Phoenix has created a menu for you already. The ID number should be 1. The show/hide switch should be pretty explanatory. Click submit. You have now finished adding your new menu to your home page! Let's do the same exact thing in our global blocks!
Going back to the main CMS page (cms.php), click the "configure blocks" icon next to the Global Blocks text. Find your menu block (nav links, menu, etc.). Click the edit button. Now follow all the steps above on how to set it up. It's the exact same method. Congratulations! You have switched the menu!
Now that you have changed to the dyn menu [Dynamic Menu] block, you can easily add/edit/delete links in the blink of an eye!
Follow the next step in the guide to add/edit/delete links in your new menu!
- How To Create/Edit/Delete Links In A Dynamic Menu
A dynamic menu is a menu of links that you choose to show to your users. The difference between a dynamic menu and using the SiteMap [nav_links] is a SiteMap includes ALL links to the various pages in your Icy Phoenix by default. You can, however, edit this SiteMap to include only the links you want by editing your-theme/nav_quick_links.tpl.
This menu should already have a default dynamic menu created. You have the choice of editing this default dynamic menu or creating a new dynamic menu. To create a new dynamic menu, click Create A New Menu Block at the bottom of the Dynamic Menu screen.
Giving the new Dynamic Menu a unique Menu Name helps to differentiate between all the possible menus you may create. The Language Var can be changed in the drop down menu to title the menu for you. If you'd like to just use the Menu Name you created, leave the default No Lang Var (use the specified name) option as is. There is an option to type in a description of the menu you are creating. When finished here, click Submit. The new Dynamic Menu should show on the next screen:
Now the new Dynamic Menu needs some categories and links. The new menu that was created should show below the Main Links menu and is boxed in red in the picture to the right. Click Edit next to the new Dynamic Menu. The following screen should now show:
Categories are needed to house the links created for the menu. To create a new category, click Create A New Category. A new screen will show more fields for us to enter information into.
The Name of the new category can be anything. Take a look around other websites that use Icy Phoenix as their CMS solution to get a better understanding of how to categorize your dynamic menu. The name I've assigned to this test category is MENU. Next, choose which Language Var you would like to use. As before when creating the new dynamic menu, you can leave this set to the default setting of: No Lang Var (use the specified name) to use the Name of the category instead. Set the Status of the category to enabled if the category is intended to be seen by everyone; disabled if the category should not be active. Select an Icon for this category or use the Standard Icon option to show the default template icon for the category. Add more icons to your liking by uploading the new icons to /images/menu/ or specify a URL to the icon in the empty field below the drop down menu.
Entering a unique Category Description is useful when glancing through many created dynamic menus as you don't have to sift through menus with descriptions that look alike. Lastly, decide who can see this category by selecting the Permission: All, Guests Only, Registered Members, Moderators, or Administrators. When finished with all these settings, click Submit. Repeat this process until you have created all the categories you'll need for your dynamic menu.
Now to Create A New Link in the dynamic menu. Click Create A New Link in the Dynamic Menu screen.
Choose the Category in the drop down box the new link should be listed under. Again, be as descriptive as possible when typing in the Link Name. By now, selecting the best fit of Language Var for your use should be easy to choose. Set the Status of this new link to be displayed by enabling or disabling. Type the URL Of The Link in the empty field below Status. If the new link points to a page within your Icy Phoenix, use shorthand by entering /pageofYOURurl.php. If the new link is External, choose yes for the next option. If the page is located inside your Icy Phoenix, choose no. Just as an Icon should be chosen for a category, choose an icon or use the Standard Icon for this field. Use a unique Link Description. Don't forget setting the correct Permission level for this link in the drop down box at the bottom. After setting the correct Permission, click Submit. Repeat this process until you have created all the links you would like in the dynamic menu.
Pay close attention to the ID, the number to the left of your Dynamic Menu, as you'll need this ID when creating the Dynamic Menu block in your Icy Phoenix.
The best way to get a feel for positioning blocks on pages in your Icy Phoenix CMS is to play around with all the options available. You are sure to create a great, feature-rich Icy Phoenix your members will enjoy!
Thanks for reading the Icy Phoenix Portal Guide!
[Censor]
Magdeburg
