[ic] Custom templates and page content slot issues

Mon Jan 10 12:23:51 EST 2005

> >>> sam at westbranchresort.com 01/06/05 11:09AM >>>
> I  am having problems with the foundation catalog in regards to
developing 
> search engine friendly templates and the way that IC generates the
"Page 
> content" slot.  What I would like to do is have more control over
where the 
> Page content slot is set.  I have tried to create a new component to
display 
> the "Page content" as a hack around  the problem but I feel that
there is a 
> better way.  Seeing that every slot's component can be changed except
the 
> "Page content" makes it obvious that the solution is not very hard
but I 
> guess I am just looking for some advise in the right place to look. 
My goal 
> is to be able to place "Page content" in the slot for example
[component 
> group=content] and not have it set by default by IC.
>
> For example if in the foundation Admin UI I add a new template and I
have 
> developed the header and footer areas.  IC places the "Main Content"
area 
> what appears to be in the middle of the two.  Which in this case is
not what 
> I am looking to accomplish due to the nature of the template I am
attemting 
> to create.

(1) The "CONTENT" slot isn't a slot at all--it's the text in the file
you're editing.  If you want it in a different place, you can't just
tell IC to spit it out wherever....the _TOP and _BOTTOM files (for
example, in the left-only template, the files are LEFTONLY_TOP and
LEFTONLY_BOTTOM) help determine the layout of the page.  

It works like this....the page has tags that tell it what components go
in the page...then it has something like __LEFTONLY_TOP__ right before
the page content.  This gets LEFTONLY_TOP included into the page.  The
content follows that, and then at/near the end of the file there's
something like __LEFTONLY_BOTTOM__ which gets LEFTONLY_BOTTOM included. 
Those component slots on the left side of the editor are only there
because the template files have tags that tell IC "Hey, a component can
go here."

(2) Headers and footers are exactly what they sound like--headers go at
the beginning, and footers go at the end.  If you want a header to
appear at the end, for example, then you're using the wrong tool for the
job--edit the footer instead.  Likewise, if you want the content to
appear at the end, after the footer, then you don't really want a
footer--you want more content at the end of the header.

(3) If you want the footer to appear on, say, the right, you might make
a template like this....

in file SOMENAME_TOP:
<html>
 <body>
  <div id="header">
   
  </div>
  <table width="100%">
   <tr><td id="content" width="75%">

in file SOMENAME_BOTTOM:
   </td>
   <td id="footer">
     <!-- footer stuff goes here... -->
   </td></tr>
  </table>
 </body>
</html>

IC will paste in the _TOP right before the page's content, and the
_BOTTOM right after.  Put the three files together, and you have a table
with the content in the left column and the footer in the right.  For
reference, the CONTENT "slot" is the area right after the end of _TOP
and right before the beginning of _BOTTOM.  It's kinda stuck where it
is.  

BTW, don't harass me about the layout table.  :P

(4) If you edit a built-in template like left-only, chances are the
little blocky diagram of the page (under the slot thingies on the left
side) won't match what the page actually looks like.  That diagram isn't
auto generated or anything--it's actually an HTML table found in a file
named after the template.  You can find this file in the templates
directory in the catalog.  The _TOP and _BOTTOM files are usually in
templates/default/regions (or template/regions if you use a catalog that
doesn't do skins, like mike).

/