The blocks administration module allows you to view all active and/or inactive blocks, create a new block, create a new block position, change the global block settings, set a block to active or inactive, edit an individual block's settings, change the order that blocks are displayed, and delete a block.
View: When you first click on the icon for the blocks administration module or click on "View" a list of blocks is displayed above a list of block positions. Clicking on the links "Show active blocks/Show all blocks" will toggle between showing only active blocks or all (active and inactive) blocks.
Setting A Block's State: In the "State" column of the blocks list, you can toggle a block's state (active or inactive) by clicking on the state icon.
Editing A Block: Clicking on the edit icon in the "Options" column will display the settings for that individual block. Some block settings are universal between all blocks, with the block specific setting show below the universal settings.
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Title: This is a name that you will use to identify this block. The title is shown in the blocks list in the "Title" column.
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Language: If your block should only be displayed for a certain language, specify it here. Setting the language to "All" will display it for all languages.
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Position(s): This determines in what positions the block will be displayed. To display the block in more than one block position, hold down the Ctrl key as you click each location.
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Advanced Placement: At the bottom of the Block placement filtering section you will see a link titled "Click to show/hide advanced block placement options". After clicking this link you will see a list of modules with check boxes beside them. If you would like your block to only be displayed for specific modules, select them here. Leaving all modules unchecked will cause the block to be displayed for all modules.
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Collapsibility: You can set whether or not a block is collapsible and which state will be the default. If the display of collapsible menu icons is disabled in Layout>Blocks>Settings, this option will not be visible.
Deleting A Block: Clicking on the delete icon in the "Options" column of the blocks list will delete an individual block. You will be asked for confirmation before the block is actually deleted.
Create Block: Clicking on the "Create Block" link near the top of the page will allow you to create a new block for your site.
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Title: This is a name that you will use to identify this block. The title is shown in the blocks list in the "Title" column.
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Block: This is the actual block type and determines what content is to be displayed. The types of blocks available to you will be dependant on the add-on modules that you have installed. The core block types are:
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Admin/Show admin categories and modules
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Admin_Messages/Show Admin Messages
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Blocks/Menu block
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Blocks/Languages
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Blocks/Simple File Include
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Blocks/HTML
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Blocks/XSLT
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Blocks/Plain Text
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Blocks/Extended Menu block
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pnRender/custom pnRender block
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Search/Search Box
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Theme/ThemeSwitcher
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Users/User's Custom Box
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Users/Login block
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Users/Online block
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Language: If your block should only be displayed for a certain language, specify it here. Setting the language to "All" will display it for all languages.
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Position(s): This determines in what positions the block will be displayed. To display the block in more than one block position, hold down the Ctrl key as you click each location.
- Collapsibility: You can set whether or not a block is collapsible and which state will be the default.
After confirming your changes on the initial block creation page, you are taken to the block specific settings page. Refer to the "Editing A Block" section above for details.
View Block Positions: When you first click on the icon for the blocks
administration module or click on "View" a list of block positions is displayed below a list of blocks.
Changing Block Display Order: See the instructions below for "Editing A Block Position"
Create Block Position: Clicking on the "Create Block Position" link near the top of the page will allow you to create a new block position for your site.
- Name: This a unique name that will identify this new block position. You should not use a name that is already in use. This will be shown in the "Name" column of the block positions list. The name should not contain any spaces or special characters, as it will be used as the Theme tag for this position.
- Description: Type in a brief description of the new block position. This description will be shown in the "Description" column of the block positions list.
Editing A Block Position: Clicking on the edit icon in the "Options" column will display the settings for that individual block position. This will also allow you to change the order that blocks are displayed in. Below the block position settings (Name and Description) you will find a list of blocks that are currently assigned to this position as well as a list of blocks that are not assigned to this position. By left clicking on the movement icon and holding the mouse button, you can drag any block to the desired location, setting the order as you would like them to be displayed.
Deleting A Block Position: Clicking on the delete icon in the "Options" column of the block positions list will delete an individual block position. You will be asked for confirmation before the block position is actually deleted.