Home   Back   Next

Editing a component, a template or a page is virtually the same. There only minor differences.

There are two edit modes: Preview Mode and Layout Mode.

You switch between edit modes by clicking on the appropriate radio buttons at the top of the page.

You can edit items in preview mode but you need to be in layout mode to add/edit/delete/move sections, columns and items.

To edit a component from Component Manager, click on the Edit button associated with the component you want to edit. The system displays the Edit a Component form. Click on the layout mode radio button if not already selected.

To edit component properties, click on the button. The system displays the Edit Component Properties form.

Note: Currently the only property of a component is the name and it is not editable. In the future there may be properties you can edit.

To save a component with a different name, click on the button. The system displays the Save Component As form.

For more information on saving a component with a different name, click here.

To edit a template from Template Manager, click on the Edit button associated with the template you want to edit. The system displays the Edit a Template form. Click on the layout mode radio button if not already selected.

To edit template properties, click on the button. The system displays the Edit Template Properties form.

Below is a brief description of the properties you can edit:

• Meta Key Words - A comma separated list of keywords common to all pages on your site. You can provide these values if you intend to copy this template when creating your pages.
• Meta Description - A brief description for a page. Normally, you would not supply a value here unless you have multiple pages that would use the same description.

To save a template with a different name, click on the button. The system displays the Save Template As form.

For more information on saving a template with a different name, click here.

To edit a page from Page Manager, click on the Edit button associated with the page you want to edit. The system displays the Edit a Page form. Click on the layout mode radio button if not already selected.

To edit page properties, click on the button. The system displays the Edit Page Properties form.

Below is a brief description of the properties you can edit:

• Display Name - An optional name for the page. If specified, DbSmartConfig will use this name for any links in horizontal or vertical menus.
• Browser Title - (very important) The browser title displays in the title bar of your browser. Many search engines (e.g. Google) rely on the title bar to index your site.
• Private Page - Indicates if this is a private page, only visible by a private user that has logged on to your private site.
• Inherited Template - If this page is inherited from a template, this field display to let you view/change the inherited template.
• Meta Key Words - A comma separated list of keywords for the page. Meta keywords are used by search engines to categorize your site.
• Meta Description - A brief description of the page. Some search engines use this value when displaying search results that match your page.

To save a page with a different name, click on the button. The system displays the Save Page As form.

For more information on saving a page with a different name, click here.

All parts (components, templates and pages) consist of one or more sections. When you create a new blank object, there are no sections. When you preview it, there is nothing.

Note: You must be in layout mode to edit sections.

To add a new section, click on the button. The system displays the Add New Section form.

Follow these steps to add you new section:

1. Enter a descriptive name for the new section. This name is only used by you to identify the section.
2. Select the type of section you want to add.
   • Click on Add New Section to add a new section with the specified number of columns.
   • Click on Copy Section to copy an existing section from another part.
   • Click on Add Component Section to specify a single component to display in the section.
3. Click on Add Section button to add a new section.

The system adds your new section and redisplays the part in layout mode.

To edit properties for a section, click on the button. The system displays the Section Properties form.

For each section, you can set the following properties:

• Section Name - Descriptive name of the section
• Status - Status (Active or Inactive) If inactive, the section will not display when published.
• Effective Date - Date section starts being to be visible to visitors. If blank, no effective date. This only effects the published page.
• Expiration Date - Date section ends being visible to visitors. If blank, no expiration date. This only effects the published page.
• Horizontal Alignment - Horizontal alignment of the section (left, right, center).
• Vertical Alignment - Vertical alignment of items in the section (top, bottom, middle)
• Column Padding - Padding (margins) within a column.
• Column Spacing - Padding between columns.
• Section Width - Width of the section.
• Style - Style (color, fonts, background color, etc) to apply to the entire section.
• Line Breaks Before - Number of line breaks to add above the section.
• Line Breaks After - Number of line breaks to add below the section.

To delete a section, click on the button. The system displays a prompt to be sure you want to delete the section. Click Ok to delete the section.

If your part (component, template, page) contains more than one section, you can move the sections areound.

