PageManager

Overview

PageManager is a page management module that allows for easy management of site pages. PageManager makes managing site content possible without any knowledge of HTML or programming. PageManager is more advanced than StaticContent, and should be recommended over StaticContent.

Current PageManager version: 2.2.4.2
Documentation updated: 07/17/2008

Features

Page Sets

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. PageManager 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.

'Page Set' commands

The following commands are available for page sets: 'add a new page set',  'Edit Content', 'Edit Page Set', 'Delete', and 'Import'.

Add new Page Set - this command allows you to add a new page set. Any new page set that is added will show up on the page set view.

Edit Content - Choosing this will command will show you all of the pages in this page set. From there, you will be able to change page information.

Edit Page Set - This command will allow you to change status of the entire page set. You can modify the name, decide whether this page set is active (pages that are included in inactive page sets will not be shown when users visit the site), and the default image to display for the header.

Delete - This command deletes the entire page set along with any content inside of it.

Import - The import funciton was created for importing StaticContent pages into PageManager. Use this command with caution as it will replace all files currently in this page set.

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Pages

Pages Home Screen

This page includes a drop-down menu, where content managers can select the page set they want to view. After a page set is selected, all of the pages in that set will be displayed. From here there are several options for dealing with individual pages in this page set:  'Add a new top level page', modifying the heirarchy, selecting a different page set, and individual options for each page.

Add a new top level page - this allows you to add a new page to this page set.

modifying the heirarchy - you can easily change the order of the pages in this page set by dragging and dropping a page to a different location in the list. If you place a page over another page, it the page that is being dragged over will have a green border around it. This means that if you drop the selected page there, it will become a sub page of the page it is over. If you wish to simply move the page, make sure that the selected page is not directly over another page. To save these changes permanently, click the 'save heirarchy' button.

Selecting a different page set - this is self explanitory. Choosing another page set will display all the pages in that page set, which will include all of the options for a page set, just like this one does.

Individual options for each page - You can manipulate pages by right clicking a page. Here you will be given the following options: 'view page' - allows you to view the current page in a browser; 'add sub page' - lets you add a new sub page underneath the current one; 'delete page' - lets you delete this page; 'edit page' - will bring you to the editing screen for this page.

Page editing screen

Here you will be able to create, update, or delete page content. The content you decide to display here will be what is rendered on the page when you view it. There are two primary sections for page content: Basic Options, and Advanced Options.

Basic Options - Here you can define basic parameters for a page. You can choose the title, visibility (whether is is displayed in page navigation, displayed only in the site map, or not displayed in the sitemap or navigation), the body of the page, alternate links, a header image, and permissions (who has access to view this page).

PageManager uses MCEditor, which is a content editing plug-in that looks very similar to MS Word. There are several features that make it easy for a content manager to format content that is to be displayed on a page. You can also edit the HTML for this page instead of just editting the text. This enables more flexibility for content.

Advanced Options - This section allows for dynamic content to be rendered, and for modifying page settings. You can choose which users are allowed to edit this page (restricted or full admins).

Another important feature is the ability for the page content to be be rendered from a module, instead of by the content entered into the MCEditor. If you choose to use module output instead of the MCEditor input, you have to specify the module to be used, which user will be invoking the function, the actual function, and any required arguments. This content should only be modified by advanced users who know how to render module output. to enable module output instead of body output from the MCEditor, select the 'use module output, below' option.

Any changes that you make on this page editor will be saved for this page by clicking one of the three buttons: Update Page, Update Page and stay here, or Update Page and go there.

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Modify Configuration

Overview

This section allows for content managers to modify the state of the PageManager module installed on their system. Changing these settings will alter some of the functionality of PageManager.

Sections

There are 4 tabs located at the top of the Modify Configuration section: 'General', 'Visual Editor', 'Languages', and 'Page Editor'.

General - Allows creator to choose the directory for header images (if needed), and which users are able to edit the page sets.

Visual Editor - Here, the users can choose to enable MCImageManager and MCFileManager. These two plug-ins allow content managers to easily view which file / image content they want to import . You must purchase the licenses for these plug-ins before they can be used.

Languages - Here you can choose which languages are enabled for your PageManager install. The default language is English. The multiple language option is another advantage over StaticContent, because StaticContent does not allow for multiple languages for a page.

Page Fields - A "page field" is a single type of data that you will track every page. This can have different use for different implementations.

To re-order the fields, click and drag a field to place it in the correct position. Once you are ready to commit the order, click "Save order" at the bottom of the list.

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