Unable to add blocks to page types
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Hi all
I have been building a site and want to add some blocks that can be shared across all pages.
I've managed to do this for the navigation and footer by doing the following page type > default > editing the page > sharing to all child pages.
For some reason I cannot add blocks to my two main content areas. They show up ok when I am building new pages and I can add content normally.
Any ideas why this would stop working?
Thank you
Phil
I have been building a site and want to add some blocks that can be shared across all pages.
I've managed to do this for the navigation and footer by doing the following page type > default > editing the page > sharing to all child pages.
For some reason I cannot add blocks to my two main content areas. They show up ok when I am building new pages and I can add content normally.
Any ideas why this would stop working?
Thank you
Phil
While this is a good idea in theory, note that there are some technical problems with your approach here -- specifically, some of the more complicated blocks might not get their js or css files outputted properly, and custom designs won't come through. I highly recommend using the "Global Areas" addon as I mention below because the author has already figured out how to deal with these potential problems.
-Jordan
-Jordan
Yes, very good point. It definitely breaks with more complex blocks. For a simple content block with common footer links it does the trick, but just doesn't scale very well as you mentioned.
Page defaults are unfortunately very difficult to get working properly in this context. I've learned that really they should only be used for the default contents of new pages that will be added in the future, not for managing content that is shared across several pages.
What I do instead now is use the free "Global Areas" addon (http://www.concrete5.org/marketplace/addons/global-areas... ). I choose one page to serve as the place where the shared content will be edited (usually the home page is a good choice for this, but might not work if its layout is different than other pages). Then on all the other pages I add this "Global Areas" block and point it to that first page. You could even add the Global Areas block to the Page Defaults so all new pages get that shared content as well.
The nice thing about the Global Areas addon is you can also have other blocks in that area that aren't shared, which sounds like it might be what you want (i.e. you want the shared content to show up but also have other page-specific content).
Hope that helps.
-Jordan
What I do instead now is use the free "Global Areas" addon (http://www.concrete5.org/marketplace/addons/global-areas... ). I choose one page to serve as the place where the shared content will be edited (usually the home page is a good choice for this, but might not work if its layout is different than other pages). Then on all the other pages I add this "Global Areas" block and point it to that first page. You could even add the Global Areas block to the Page Defaults so all new pages get that shared content as well.
The nice thing about the Global Areas addon is you can also have other blocks in that area that aren't shared, which sounds like it might be what you want (i.e. you want the shared content to show up but also have other page-specific content).
Hope that helps.
-Jordan
Hi Jordan
Thanks for the reply, I will take a look at global areas.
I've still got the problem that I cannot edit content blocks when editing the default page types.
I've included a screen shot of what I have, you'll see that there is a nav bar that can be edited but I have two content areas that don't despite the page being in edit mode.
Will global areas cure this?
Thanks again
Phil
Thanks for the reply, I will take a look at global areas.
I've still got the problem that I cannot edit content blocks when editing the default page types.
I've included a screen shot of what I have, you'll see that there is a nav bar that can be edited but I have two content areas that don't despite the page being in edit mode.
Will global areas cure this?
Thanks again
Phil
Huh, I missed that part of the original question -- sorry.
No, this won't solve that problem. First I'd make sure you're logged in as the "super admin" (the original admin account created when C5 was first installed). I have had problems in the past working with page defaults when not the super-admin user (even if it's another account in the "Administrators" group, still doesn't work all the time).
Next I'd check if you have any permissions settings that might interfere with it (especially if you've enabled advanced permissions).
Otherwise, it might be due to some weird block that got placed on the page defaults at some point? I dunno... very hard to say.
No, this won't solve that problem. First I'd make sure you're logged in as the "super admin" (the original admin account created when C5 was first installed). I have had problems in the past working with page defaults when not the super-admin user (even if it's another account in the "Administrators" group, still doesn't work all the time).
Next I'd check if you have any permissions settings that might interfere with it (especially if you've enabled advanced permissions).
Otherwise, it might be due to some weird block that got placed on the page defaults at some point? I dunno... very hard to say.
Hi Jordan,
That's fixed my problem, I'd set my self up as an admin and left my client as the super admin login, I've logged in as 'admin' and managed to edit the pages.
Thanks for all your help, really appreciated.
Phil
That's fixed my problem, I'd set my self up as an admin and left my client as the super admin login, I've logged in as 'admin' and managed to edit the pages.
Thanks for all your help, really appreciated.
Phil
For sharing content across all pages (eg. every page has the same footer) I always do something like:
<div id="footer"> <?php $area = new Area('Footer content'); $area->display(Page::getByID(1)); ?> <!-- #footer --></div>This way, you only have the edit the home page footer to make any changes.