Description:
The Static Content Item New, and Edit, screens allow the creation of new Static Content Items in the Back-end for display on the Front-end of the web site and the ability to edit existing Static Content Items that have been entered either through the Front-End or the Back-end of the system
NOTE: The New and Edit screens are almost identical in their appearance and functionality.
Toolbar:
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| Static Content Item: New | Static Content Items: Edit |
Save: Click Save to save any changes made during the current editing session, and return to the Static Content Manager screen.
Apply: Click Apply to save any changes made so far in the current session, but remain in the Static Content Item screen to continue editing. If the current action was creating a new Static Content Item it will now have been saved, and will appear on the Static Content Manager list. In addition, the current session now becomes an Edit action rather than the Add action it was previously. Once the editing session is complete, click Save as above.
Cancel: Clicking Cancel at any point ends the current creation session and returns the display to the Static Content Manager screen. Any changes made since the session commenced will be lost and the new Static Content Item will not have been created.
Help: Click the Help icon at any time to view this Help Screen.
Item Details
Title: Enter a name for this Item as you would like it displayed at the top of the published page. It is possible to set whether this Title will display or not within the Parameter settings.
Title Alias: Enter a short name for this Item.
Text:
Every Static Content Item created must have content in this field. It will not be possible to save the Item otherwise.
WYSIWYG Editor:
The WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) Editor is the means by which the text is entered into the Static Content Item.
The system uses a WYSIWYG Editor Mambot by default. In addition, there is the option to use a plain text editor by selecting the No WYSIWYG Editor Mambot. The choice of editor can be made on a personal level by each User via their personal details page in the Front-end if allowed. The default can also be set Globally within the Global Configuration Menu.
Attributes Tabs:
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| Publishing | Parameters | Meta Data | Link to Menu |
Publishing:
State: Advises the current status of the Static Content Item as to whether it is Published or Unpublished.
Published: Check this Check Box to Publish this Static Content Item. It will be available to be viewed at the Start Publishing Time and Date set below.
Access Level: Identify which User Group level can view this Static Content Item. Select from Public, Registered, or Special. See User Access Levels for further details on these.
Author Alias: If needed, enter an alternative name for the Author of this Static Content Item. This can be used for example, when the ‘real’ Author – whose User name would otherwise appear on the display page of this Item – wants to make an announcement as the Site Administrator. Another example would be when the Item is actually written by A N Other author but the Static Content Item is created by one of the administration team.
Change Creator: If needed, it is possible to change the name displayed as the original author of the Item. This might be of use, for example, when an Item has been substantially updated or rewritten by another author, and bears little, or no, resemblance to the original.
Ordering: Control where this Static Content Item will appear in Static Content Item Manager in the Back-end, and consequently its position in any Menu Item display in the Front-end. Select this position from the drop-down display of current Static Content Items contained in the Static Content Item Manager.
Override Created Date: If a document is re-issued following a review, or it has been rewritten, for example, it is sometimes appropriate to change the Creation Date for the Item.
Start Publishing: This is the date and time when the Static Content Item will first be viewable from the Front-end of the web site. Prior to this point – provided it has a Published status – it will show in the Back-end as Pending. There are two choices of action here; either enter the Date and Time manually into the field, ensuring that the format is the same as has been set for this parameter in the Global Configuration, or alternatively, click on the 
calendar icon and select the date from the calendar that is displayed.
Finish Publishing: This is the date and time when the Static Content Item will no longer be visible in the Front-end. After this date and time it will be displayed in the Back-end as Expired. As with the Start Publishing option above the same two methods of date and time entry exist.
After the new Static Content Item has been saved for the first time, an non-editable information pane will be displayed at the foot of this tab. It will contain the following information:
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Content ID: The Identification Number that the system (MySQL) has assigned to it.
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State: Whether the Static Content Item is currently Pending, Published, Expired, or Unpublished.
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Hits: The number of Hits (See: Page Impression Statistics ) that have been made on the full Static Content Item.
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Reset Hit Count (button): The only interactive part of this section. This allows the Hits to be reset to 0 (zero). A warning dialogue box will pop up to check that this is the desired course of action.
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Version: The number of times that this Static Content Item has been opened and saved since its original creation.
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Created: The date and time upon which it was originally created.
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Last Modified: The date and time when the Static Content Item was last amended/saved, and by whom.
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Expires: Repeats a static representation of the date and time entry selected in the Finish Publishing field above.
Parameters:
Menu Image: Select a small image, from the drop down list of available images, to be placed to the left or right of the Menu Item Title in the Menu. Images must be located in the root /images/ directory.
