How do I create a link?

EKCCMS allows you to create a link to virtually any web content whether it be within your own EKCCMS website, or an external web site. There are different places where links can be created that are described below. All of these instructions assume that you are already logged in with administrator privileges.

Creating a Menu Item link

1. Click on the Section Create icon () within the menu list to create a new menu item.

2. Type the link name in the "New Section Name" box, and type the link address in the "External Link" box.

The "Open In New Window" box is self-explanatory.

Creating links within content

1. Click on the Content Create icon () or Content Edit () link at the content location.

2.In the HTML editor box toolbar, highlight the text you would like to be a link and click on the link icon ().

3. Fill in the link information, and save.

How do I create a link?

EKCCMS allows you to create a link to virtually...More...

How do I create a new template?

EKCCMS integrates the Smarty templating engine. For complete documentation on Smarty, click here.

The fastest way to create a new template is to copy one of the existing templates to a new directory and modify it. To create a new template from an existing template:

1. Choose one of the template folders under the EKCCMS /template folder, and copy it to a new folder name. (The folder name will be the template name that is displayed in the Global Configuration dropdown box.)
2. Modify the files index.tpl and style.css to your liking.

• The file index.tpl is a Smarty template file which in its simplest form is merely HTML with Smarty content variables plopped in as preferred.
• The EKCCMS content variable is {$CONTENT.location} where "location" is typicall left, right, center, top, bottom, etc. The actual location names that are available are defined in index.php and all mostly arbitrary.However, certain modules (e.g. Search) expect the location name "center" to exist as the primary content section, and therefore, "center" should always be used as such.
• For example, this simple HTML line in the index.tpl file would create a page with two content locations (e.g. "top" and "center"):
• {$CONTENT.top}
  {$CONTENT.center}
• Any template-specific images, javascript, etc. should be kept under your new template folder (i.e. as a rule-of-thumb, do not mix template-specific files with global content).

To create a new template from scratch:

1. Create a new folder under the EKCCMS /template folder. We will call this "your template folder."
2. Copy the file index.php from one of the existing standard EKCCMS template folders into your template folder. (This file will typically need no modifications.)
3. Create the file index.tpl in your template folder.
4. Create the file style.css in your template folder. You must manually include this in your index.tpl file.
5. You can optionall create the file html_editor_style.css in your template folder, as well. This allows you to tweak the look-n-feel of the HTML editor window on the Edit Content page et al.

How do I create a new template?

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How do I make the main page different from the rest of the site?

To make the main or home page different than the rest of the site requires a basic understanding of the Smarty templating engine, but is very simple otherwise. In short, you simply have to modify the file template/[template_name]/index.tpl according to the instructions below. (For more info on Smarty templates, click here.)

EKCCMS Smarty Variables

The EKCCMS stores the "top" section id of the main page in the Smarty variable $SESSION_INFO.top_section_id, and the current section id in the Smarty variable $SESSION_INFO.section_id.

Template Modification Instructions

All you have to do is create an IF block within the Smarty template that resembles this:

{if ( $SESSION_INFO.section_id == $SESSION_INFO.top_section_id ) && ( $smarty.get.f == "" ) && ( $smarty.get.m == "" ) }

MAIN PAGE CONTENT HERE
{else}
ALL OTHER CONTENT TEMPLATING HERE
{/if}

(The "$smarty.get.f" and "$smart.get.m" variables are to allow the framework to handle the internal processing of user registrations, popups, RSS feeds, etc.)

How do I make the main page different from the rest of the site?

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How do I prevent a parent section link from displaying a blank page?

EKCCMS treats all sections as active links unless they are explicitly disabled. For example, if the parent section is "Links" and all of the children are external links, then the parent section should not react to any mouse clicks...it should be disabled so that it doesn't display a blank page when clicked.

Here's how to accomplish this:

1. Click the Edit icon () next to the section you want to "kill." This will take you to the Edit Section page.
2. In the External Link box, type a single pound sign ("#" without the quotes).
3. In the OnClick (javascript) box, type "return false;" without the quotes.
4. Click the Save button.

This makes the parent section a link to "nowhere" (e.g. "#"), and will kill the click event (e.g. onclick="return false;").

How do I prevent a parent section link from displaying a blank page?

EKCCMS treats all sections as active links unle...More...

How do I upload my own images or files?

EKCCMS integrates Quixplorer for all your file management needs. To access Quixplorer within EKCCMS:

1. Login as admin.
2. Ad a new content block with the "Content File" set to "Admin Links." (Make sure you leave this block deactivated so that it is only visible to administrators.)
3. The link to the Quixplorer file management interface is in the "Admin Links" block. Click on it.

• Most of the features can be identified by simply pointing at the icons and reading the popup tooltips.
• The option to creating new files/directories exists in the upper right hand corner.

How do I upload my own images or files?

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How do I use the Tabview Control?

The Tabview Control allows you to save screen real estate by overlaying large amounts of content in the same location. In order to use a Tabview Control, you must first create the "large amounts of content" in a separate section, then configure the Tabview to use that section. Here are the step-by-step instructions:

1. Click the Create icon () all the way to the right of the Home section. (This will make the Home section the parent of the new section. You can choose another section as the parent section, if you'd prefer.)

• Complete the new section information. IMPORTANT: Leave the "Active" box unchecked. Click Save. At this point, you should have a new INACTIVE section. (We have left this section inactive because its content will be displayed in the Tabview control.)

2. Add the content you want to appear in your Tabview Control to the center location of the page. When adding content, the top text window will become the tab title, and the bottom text window will become the tab text.

3. Go to the location where you want to insert the Tabview control, and click the Content Add icon () in that location.

• Complete the new content information.
• Click on the "Content File" dropdown, and choose "Tabview" from the list. Configuration options for the control should now appear. (JavaScript must be enabled for this to work.)
• Change the Tab View Opacity to 100% (or whatever you'd prefer). Please note that the default value of 10% makes the Tabview practically invisible.
• Update the "Tab View From Section" and "Tab View From Location" options to the section and location you created in steps 1 and 2.
• Click Save, and the Tabview Control should be complete.

Once your tabview is created, you can edit the tab content directly using the edit icon () next to the data. Be careful not to confuse the edit icon of the Tabview control with the edit icon of the Tabview content.

How do I use the Tabview Control?

The Tabview Control allows you to save screen r...More...

What multimedia formats does EKCCMS support?

ANY file that can be presented in a webpage can be presented within EKCCMS. However, the Audio Video module within EKCCMS can automatically play certain audio and video files with a built-in media player, and the Image Gallery module can automatically create thumbnails and popup windows for certain types of images. This functionality is also included in the Articles module for news or blog sites.

The automatic features of EKCCMS can be used with any of the following formats:

Videos: FL4, FLV, MP4, or SWF

Images: GIF, JPG, or PNG

Audio: MP3, or WAV

However, even if you have a file format that is not listed here, it can still be used within EKCCMS by obtaining the necessary HTML code from a third party (i.e. Google, etc.).

What multimedia formats does EKCCMS support?

ANY file that can be presented in a webpage can...More...