• Click on the button on the section bar to move the section up.
• Click on the button on the section bar to move the section down.

You can save a section as a component if you want. You can then reuse the section on other pages.

To save a section as a component, click on the button. The system displays the Save Section As form.

Enter a name for the new component and click on the Create Component button. The system creates the new component and displays the component in edit mode.

Sections are made up of columns. You can add as many columns to a section as you want. However, from a practical point of view, four is probably the most columns you would add to a section and your page would resemble columns in a newspaper.

To add a new column to a section, click on the button on the section bar. The system adds the column to the right of the section and adds an initial item to the column.

To edit properties for a column, click on the button at the top of the column. The system displays the Column Properties form.

For each column, you can set the following properties:

• Status - Status (Active or Inactive) If inactive, the column will not display when published.
• Effective Date - Date column starts being visible to visitors. If blank, no effective date. This only effects the published page.
• Expiration Date - Date column ends being visible to visitors. If blank, no expiration date. This only effects the published page.
• Horizontal Alignment - Horizontal alignment of the column (left, right, center).
• Vertical Alignment - Vertical alignment of items in the column (top, bottom, middle)
• Column Width - Width of the column.
• Column Height - Height of the column. If there are too many items in the column, the column will stretch.
• Style - Style (color, fonts, background color, etc) to apply to the entire column.

To delete a column, click on the button at the top of the column. The system displays a prompt to be sure you want to delete the column. Click Ok to delete the column.

If your section contains more than one column, you can move the columns around.

• Click on the button next to the column to move the column left.
• Click on the button next to the column to move the column right.

You can save a column as a component if you want. You can then reuse the column on other pages.

To save a column as a component, click on the button at the top of the column. The system displays the Save Column As form.

Enter a name for the new component and click on the Create Component button. The system creates the new component and displays the component in edit mode.

We're finally getting to the good stuff! Columns contain items. This is what visitors see on your page. You can add one or more items to a column. You can add images, text, menus, etc.

Click here for the current list of items you can add to the page.

To add a new item to a column, click on the button at the top of the column. The system displays the Add an Item form.

Follow these steps to add you new item:

1. Select Add Item to add a brand new item to the column.
   • Enter a descriptive name for the new item. This name is only used by you to identify the item.
   • Select the type of item from the drop down list.
   • Click on Add Item(s) button to add the item to the column.
2. Select Copy Items to copy items from another place in your site.
   • Select the part that contains the items you want to copy.
   • Select the section of the part that contains the items.
   • Select the column of the section of the part that contains the items.
   • Click on the Add Item(s) button to add all the items in the column to the current column.

   Note: If you only want to copy some of the items, simply delete the items you do not want.

The system adds your item(s) and redisplays the part in layout mode.

To edit properties for an item, click on the button associated with the item. The system displays the Item Properties form applicable for the type of item. Click here to view the Item Properties of a form item.

For each item, you can set properties to control the look and feel of the item. There are some properties common to all items:

• Item Name - Descriptive name of the item
• Item Style - Style to apply to the item.
• Status - Status (Active or Inactive) If inactive, the item will not display when published.
• Effective Date - Date item starts being to be visible to visitors. If blank, no effective date. This only effects the published page.
• Expiration Date - Date item ends being visible to visitors. If blank, no expiration date. This only effects the published page.
• Title Text - Optional title text to display above the item.
• Title Style - Style to apply to the title.
• Title Align - Alignment of the title (left, right, center).
• Line Breaks Before Item - Number of line breaks to add above the section.
• Line Breaks After Item - Number of line breaks to add below the section.

Note: Click on the button at the top of the Item Properties form for help with the properties you can set for each specific item type.

To delete an item, click on the button associated with the item. The system displays a prompt to be sure you want to delete the item. Click Ok to delete the item.

If you have more than one item in a column OR more than one column in a section, you can move an item up and down within a column or left and right to adjacent columns.

• Click on the button to move the item up in the column.
• Click on the button to move the item down in the column.
• Click on the button to move the item to the column on the left of the item.
• Click on the button to move the item to the column on the right of the item.