News module - displaying all the news item

[ed]

I have just started using CMSMadeSimple - am very pleased I found it.  So this question is going to seem daft and stupid, but I stil need help please!!

I am struggling with News.  It all works if I do not mess about with it, but I simply cannot see what is happening!  I have gone through the help and this forum, but I still am in the dark!

In the Content > Pages there is a page called "News" - No 4.1.1    If I disable this page, the news module does not work when you click on a link in the news panel on the front page. 

In order to add my own data, I have disabled all the Level 4 items apart from the top level, and the "News" one.  Although this works, it seems a strange way to do things. 

I rather think I have missed the idea here!  Can someone please help me out with how News works?

I have a standard install V1.2.2 on an ISP - not sure version of php

Thank  you very much indeed

[calguy1000]

Well, News is called on a page with a {news} tag (with 0 or more parameters).  You can see the parameters by going to 'Content >> News' and clicking on the 'help' link.

By default, with no additional parameters specified, and no templates tweaked, the {news} tag will display a summary of all non-expired articles.  Each of those summaries will have a 'more' link that when clicked will replace the current page contents with a detail report for that particular article.

News has parameters to change the page selected for the detail report, as well, you can specify different templates for summary and detail pages, have pagination, etc, etc, etc.

[ed]

Thanks 

I have understood (most) of that, including some of the parameters which I have already tweaked,  but I still in the dark as to why the links failed to work if I removed that "News" page.

I guess I am trying to understand the process of displaying a news page. 

What page/template is called with the {news} tag

Thanks

[calguy1000]

Here's a tip....

Create a new page, and in that page just put {news}.  That should display your articles..... Next start adding one parameter at a time till you know what it is doing.

If you just call {news} then the layout of the news articles will be determined by the content of the current 'default' news summary template in the 'Summary Templates' tab of the 'News' module.

[ed]

OK I think I have got you!

Thanks for your patience!!

I have an aged Uncle living in Calgary - and no I am not going to ask if you know him!!  Calgary is probably the size of London for all I know!!

Thanks again

Ed

[ed]

Hello again,

I have done what you suggested, and I follow that.  That is fine - thanks.  I can get all the news items to display - something that I also wanted. 

BUT .....

I am still not understanding the process of clicking on a news item in the news panel on the left hand side.  You are taken to a URL that looks like,

http://localhost/cmsmadesimple/index.ph ... eturnid=39

How is that controlled?  What is formatting that page please?  As I said in my original question, if I delete the "News" page these links do not work!  Why?

As you can see I am confused! 

Any help will be gratefully received

Thanks

Ed

[calguy1000]

The layout and content of the detail view is dicated by the templates on the 'detail templates' tab of the News module.

If no detailtemplate parameter is specified in the news tag then the template marked as 'default' is used. otherwise, it expects to find a template in that list that matches the name of the value given to the detailtemplate parameter (it works identically to the summary stuff).

I see by that url that you are using the detailpage parameter in the news call....
the cntnt01origid parameter is the pageid of the page that the summary display is on..... the cntnt01returnid parameter tells it what page to return to.

[ed]

Thanks.  I follow that!

Given that, how come removing the "News" page:-

In the Content > Pages there is a page called "News" - No 4.1.1

Stops these links from the News panel from working? 

That now is the bit I simply fail to grasp - unless of course it was a strange anomalie?

Thanks

Ed

[calguy1000]

paste your {news ...} tag.  I bet there's a detailpage parameter there.

[ed]

I opened the News page, went to HTML and saw this:

{ldelim}news number='5' category='General'}

Does that help you?

This is from a bog-standard install of CMSMadeSimple.

The News section in teh Template is:

      {* Start News *}
     
        News
          {news number='3' detailpage='news' dateformat="%d %b %Y"}
     
      {* End News *}

The only difference is that I have changed the date format.

Ed

[calguy1000]

{news number='3' detailpage='news' dateformat="%d %b %Y"}

Yep, that'd do it.

Change it to:

{news number='3' dateformat="%d %b %Y"}

[ed]

You have been brilliantly helpful. 

Due to commitments here, I will need to log-off now until tomorrow evening (English time) so will be unable to try it out.  I am sorry, as you have been patient, and helpful.

As a matter of courtesy I will try it out when I can and let you know

All the best until then

Ed

[ed]

Hello there,

Yep - all works as you said - as if I doubted!

I now have a much better understanding of how the news module works.

Thank you very much for your patience.  I shall enjoy continuing to use this CMS - quite the most usable I have tried, and it does what I want.

All the best to you


Ed