In-Depth Getting Started

New to CMS Builder? Not sure where to start? This guide walks you through the exact steps required to set up a basic “News” section. The fundamental concepts demonstrated here can be applied again and again throughout the program.

Guide

1. Install CMS Builder

   Begin by installing the software. Follow the installation instructions, or request professional installation assistance from interactivetools.com.

2. Add a content section

   Sections manage content for specific areas of your site, each with its own editor. To create one:

   1. Log into CMS Builder and click CMS Setup > Database Editor
   2. Click Add New Editor…
   3. Select the Multi Record option
   4. Enter “News” in the Menu Name field
   5. The Table Name fills in automatically. It’s used for database management
   6. Click Create New Menu

   The screen shows a few radio buttons and a couple of text fields, with descriptions for each option. See Add New Editor for details on each option.

3. Add fields to your section

   After the News section appears in the editor list, click modify to configure its fields.

   Add a Summary field:

   1. Click Add Field
   2. Enter “Summary” as the Field Label
   3. The Field Name fills in automatically
   4. Select “text box” for Field Type
   5. Click Save

   Add an Image field:

   1. Create another new field with “Image” as the label
   2. Choose “upload” as the Field Type
   3. Set Maximum uploads to “1”
   4. Change File extensions allowed from “gif,jpg,jpeg,png,svg,webp” to “gif,jpg,png”
   5. Click Save

   Finally, arrange the fields logically by dragging the up/down arrow icon next to “Summary” to position it below the “Title” field.

4. Add some content

   Click the “News” link in the CMS Builder menu bar. Since no records exist yet, click Create to add your first News record. Populate the fields with text, upload an image, and click Save. Add a few more records before proceeding.

5. Use the Code Generator

   Next, generate PHP code to display your content. The Code Generator offers several page types. This guide uses List Page and Detail Page, but others are available, such as Combo Page, which handles list and detail in a single file.

   List page code:

   1. Click CMS Setup > Code Generator
   2. Choose the List Page generator
   3. Select “News” for Select Section
   4. Click Show Code
   5. Copy the code into a new text file named newsList.php

   Detail page code:

   1. Return to the Code Generator
   2. Choose the Detail Page generator
   3. Select the “News” section
   4. Click Show Code
   5. Save the code as newsDetail.php

   After generating the code, CMS Builder displays a message stating that you need to update the Viewer Url settings.

6. Set your Viewer Url settings

   1. Click CMS Setup > Database Editor
   2. Click modify for the News section
   3. Click the Viewers tab
   4. Enter /newsList.php for List Page Url
   5. Enter /newsDetail.php for Detail Page Url
   6. Click Save Details

7. Upload the pages to your site

   Upload both PHP files to your web server’s root directory using FTP. Navigate to http://www.yoursite.com/newsList.php to view your News records. Clicking a record’s link takes you to the detail page.

Conclusion

From here, you’ll probably want to start using CMS Builder with your own site’s design. You can modify the generated files, or integrate sections of the generated code into your existing pages. See the Working with Generated Code guide for additional implementation details.