Home > General
Help > Content Management System (CMS)
Content Management System (CMS)
The content management system built in to Ecommerce
Template shopping cart software allows you to dynamically add content
to your site through the online control panel. You can choose to
add
the
content to existing pages, this might be in the form of news sections
or special offers for example or you can set up a whole page
content in a dynamic way - this will prove useful if you want to
add articles
about your products and services or want to control your home page
content through the admin for example. The content management system
has an optional built-in HTML editor with preview
which
makes
formatting the content a breeze.
Adding dynamic content to existing pages
You will probably want to enable the HTML editor
for the content regions as it makes formatting so much simpler.
It provides a wysiwyg interface so adding tables, new paragraphs,
colors etc can be made with a click or two. It also allows you
to preview your work before submitting.
If you want to use the
HTML editor with the content management system,
it can
be downloaded here.
Upload the files to your server and then set the following in
vsadmin/includes.asp for the ASP version
htmleditor="fckeditor" or vsadmin/includes.php for the PHP version
$htmleditor="fckeditor";
Now log into your store control panel and click
on the link for Content Management, then choose "New Content Region". 
The
field for Region Name is for internal use only so enter a descriptive
title there like "Right News Section".
The -- - and + ++ buttons allow you to control
the visual width of the content field. This won't affect the
content as it is displayed on your pages but will make it easier
to visualize narrow content in the admin.
In the content field, add the details you would
like to appear on your pages. If you are using the FCK HTML
Editor click on the downward arrow to view the available formatting
choices.
Click on "Submit" to save your changes.
You should now see the content region(s) you
have set up
The
Region ID is the identifier you are going to
use to add the new content to your page. Open the store page
and find the location where you want to add the new content.
In code
/
HTML view add the following ...
ASP Version
<% regionid=1 %>
<!--#include file="vsadmin/inc/inccontentregion.asp"-->
PHP Version
<?php $regionid=1; ?>
<?php include "vsadmin/inc/inccontentregion.php" ?>
... where the regionid number corresponds to
the identifier from the admin page shown above. In this example
we would be adding the "News" content but if we were adding the
"Footer" content, the regionid would be set to 4.
That's all there is to it. Now upload your page
to the server and check the content is showing correctly. From
now on, any modifications made to that region can be carried
out through the store control panel.
NOTE: Make sure that those lines come somewhere
after the 4 main ASP / PHP include lines on your
page. If necessary you can move the other 4 lines further up the
code to just after the opening <body> tag.
Setting up content pages
You may want to set up pages where the whole
main content of a page is administered through the store control
panel. In this example we are going to set up an articles section
and
use the content management system to populate the main body of
the page.
First of all take an existing page on your site
and save it as articles.asp or articles.php depending on which
version
you are using. Clear out the main body content so you are left
with white space in the center of the page. In HTML / code view
copy and paste the following:
ASP Version
<!--#include file="vsadmin/inc/inccontentregion.asp"-->
PHP Version
<?php include "vsadmin/inc/inccontentregion.php" ?>
Now go into your store control panel and follow
the steps above for setting up a new content region like the "Article
- About Us" example in the screenshot. Once you have added your
text, and noted the regionid (in this case region 2), save your
work and open the following page on your site
http://www.yourstoreurl.com/articles.asp?region=2
or
http://www.yourstoreurl.com/articles.php?region=2
You should see the content you have just added
through the control panel within your design. You can now go on
setting up more articles through the control panel and changing
the "region=2" in the URL depending on the regionid associated
to it in the content management admin page.
Using articles.asp or articles.php is just an example
and you can name the page whatever you like as long as it is
followed by the correct regionid number. For example you may end
up with pages on your site like...
http://www.yourstoreurl.com/articles.asp?region=2
http://www.yourstoreurl.com/aboutus.asp?region=3
http://www.yourstoreurl.com/contactus.asp?region=4
http://www.yourstoreurl.com/news.asp?region=5
... or whatever you would like to call them.
You can add these dynamic pages and in fact any
of your store pages to your menu system using the css
dynamic menus also
released in version 5.9.
Tips and Tweaks
Although it's not possible to put database driven
content like the minicart or recently viewed items within the content
regions, there is a very simple workaround. All you need to do
is set up two regions and place the minicart or recently reviewed
items box between the two.
In the ASP version the set up would be like this
on your page if you wanted to have the recently reviewed box in
the middle of the content regions:
<% regionid=6 %>
<!--#include file="vsadmin/inc/inccontentregion.asp"-->
<!--#include file="vsadmin/inc/increcentview.asp"-->
<% regionid=7 %>
<!--#include file="vsadmin/inc/inccontentregion.asp"-->
for the PHP version, that would be
<?php $regionid=6; ?>
<?php include "vsadmin/inc/inccontentregion.php" ?>
<?php include "vsadmin/inc/increcentview.php" ?>
<?php $regionid=7; ?>
<?php include "vsadmin/inc/inccontentregion.php" ?>
Troubleshooting the content management system
I get an error like "Data source name
not found and no default driver specified" or the content
of the page doesn't appear.
It's important that the 4 main ASP or PHP lines
come somewhere before the inccontentregion include line. You can
move the 4 ASP / PHP include lines further up the code, just after
the
opening <body> tag
for example.
I can see the content management fields but there's
no HTML editor.
Make sure you have followed the steps here.
If you are using two vsadmin folders for security or ssl reasons
the htmleditor="fckeditor" or $htmleditor="fckeditor";
will need to be added to each includes file. Make sure the files
have been uploaded to the correct location on the server by uploading
the vsadmin folder that comes with the fckeditor download to the
root of your store. Check the files have made it over to the vsadmin
folder correctly so you should see a partial listing like this...
... with the fckeditor files amongst the store
vsadmin files. If you are using two vsadmin folders for security
or ssl reasons, make sure you have uploaded the fckeditor files
to both.
|
