Managing Authors

Magazine provides the ability to have authors independent of the Joomla! users.

Authors List

Selecting Authors from the Linkbar will present you with a list of the authors defined in Catalog.

Toolbar

In conjuction with selecting one or more checkboxes in the list, the Toolbar provides the following functions:

• Publish the selected author(s).
• Unpublish the selected author(s).
• Edit a selected author.
• Add a new author
• Delete the selected author(s).  Please note that in order to delete, you must remove all catalog items from the author(s).

Filters

You can filter the list by the following:

• Part of a string in the title of a author.
• The published state of the authors.
• The category that the authors are in.

List Interaction

You can interact with the list of authors in the following ways:

• Click the linked column headers to change the sort order of the list and to reverse the sort direction.
• In the Title column, click the first link to edit the author.
• In the Published column, click the icons to toggle between published and unpublished states.
• Use the list pagination features as you would for any other component.

Related Information

The table also shows how many articles have been created by each author.

Quick Add

The quick add feature allows you to generate many new authors in one operation.

Then type as many author names in the text box, each name on a new line.  Click Add and the authors will be created automatically for you.

Adding or Editing an Author

Toolbar

The Toolbar provides the following functions:

• Save the current item but as a new copy of the original item (Save To Copy).  Any change made are saved with the new item, not the original.
• Save the current item and then returns you to add another (Save & New).
• Save the current item and return to the list.
• Apply the changes made to the current item and return to the same page to continue edits.
• Cancel the edits without saving and return to the list.

Main Page

The add/edit page is divided into two main areas: a Title Block and a tabbed section.

The Title Block allows you to manage the following fields:

• Author Fullname - the full name of the author.
• Alias - The alias for the author used in URLs when Search Engine Friendly URLs are activated.
• Author Position - An optional position title for the author.
• Author Email - An optional email address for the author.

General Tab

This tab allows you to manage the following fields:

• Author Body - The body text or desciption for the author.
• Published - Allows you to set the item to a published or unpublished state.
  
• Related Contact - An optional the Contact ID to relate this author to the Contact component.

This tab allows allows you to assign the author to any number of author or article categories.  Use Ctrl-Click to select more than one category or to unselect existing categories.

Media Tab

This tab you to manage the following Media settings for the author:

• Thumb - An option image path that could relate to a thumb sized image.
• Small - An option image path that could relate to a small sized image.
• Medium - An option image path that could relate to a medium sized image.
• Large - An option image path that could relate to a large sized image.
• Full Size - An option image path that could relate to a full size sized image.
• Caption - An optional caption that will be used for the any of the other preset sizes listed above.
• Gallery Folder - An optional path that will be examined for images to use in a popup gallery.  Images to be used for thumbs must be prefixed with "t_" and only images with thumbs are displayed.
• Custom Code - Optional custom code to be used for media such as Flash or other web objects.

For the five preset sizes, you can use the Media Manager to select the image by clicking the Select button beside each field.

This tab you to manage the following Map settings (supported by Google Maps) for the author:

• Longitude (X) - The latitude (X coordinate) for the map point.
• Latitude (Y) - The longitude (Y coordinate) for the map point.
• Map Width - The display width of the map (in pixels).
• Map Height - The display height of the map (in pixels).
• Initial Scale - The initial map scale (smaller numbers show more of the Earth).
• Map Zoom Control - Whether to display the zoom controls on the map.  A number of variations are available.
• Map Type Control - Whether to display the map type controls (Map, Satellite, etc).
• Map Overview Control - Whether to display an overview (birds-eye view) map within the main map.
• Map Scale Control - Whether to show the scale controls on the map.

If you have a Google Map key defined for your Administrator path (because Google looks at the path, you will need to obtain a map key for both the website and the administrator), then a simple location finder is provided beside the map fields.  Type in an address and click the Find button.  Use the zoom controls on the map to fine tune your location.  Pan around by clicking on the map and dragging it around (while holding the mouse button down).  Move the map marker by clicking on it and dragging it around (while holding the mouse button down, then release the button at the desired location).  When you are happy that the marker is in the correct location, click the Use This Point button and the coordinates will be updated.

Parameters Tab

This tab you to manage the following settings for the author:

• Print Button - Whether to display "print this page".
• Email Button - Whether to display "email to friend".
• Button Images - Whether to display the print and email actions as images (otherwise they are display as text links).

Metadata Tab

This tab you to manage the following settings for the author:

• Keywords - An optional set of keywords (separated by commas) that will be inserted into the actual web page (good for Search Engine Optimization).
• Description - An optional description that will be inserted into the actual web page (good for Search Engine Optimization).  This description will usually be display as a part of the search results in search engines.

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