This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Adding Articles
It is not possible in this book to show every type of content you can create or to discuss every possible layout. The best way to learn how your content will appear and how to lay out your pages is through examples, practice, and a little trial and error. By installing and viewing the sample data in Joomla, you will see the many, many ways you can use and display article content.
Article content displays as long as a category or article menu item links to that content. You can also use modules to link to article content. You control how and what displays on the page by combining article, menu item, and global options.
To create a new article:
- Log in to the back end.
- Choose Content > Article Manager > Add New Article to open Article Manager: Add New Article.
Articles include publishing options, article options that control content display, and metadata options. An article can be saved and published to the site as long as it includes a title, a category, and an image or text
.
- Under New Article, in the Title field, type My New Article.
- Leave the Alias field empty. Joomla will use the title to create the alias for you. However, you can enter your own alias if you choose.
- From the Category drop-down menu, choose Uncategorised.
An article can be assigned to any category at any time. If you assign article content to the Uncategorised category, you can later assign it to a specific category.
- In the Article Text area, type My new article example.
- Highlight the text you typed and then from the paragraph styles, choose Heading 3.
You can set text styles using any of the editor buttons, as you would when using a basic word processor
.
- Below the Article Text area, click the “Toggle editor” button.
You can view the HTML code output at any time by toggling the editor to HTML mode
. The HTML tags for a Heading 3 are coded for you.
- Click the “Toggle editor” button again to exit HTML mode.
- On the toolbar, click Save & Close.
Because this article was assigned to the Uncategorised category, it will display only if a link or menu item is present for this category.
- Click View Site.
- In the This Site menu, choose Site Map.
- Click the Articles link
.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click the Uncategorised link.
The sample data includes a link to all articles in every category. Clicking the Uncategorised category title displays the article that you created
.
If no menu item was linked to the parent or any subcategories, this article will not display anywhere on the site.
To make it easier to work with your article, you’ll display it on the Home page.
)
)
)
)
)
To create a featured article:
- Log in to the back end.
- Choose Content > Article Manager.
- From the Select Category drop-down list, choose Uncategorised to set the Article Manager to display only articles created and assigned to the Uncategorised category.
- Select the checkbox next to My New Article, and on the toolbar, click Featured.
The article is now marked by a star in the Featured column
.
- Click the Featured Articles link.
All featured articles now appear in the Featured Article Manager and in the Article Manager.
- Choose Menus > Main Menu.
- Select the Home menu item title to open Menu Manager: Edit Menu Item.
The Home menu item is a Featured Articles menu item type, which means all featured articles will display on the default Home page
.
- Look at the setting under Layout Options.
Your menu item options control what content is displayed on the web site, in combination with the global and individual article options
.
- Click View Site.
The menu item layout options define how content will display and how it will appear on the Home Featured Article page. In this example, one leading article, Joomla, spans the width of the main body. Three intro articles occupy three columns below the leading article.
Because pagination is turned on, and because you have limited the display to display only three intro articles after the leading article, the fifth featured article currently can be accessed only by using the pagination
.
- Return to the back end and open the Home menu item by choosing Menus > Main Menu > Home.
- Under Layout Options, set # Intro Articles to 4.
- On the toolbar, click Save.
- Click View Site.
Changing the # Intro Articles value adds My New Article to the page
.
- Return to the back end, and open the Home menu item.
- Under Layout Options return the # Intro Articles value to 3.
- In the # Links field, enter 3.
- Click View Site.
The page now displays the original articles, and it links to the fourth article
.
)
)
)
)
)
)
To set article publishing options:
- Log in to the back end.
- Choose Content > Featured Articles to open the Article Manager: Featured Articles. Only articles marked as featured appear in this list.
- Open My New Article by clicking its title.
Joomla automatically fills in the Publishing Options when an article is saved. You can change any of these options except for Modified By, Modified Date, and Revision
.
- To change the article author, click the Select User button.
The User Manager opens in a pop-up window listing all the users on your site. You can sort or filter users and then select a username as the author of the article
.
- Close the pop-up window.
- Make any desired changes, and then click Save & Close.
)
)
To set article options:
- Open the Featured Article Manager.
- Open the article titled “Joomla!”.
- Click the arrow next to Article Options to open a list of all available article content display options
.
The “Joomla!” article is currently set to use all the global content settings.
- On the toolbar, click Close.
- On the Article Manager: Featured Articles toolbar, click the Options button.
- Click the Articles tab.
Global article options affect all articles on the site and are the same settings available in the Article Options for individual articles. Use these options to set the common items that you want to display with the majority of your article content. Then, as desired, you can override these global settings on a per-article basis at the article level
.
- Look through the available global options. Then, close the Article Manager Options and click View Site.
- Click the title of the “Joomla!” article.
Article global options and individual article options control what displays when you are viewing the full article
.
)
)
)
To set article metadata options:
- Open the Article Manager.
- Select the “Joomla!” article to open it in the article editing screen.
- Click the arrow next to Metadata Options.
Search engines use metadata to index your site’s content. Having descriptive and accurate metadata can improve search engine results
.
- In the Meta Description field, type a short but descriptive sentence describing this article.
- In the Meta Keywords field, enter keywords that accurately describe this article’s content.
- In the Author field, enter the author name you want to associate with this category.
- From the Robots drop-down menu, choose the appropriate search engine robot.
- In the Content Rights field, enter a copyright statement regarding this content, if necessary.
- In the External Reference field, enter a link to any reference, quoted, or bibliographical source for this article.
- Click Save & Close.
)