is there anymore documentation or templates to play with?

5 posts by 3 authors in: Forums > CMS Builder
Last Post: March 11, 2008   (RSS)

By alfie.romeo - March 10, 2008

i didn't think i would but i am struggling. in particular with the generate a viewer side of things. do i need both portions of code? i created a index.php doc in my demo and pasted this code in but how does navigation schemes work etc...the setup procedure is documented and this was a doodle but now there seems to be no more.

i was fine with AM1 (not so much AM2) so just wondered if there was any more (a bit more comprehensive) documentation i can work through?

thanks

Re: [alfie.romeo] is there anymore documentation or templates to play with?

By Dave - March 10, 2008

Creating an entire site navigation (especially if it's complex) can be a bit more involved with CMS Builder.

The best way to start is to create a single section, such as News Release or Events, etc. Often you might have a hard coded navigation and then multiple sections powered by CMS Builder.

Basically the "list page" gives you a list of records and the "viewer page" shows just one record.

If you have a mockup or url that shows the kind of page or section you are trying to update I could walk to you through it.

Hope that helps.
Dave Edis - Senior Developer
interactivetools.com

Re: [alfie.romeo] is there anymore documentation or templates to play with?

By matrix - March 10, 2008

I identify completely. The code you use (list or page) depends on whether you're publishing what we once called a category index (category list?) in Article Manager or just a single page (like an About Us) page. In this respect, CMS Builder is much more flexible...you get to choose what you want published and upload the "container" for it.

Having said that, I didn't begin to make much progress at all with CMS Builder until I finally realized it's a completely different animal from AM. I recommend forgetting all about extrapolating techniques from Article Manager and look at this as a whole new system.

I finally figured out that the easiest way for me to build a site with it, at least the first few times out, is to manage the navigation from external files. I found it much easier to just design a page in html, pull out the top (in this case, including hard-coded navigation), name it "header.txt" and call it as a php include in the final page file. This doesn't allow for dynamic menu updates through CMS Builder, but I like using an external file for primary menus better anyway since there's more flexibility in adding pages within and outside of the cms. You can also update the one header file, upload, and voila! (Have been doing this for years with AM.)

The stuff in the middle comes from the code CMS Builder gives you, list or page, whichever you're working on. Then you can add a footer include much like the header.

So then you have...

1. <?php include('header.txt');?> (This could include your menu or you can add another include in a left column for that.)

2. Code copied from CMS Builder & pasted into whatever format you want. "List" if you want a page of links to what we used to call "articles" in AM, or "Page" for a single page.

3. <?php include('footer.txt');?>

I don't know how much help this is but it keeps it all organized for me.

Good luck!
Happy Interactive Tools product user since 1999

Re: [matrix] is there anymore documentation or templates to play with?

By alfie.romeo - March 11, 2008

thanks for your reply matrix

i just need more time to get into it i think. my 10 day trial is almost up though.