Document Actions
Controlling When and How Items Are Displayed
In Plinkit, there are several factors that affect when and how a content item is displayed. We have already seen, for instance, that:
• An item’s publishing state determines which users can view the item.
• Content items can be configured so that they are excluded from navigation. This means that the items will not appear in the navigation portlet, even if they are in the published state.
• Effective dates and expirations dates can be assigned to content items to specify a specific period of time during which an item will be available.
• A folder’s display options control what content appears in the main content area when the folder is opened. By default, a list of the titles and descriptions of the folder’s contents is displayed. This default behavior can be changed so that the folder’s contents are displayed in a different format, or so that a specific content item contained in the folder is opened and displayed each time the folder is opened.
The following sections provide brief instruction on how to adjust each of these factors.
Changing the Publishing State of a Page or Folder
As we learned in Getting More Familiar with Plinkit, there are only two publishing states with which you need to be concerned:
• Items in the public draft state can be viewed only by users who are logged in and who have been assigned an Editor or staff user role. The titles of items in public draft state appear in green in the navigation portlet and the contents tab.
• Items in the published state can be viewed by all users, whether they are logged in or not.
By default, content items are always created in the public draft state. To publish a content item, simply click the public draft status indicator on the green menu bar and then select publish from the drop-down menu. Here’s an example:
In some cases, you may want to change a published item’s state back to the public draft state. You should only do this in situations where you want to remove a page from view only temporarily. If you want to remove the page permanently (that is, if you are confident you will not have a use for the page again in the future), you can simply delete the page (see Deleting Pages for an example).
|
|
Note: You do not need to change the publishing state of an item in order to edit the item. Simply use the edit tab to make your changes and then click save. Your changes will be reflected on your Plinkit site immediately. |
To change an item’s publishing state from published back to public draft, simply click the published status indicator on the green menu bar and then select retract from the drop-down menu (see Hiding Pages for an example).
|
|
Notes: You can use the check boxes and the change state button on the contents tab to change the publishing state of one or more items in one operation. (The items must be contained in the same folder.) You may see other possible actions for changing an item’s publishing state, such as reject, submit, and make private. These actions are only required for moderated Web sites that allow users to submit new content that must, in turn, be reviewed by an administrator before it can be published. You should not need to use these actions. |
Excluding Items from the Navigation Portlet
The Exclude from navigation property is an important setting for items, such as images, that you want to incorporate into other pages on your site but do not want users to navigate to and view in a standalone manner.
This property is controlled by a check box on the properties tab. By default, the check box is empty when a new content item is created. In other words, new items are, by default, configured to appear in the navigation portlet.
|
|
Note: The Exclude from navigation property is inherited. This means that if the Exclude from navigation box has been selected on the properties tab for a folder, all of the items stored in that folder will also be excluded from the navigation portlet, whether or not the individual items have the Exclude from navigation box selected. |
To change the default setting so that a content item will not appear in the navigation portlet:
1. Login in to Plinkit.
2. Navigate to the item you want to exclude from the navigation portlet.
3. Click the properties tab.
4. Select the Exclude from navigation check box.
5. Click save.
|
|
Note: The Exclude from navigation setting does not affect the publishing state of an item. |
Changing the Effective and Expiration Dates of News Items
Some items on your Plinkit site, such as news items and event announcements, will contain time-sensitive information. You can set an effective date and an expiration date for each of these items to control when each item will be visible.
|
|
Note: By default, the effective date of a published item is automatically set to the date and time at which the item’s publishing state was changed to published. Although you can set an expiration date for any type of content item, most content types should not have an expiration date. Any content that you want to remain on your site indefinitely should not be assigned an expiration date. |
The content type for which you are most likely to need to set an expiration date (and perhaps adjust the effective date) is the news item.
To set or change the effective and expiration dates for a content item:
1. Log in to Plinkit.
2. Navigate to the content item.
3. Click the properties tab.
4. Scroll down to the Effective Date and Expiration Date sections and notice the settings.
5. If desired, change the effective date, which is the date on which the item will become visible to the public (if it is in the published state).
6. If you do not want the item to be visible indefinitely, select an expiration date.
7. Click save.
For other illustrated examples, see Changing the Effective Date for Your Director’s Message and Controlling When News Items Are Active.
Changing the Default Display Setting for a Folder
By default, when a new folder is created it is configured so that a list of the titles and descriptions of the folder’s contents is displayed when the folder is clicked. Here’s an example of how this standard view looks for the Opportunities for Involvement folder we created in an earlier section of this help site:
You can change a folder’s default display so that the folder’s contents are displayed in a different format (for example, in a tabular format or as thumbnail representations). You can also configure a folder’s display options so that a specific content item contained in the folder is opened and displayed each time the folder is opened. We recommend assigning such an “introductory” or “landing” page to each of your folders. The Who We Are page (see The About Us Tab) that is displayed when you click the about us tab in your default Plinkit site is an example of such an introductory page.
The following procedure describes how to assign a specific content page to be displayed when a folder is clicked, but the procedure for selecting one of the other display options is similar. Examples of the other display options are provided after these instructions.
1. Log in to Plinkit.
2. Navigate to the folder.
3. Click the display menu and choose the view type you want to be the default for the folder.
|
|
Tip: In this example, we have chosen the select a content item as default view display option. If you choose any other display option, this is the last step of this procedure. If you choose the select a content item as default view, you must complete the next step as well. |
If you chose the select a content item as default view option, a Select default page form appears, listing all of the folder items that are available for use as the default page.
4. Select the item you want to use and click save.
The selected page now becomes the default view. Notice that the page no longer appears in the navigation portlet as a separate item under the folder.
Other Folder Display Options
The section above includes screen shots of the standard view and content item display options for a folder. The screens shots below illustrate the other three folder display options: summary view, tabular view, thumbnail view.
Summary View
The summary view is similar to the standard view, except that the summary view displays less information about each content item in a folder. The summary view displays the title and description of each content item and provides a Read More link that opens each item. (The standard view displays who last modified each content item, what time each item was last modified, and an icon indicating the content type of each item.)
Tabular View
The tabular view is similar in style and appearance to the list of contents on the contents tab. The tabular view displays title, author, content type, and last modified date and time for each content item in a folder.
Thumbnail View
The thumbnail view displays a “stack” of thumbnail representations of any images contained in the folder or its subfolders. Content items that are not images are listed below any such thumbnails, in a format that is similar to the default standard view. The screen shot below shows the contents the About Us folder, which contains one image. In this example, the subfolders do not contain any images, so no image appears on the “stack” for each subfolder.
The Opportunities for Involvement folder contains no images, so the thumbnail view of this folder looks just like the standard view:
