StaticContent

Overview

StaticContent is a flexible content delivery module for PostNuke. It allows users to create arbitrary pages with any content they choose using the open-source FCKEditor web layout tool. The site's navigation system may be automatically coordinated with the pages created in StaticContent, either through direct insertion into the site's theme or through use of the available navigation blocks.

Current StaticContent version: 0.12.5
Documentation updated: 07/25/2007

What is a 'Page Set'?

Some sites manage several 'front ends' from one 'back end'; that is, they use the same content management tools to manage content for sites that otherwise appear to be different. For such 'multisites' (in the CMS parlance), StaticContent offers Page Sets to group content by site. In the normal course of operation, you will not need to create, edit or delete a Page Set; it's more of a setup operation. The tools are there should you need it during site development.

What is 'FCKEditor'?

I get this a lot. First off, 'FCK' is the initials of Frederico Caldeira Knabben, the programmer who first started writing the software. In English, Frederico has unfortunate initials, but it's not his fault, and the quality of his text editor makes up for it.

FCKEditor is a suite of JavaScript tools that allow you to edit 'styled content' (content with good things like bold, italic, images and links) easily in an MS Word-like inteface. The StaticContent module uses FCKEditor to accomplish this heroic feat.

FCKEditor has many features not covered here; if you have a question about any of the available tools, try this page: http://wiki.fckeditor.net/UsersGuide

How do I create a new page?

1. Go to the StaticContent module's administrative interface, and click 'Edit Content' by the name of your page set. (StaticContent is referred to in some installations as "Page Editor".)
2. Either click 'Add top-level page' at the bottom of the list or click the image in the 'Add Child' column to the right of the page for which you'd like to add a 'child page'. For sites that use StaticContent navigation tools, this will result in your page appearing as a sub-page of its 'parent'.
3. If you want the page to appear in the navigation system, check the box labeled 'In navigation'.
4. Fill in your page's content in 'Page Body'. Fill in any additional page fields that your site uses.
5. Click 'Add Page'.

How do I edit an existing page?

1. Go to the StaticContent module's administrative interface, and click 'Edit Content' by the name of your page set. (StaticContent is referred to in some installations as "Page Editor".)
2. Find the name of the page you want to edit in the list and click on it. If your page is a child page of some other page, you may need to click the arrow ()to the left of the parent page to see its children. For pages that are several 'generations' deep, you may need to expand several arrows.
3. If you want the page to appear in the navigation system, check the box labeled 'In navigation'.
4. Edit your page's content in 'Page Body'. Fill in any additional page fields that your site uses.
5. Under 'Permitted Groups', you may restrict access to this page to certain PostNuke groups. (This will update the PostNuke permissions table; you don't have to do that manually.) Users that aren't in a group with permission to see a page won't be able to access it, either through the navigation system or directly by a copied link. HOWEVER, any files linked to on that page will still be accessible by directly linking to them, unless you take steps to prevent this. Restricting access to the page ONLY restricts access to the page's text and links, not to any images or files associated with that page.
6. When you are done editing the page, click 'Save Page' at the bottom.

How do I delete a page?

1. Go to the StaticContent module's administrative interface, and click 'Edit Content' by the name of your page set.
2. Find the name of the page you want to delete in the list and click the   image under the 'Delete' column. If your page is a child page of some other page, you may need to click the arrow ()to the left of the parent page to see its children. For pages that are several 'generations' deep, you may need to expand several arrows.
3. Confirm that you want to delete the page by clicking the "Delete Page" button at the bottom of the screen. Deleting a page that has children will also delete the children unless you first move them to a different parent.

How do I change the ancestry of a page?

A page's 'ancestry' refers to the page's place in the site's overall hierarchy. The site's navigation hierarchy may be arbitrarily deep. To change a page's position in the hierarchy:

1. From the page set's index - which lists all the pages in the set - use the expand arrows () to reveal the child page whose parent you want to change.
2. Check the box on the page's row in the Change Parent column.
3. Find the drop-down menu at the bottom of the list labeled "With selected, change parent to:"
4. Select the new parent page for this page. Note that you may change many children at once.
5. Click the "Change" button. The hierarchy will be updated, as will your site's navigation system.

How do I insert an image?

1. Place the cursor where you would like the image to appear.
2. Click on the "Insert/Edit Image" button: .
   Note: The Insert/Edit image looks very much like the Image Button image. Image Button is used to place a form submit button that looks like an image; this kind of form submit button does not get laid out as images do, however, and cannot be a link. You should always use the Insert/Edit Image button (), not the Image Button button (). The Image Button button is usually in the second row, while the proper Insert/Edit Image button is usually the first icon in the fourth row of controls.
3. In the screen that appears, click the "Browse Server" button.
4. Click the "Browse" button at the bottom of the larger File Browser screen that appears. Select your image file.
5. Click "Upload".
6. Once the upload is complete, click the name of the image in the central list to select it as the image you'd like to insert. (If you get an error during the upload process, you may have attempted to upload an invalid image type. You can only use JPG, GIF or PNG images. You also might have attempted to upload a file that is too large; by default, most servers limit web uploads to 2 megabytes, though this cap can be increased.)
7. You may choose to display the image at a different size by entering values in the "Height" and "Width" fields. Click the little lock icon to unlock the image's aspect ratio. (This often leads to strange looking images, but it's up to you.)
8. If you would like text to wrap around around the image, select either "Right" or "Left" from the "Align" menu. You can set the border width in the "Border" field.
9. If you would like the image to be a link also, click the "Link" tab and fill in the fields there.
10. When you're done, click "OK" to place the image. Once the image is placed, you can change its position by dragging it around in the text editing area. You can return to the image properties screen by clicking on the image and then clicking the Insert/Edit Image button ().

How do I insert a link to another web page?

1. Select the text that you would like to turn into a link. (It's usually better to write your whole block of text first and then insert links.) You may also turn an image into a link; just left-click once on the image to select it.
2. Click the 'Link' button:
3. In the screen that appears, enter the destination URL of the link in the 'URL' field.
4. If you would like to have a link open in a new window, go the Target tab and select <popup window>. Check the following boxes: Resizable, Location Bar, Menu Bar, Scroll Bars, Status Bar, Toolbar.
   Note: This method of opening a link in a new window is XHTML 1.1 compliant - which is good - but usually triggers PostNuke's hacking detection system. This isn't really a problem - it just results in the site admin getting an email saying PostNuke thinks someone might have tried to hack your site. If I am your site admin, I'll probably glance over the intrusion report and then identify that it was caused by a popup link, and you'll hear nothing more about it. Direct other site admins to the this page to help explain why they're getting hacking warnings.
5. When you're done editing the link, click "OK'.
6. To remove a link, select the text of the link and click the "Unlink" button:
7. To edit an existing link, double-click the text of the link to select the complete link text. Then click the 'Link' button in step 2, and follow the instructions down to step 5.

How do I insert a link to a file?

Follow the instructions above for adding a regular link. However, instead of entering the target web page's URL...

1. Click "Browse Server"
2. Select the appropriate "Resource type" from the upper left. By default, FCKEditor is configured to restrict the types of files that can be uploaded using the File Browser. (This is a security feature; you don't want people uploading script files, for instance.) If you get an upload error, you may have tried to upload an invalid file type. The default allowable file types for each resource type are:
   
   • File:  .doc, .pdf, .ppt
   • Image: .jpg, .gif, .jpeg, .png
   • Flash: .swf, .fla
   • Media: .swf, .fla, .jpg, .gif, .jpeg, .png, .avi, .mpg, .mpeg, .mov
   
   Other errors may be cause by a file that is too large. By default, most servers limit web uploads to 2 megabytes, though this cap can be increased.
3. Click the name of the file to which you want to insert a link.

How do I insert a larger 'pop-up' version of an image?

1. Use your image editing software to create a smaller and larger version of the image. The smaller version will be placed into the page content in the usual fashion; the larger version will be the 'pop-up' version. It's usually best not to size the larger version greater than 600 wide by 400 tall. (Note the actual pixel dimensions you choose for the larger version; you'll need them later.) The smaller version should be whatever size is appropriate for the content of the page into which you're placing it.
2. Edit the page into which you want to place the smaller version. (See "How do I edit an existing page?", above.)
3. Place the smaller version of the image into the page. (See "How do I insert an image?", above.)
4. Left-click on the smaller image in the editor to select it.
5. Click the 'Link' button (), as if you were going to create a link to another page.
6. In the "Link" pop-up window that appears, click "Browse server".
7. Change the "Resource Type" drop-down in the upper left of the Browse Server screen from "File" to "Image".
8. Browse for and upload the larger version of the image. This is the 'destination' of the link. Once the name of the larger version of the image appears in the list of files, click it once to select it as the link's destination. (See "How do I insert a link to a file?", above.)
9. In the Link pop-up window, click the "Target" tab.
10. In the "Target" drop-down menu, select "<popup window>". Leave all the boxes un-checked, but enter the width and height of the larger version of your image in the Width and Height fields.
11. Click "OK".

Why am I getting double returns whenever I enter a return?

On some web browsers (and, I'll be honest, it's not consistent), FCKEditor treats a carriage return as a 'new paragraph'. If you enter your content and find that you've got double-returns where you meant to have single-returns, try using shift-return instead of a regular return. This forces FCKEditor to insert a 'soft' carriage return.

The best approach is to just let the editor wrap your text for your, without inserting returns except between paragraphs. This ensures that your content will fill up all of the available space on the page.

What are 'theme variables'?

What are the 'Advanced Options'?