Page Title: Select Show or Hide to set whether the Page Title text entered above will appear at the top of their respective target page displayed in the Front-end of the web site.
Page Class Suffix: This field can contain a suffix that is to be applied to the CSS classes of this page. This allows individual page styling with relative ease. For example, if the suffix .bl (short for Blog) is entered here, all CSS code elements in this page will have .bl added to them. h2 becomes h2.bl. Separate entries in the CSS file of the template would then be applied as entered.
Back Button: Set whether there is a Back navigation button inserted at the base of the target page being displayed. Options are Use Global (the setting made for the whole site in the Global Configuration), Hide, or Show. The Global site settings are overridden by these individual page settings.
Item Rating: Use this feature to set whether the Item Rating images are displayed in Static Content Items on the target page display. Select Use Global to follow the Global rule for the web site. Select Yes to override the Global rule and always make the Item Rating appear. Select No to override the Global rule and never show the Item Rating. This feature does not control the function of enabling rating.
Author Names: Use this feature to set whether the name of a Static Content Item’s Author is displayed in the Static Content Item on the target page display. Select Use Global to follow the Global rule for the web site. Select Yes to override the Global rule and always make the Author Name appear. Select No to override the Global rule and never show the Author Name.
Created Date and Time: Use this feature to set whether the the date and time that this Static Content Item was created are displayed in the Static Content Item on the target page display. Select Use Global to follow the Global rule for the web site. Select Yes to override the Global rule and always make the Created Date and Time appear. Select No to override the Global rule and never show the Created Date and Time.
Modified Date and Time: Use this feature to set whether the the date and time that this Static Content Item was last modified are displayed in the Static Content Item on the target page display. Select Use Global to follow the Global rule for the web site. Select Yes to override the Global rule and always make the Modified Date and Time appear. Select No to override the Global rule and never show the Modified Date and Time.
PDF Icon: Use this feature to set whether the PDF icon is displayed in Static Content Items on the target page display. The PDF Icon (sometimes also just represented in plain text) allow the download of the Static Content Item as a PDF file. Select Use Global to follow the Global rule for the web site. Select Yes to override the Global rule and always make the PDF Icon appear. Select No to override the Global rule and never show the PDF Icon.
Print Icon: Use this feature to set whether the Print icon is displayed in Static Content Items on the target page display. The Print Icon causes a new browser window to open with the basic text content of the Static Content Item displayed without any of the web site graphics or design showing. This allows a User to conveniently print the Item. Select Use Global to follow the Global rule for the web site. Select Yes to override the Global rule and always make the Print Icon appear. Select No to override the Global rule and never show the Print Icon.
E-mail Icon: Use this feature to set whether the E-mail Icon is displayed in Static Content Items on the target page display. The E-mail Icon permits the ever present ‘Mail to a Friend’ facility to be used allowing a copy of a particular Static Content Item to be sent to an e-mail address. Select Use Global to follow the Global rule for the web site. Select Yes to override the Global rule and always make the E-mail Icon appear. Select No to override the Global rule and never show the E-mail Icon.
Meta Info:
In addition to the fields below in which to set the Meta Data for this particular Static Content Item, there is also an option within the Global Configuration -> Metadata Tab, to set a web site wide collection of Keywords and Descriptions that are then automatically appended to every Static Content Item. These avoid the necessity of repeating the same entry of words and ensures a minimum set of Meta Data wording is always used.
Description: This field corresponds to the Meta Tags in the Head of an HTML page. Enter a brief description as to the purpose of the Static Content Item. This information is used by some Search Engines which then categorise the page accordingly.
Keywords: Enter a number of Meta Keywords that reflect the substance of the Static Content Item. This information is used by some Search Engines which then categorise the page accordingly. In addition, Keywords are central to the functioning of the Related Items Module.
Link to Menu:
The fields in this Tab will create a Link – Static Content Item Menu Item in the Menu selected.
Select a Menu: Select the Menu, on which the new Link – Static Content Item will be created, from the displayed list of existing Menus in the Front-end of the web site.
Menu Item Name: Enter a name for the new Menu Item. This will be the entry that will be visible within the Menu itself.
Link to Menu Button: Once all the fields above have been satisfactorily completed, click the
Link to Menu button to commit the changes to the system and create the new Menu Item.
NOTE: Using a Link – Static Content Item, Menu Item is the only way that Static Content Items can be displayed in the Front-end of Joomla!. They are not available in Blogs, Tables, or Lists in a standard installation.
Existing Menu Link: If the Static Content Item has previously been linked to an existing Menu the details of this will be displayed in this field. The current change will appear in this field once the button has been clicked.