Managing Publications

Publications are the fundamental building block for Magazine.  You must create at least one publication and must place one publication into edit mode to be able to manage the articles, issues and sections for it.

Publications List

Selecting Publications from the Linkbar will present you with a list of the publications defined in Magazine.

Toolbar

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

• Publish the selected publication.
• Unpublish the selected publication.
• Delete the selected publications.  Please note that in order to delete, you must remove all referenced issues, sections and articles.
• Edit a selected publication.
• Add a new publication

Filters

You can filter the list by the following:

• Part of a string in the title of the publication.
• The published state of the publications.

List Interaction

You can interact with the list of publications 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 links to edit the publication.
• In the Edit column, click the stroked circle icons to place the publication in edit mode.
• In the Published column, click the icons to toggle between published and unpublished states.
• In the Order column, click the up and down arrow icons to weight the ordering in different directions.
• Use the list pagination features as you would for any other component.

Adding or Editting a Publication

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:

• Title - the title for the publication.
• Alias - a value to use in URL's when SEF mode is on.  Please not that if you tab out of the Title field for the first time, a suggestion of the alias will automatically be provided.  The Alias should not contain any spaces (use a dash instead).
• Subtitle - an optional sub-title for the publication.

Editor Tab

This tab allows you to manage the following fields:

• Body - the body text or desciption.  Note the WYSiWYG editor buttons are collapse for the sake of clarity.
• Published - allows you to set the item to a published or unpublished state.
• Access Level - allows you to set the access level.  In Advanced ACL Mode (available in version 2.2) you are able to customize this list.
• Order - the weighted order for the item.  Negative numbers rise to the top of lists, and positive numbers sink to the bottom.  The order values do not need to be sequential.

Media Tab

This tab allows you to manage the following fields:

•  

Parameters and Custom Fields Tabs

This tab you to manage the following fields:

• Layout - allows you to force a particular layout from either the component or the template overrides of the default template.
• Show Print Icon - options to display the Print Icon on the Publication View.
• Custom Fields - allows you prepare block of XML to define custom fields.

The Custom Fields has a tool that allows you to paste snippets of XML for various field types.  To insert a snippet, select one from the list and click the [+] button.

The custom fields utilize the built-in Joomla! Parameters.  Therefore the notation for any parameter can be entered here.  The follow list outlines the most common types of custom field that you might use.  In all cases, you need to replace NAME with a unqiue value that describes the field (for example, phone, address, zip_code), and replace LABEL with a suitable label for the field that will display in the article edit form.

Text

<param name="NAME"
 type="text"
 class="inputbox"
 label="LABEL"
 default=""
 description="" />

Textarea

<param name="NAME"
 type="textarea"
 class="inputbox"
 label="LABEL"
 default=""
 rows="3" cols="30"
 description="" />

 Radio List

<param name="NAME"
 type="radio"
 class="inputbox"
 label="LABEL"
 default="1"
 description="">
 <option value="0">No</option>
 <option value="1">Yes</option>
</param>

Select List

<param name="NAME"
 type="list"
 class="inputbox"
 label="LABEL"
 default="1"
 description="">
 <option value="0">No</option>
 <option value="1">Yes</option>
</param>

The following example shows a simple case where you might want to define more contact information about an article:

<param name="contact_name"
 type="text"
 class="inputbox"
 label="Contact Name"
 default=""
 description="The contact details relating to the article" />

<param name="contact_details"
 type="textarea"
 class="inputbox"
 label="Contact Details"
 default=""
 rows="3" cols="30"
 description="Extended contact details for the person" />

<param name="contact_type"
 type="list"
 class="inputbox"
 label="Contact Type"
 default="When best to make contact"
 description="When to contact the person">
 <option value="bh">Business Hours</option>
 <option value="ah">After Hours</option>
 <option value="we">Weekends Only</option>
</param>

When you save the publication, these fields will appear in one of the tabs of the article edit form.

Metadata Tab

This tab allows you to manage the following fields:

•