Which way: the decision table
Each row is a kind of change. Way is what to use; Also is the second way when the first is not enough.
Page composition
| Change | Way | Also | Example on Fit & Healthy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrange blocks on a landing page | Layouts editor | Landing Page / Home (28 blocks) | |
| Add a block above the footer on article pages | Layouts editor, shared layout Prefooter | Prefooter: "Most popular articles" | |
| Show a block on every page | Layouts editor, shared layout Header / Footer, zone post_header or pre_footer | Zone header: breadcrumb template block | |
| Give one page type its own layout | Layouts > Layout mappings | Full / Article for articles | |
| Hand-pick the items of a list | Layouts editor, List block, manual collection | Prefooter list: three articles | |
| A list that updates itself | Layouts editor, List block, dynamic collection | Template with fetch('content','list', ...) |
Look and markup
| Change | Way | Also | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| How every block of one type looks | Template override explayouts/block/<type>.tpl | Block options (Design tab) per block | explayouts/block/list.tpl |
| A new look for one block type, chosen per block | New view type in explayouts.ini plus its template | List: list, grid, list_numbered, list_zigzag, list_accordion, grid_featured | |
| How a content class shows in a list | Template content/views/<view>/<class>.tpl | The block's item view type | content/views/line/... |
| The HTML page around everything | Template pagelayout.tpl | extension/sevenx_themes_media/design/media/templates/pagelayout.tpl | |
| Header or footer markup | Template pagelayout/header.tpl, pagelayout/footer.tpl | Placed by template blocks | |
| Colors, fonts | Stylesheets of the design | Block option background color | background_color:color = primary on the header column |
Menus and navigation
| Change | Way | Also |
|---|---|---|
| Add, remove, reorder header menu items | Settings: menu.ini [SiteInfo] MainMenuID[] | Add a header menu item |
| Footer first line | Settings: FooterMenuID[] | Footer menu items |
| Footer second line | Content: Menu items in Footer links | Footer links from the content tree |
| Menu item text | Content: rename the page | |
| A menu that follows the tree by itself | Template override of the menu template |
New capabilities
| Change | Way |
|---|---|
| A new kind of block | [BlockDefinition_<id>] in explayouts.ini (name, handler, view types, category), a handler class, a template explayouts/block/<id>.tpl |
| A new layout type (other zones) | [LayoutType_<id>] in explayouts.ini plus its template |
| A template the editor's Template block can name | explayouts/tpl_block/<name>.tpl in a design |
Rules of thumb
- Editors change it often? Layouts or content. Templates need a deploy.
- Must look the same everywhere? Template. A layout can be changed by anyone with the editor.
- A list of pages someone picks by hand? A manual collection in a block, or a settings list like the menus.
- Not sure? Build the block's template once (way 1), let editors place it (way 2).
Related pages
- Two ways to build
- Shared layouts and zone linking
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
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