Working with the Site Modules IN THIS CHAPTER Reviewing the Module Manager Introducing the Site modules Joomla!. The toolbar at the top of the Module Manager provides quick access to the
Trang 1Working with the
Site Modules
IN THIS CHAPTER
Reviewing the Module Manager
Introducing the Site modules
Joomla! uses modules to display content and functionality on areas of the
page other than the main content area Modules often appear in
side-bars, at the top or bottom of a layout, and on the edges of or even
sur-rounding the main content area of the page Modules are critical for
designing compelling sites with good functionality The system includes both
front-end modules and back-end modules The modules for the front end of
the system are called Site modules
The Site Modules Manager provides an interface for controlling the system’s
numerous Site modules The Joomla! system includes 20 different Site
mod-ule types Several of the modmod-ule types are closely related to and dependent
on the core components; others are independent, self-contained units All
share a similar process for the creation, copying, and deletion of modules
The difference between the modules is largely in the parameters that are
available for each module Mastery of the parameters enables you to tailor
the modules to your needs
In this chapter, I introduce the module manager and all of the default
Joomla! 1.5.x Site modules
Reviewing the Module Manager
All the Joomla! modules are controlled through the Module Manager The
manager contains all the system modules, together with any third-party
modules you may install To access the Site Module Manager, log in to the
admin system, and then go to the Extensions menu and select the option
Module Manager The Module Manager loads in your browser window, as
shown in Figure 17.1
Trang 2FIGURE 17.1
The Module Manager, showing the Site Module Manager with sample data installed
The toolbar at the top of the Module Manager provides quick access to the following functions:
l Enable: Select one or more modules from the list and then click this icon to enable them.
l Disable: Select one or more modules from the list and then click this icon to disable
them
l Copy: Select a module and then click this icon to make an exact copy of the module.
l Delete: Select one or more modules from the list and then click this icon to delete the
module
l Edit: Select a module from the list and then click this icon to edit the module’s details.
l New: Click to add a new module.
l Help: Click to access the online Help files related to the active screen.
Two text links are located below the toolbar The link labeled Sites shows you the Site Module Manager The Administrator link takes you to the Administrator Modules Manager, which is dis-cussed later in this chapter
Trang 3Located below the two text links and above the list of modules are five sorting and searching tools
to help you manage long lists of modules:
l The Filter field: Works like a search box Type a word or phrase into the text box and
then click Go The page reloads and displays the results of the search To clear the screen and return to a full listing, click the Reset button
l Select Template: Shows a list of the available templates Select a template name from the
combo box to restrict the search to that template
l Select Position: Shows the position the module has been assigned to.
l Select Type: Filter the list by the module type.
l The Select State filter: Allows you to filter and display the modules according to whether
they are published or unpublished This provides an easy way to identify all modules that are currently active on the site To reset this filter, change the combo box back to the default setting
Tip
The Select Position, Type, and State filters can be combined to further refine the view of the list of modules.
The main content area of the screen contains a list of all the modules in your Site Modules
Manager The columns provided are:
l # : An indexing number assigned by Joomla! This number cannot be changed.
l Checkbox (no label): Click in a checkbox to select a module; this is needed if you want
to use several of the toolbar options
l Module Name: This field displays the full name of the module Click on the name to edit
the module’s details
l Enabled: A green checkmark in this column indicates that the module is published The
field shows a red X if the module is not published Administrators can toggle between the two settings by clicking the icon
l Order: The numbers in this field affect the ordering of the modules on this list Change
the numbers and click the Save icon at the top of the column to reorder the modules
l Access Level: Displays the access level that has been specified for the module You can
click on the label toggle between Public, Registered, and Special, or you can modify this
by editing the module
l Position: The module position to which the module is assigned A single module can only
be assigned to a single position
l Pages: An indicator of which pages the module has been assigned to The only options
here are All, meaning to all pages on the site; None, which means the module has not been assigned to any pages; and Varies, which means the module is assigned to some but not all the pages To change these setting, edit the module
Trang 4l Type: The module type of the module Each module can be of only one type.
l ID: The system-generated user ID number.
At the bottom of the screen, below the content area, is the Display # option Change the value in the combo box control to alter the number of modules that are displayed on the page The default value can be altered by changing the List Length option on the Global Configuration Manager
Creating new modules
New modules can be created from within the Module Manager Simply click the New icon at the top toolbar, and the system loads a new window in the browser, as shown in Figure 17.2.The new window requires you to specify the module type you want to create
Select one of the 20 module type choices and click the Next icon; the page reloads and displays the next step in the module creation process, as shown in Figure 17.3
The module types all share common elements, but each also has unique parameters that must be considered
FIGURE 17.2
The default module type options for Site modules
Trang 5FIGURE 17.3
The second step in the New Module creation process This shows the screen for a new Newsflash module
Note
If you have installed additional extensions to your site, it is possible you may also see additional module types that allow for the creation of new modules beyond the system defaults.
Copying modules
You can make exact copies of modules by using the Copy command on the Module Manager This function is very useful if you need to run multiple instances of the same module type because the Copy function can save you time configuring your new modules
To copy a module, follow these steps:
1 Open the Module Manager.
2 Select the module you want to copy by clicking in the select box next to the module
name.
3 Click the Copy icon The system immediately makes a copy of the module and places it
Trang 6Editing and deleting modules
Existing modules can be edited from within the Module Manager To edit a module, either click the module name in the Module Manager or select the module on the list and then click the Edit icon on the Module Manager toolbar Regardless of which method you use, the system opens the Edit Module dialogue The Edit Module dialogue is identical to the New Module dialogue, with the same fields and requirements
To make changes to a module, simply alter the desired fields in the Edit Module dialogue and then click the Save or Apply icon on the toolbar Any changes you have made are applied immediately
To delete one or more modules, follow these steps:
1 Open the Module Manager.
2 Select one or more modules.
3 Click the Delete icon.
Caution
Deleting a module is permanent and cannot be undone Moreover, there is no confirmation dialogue — click-ing the Delete icon immediately deletes the module! As a safety measure, it might be better to just unpublish a module if you are unsure if you will need it in the future.
Introducing the Site Modules
The workspace of each Site Module dialogue is divided into three areas: Details, Menu
Assignments, and Parameters, as shown in Figure 17.4 The Details and Menu Assignments por-tions of all the module types are identical; the differences lie in the Parameters area
The toolbar at the top of the module dialogue provides quick access to the following functions:
l Save: Click this icon to save your work, add a new module, and exit the New Module
dia-logue
l Apply: Click to save your work and create a new category without exiting from the New
Module dialogue This option lets you save without exiting the screen and is useful if you are interrupted or you otherwise wish to save yet keep working on this screen
l Cancel: Cancels the task and exits the Module Manager.
l Help: Displays the Help files related to the active screen.