News Box Manager v3.0.0 [Support Thread]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lat9

Two file changes needed to provide the required variable clean-up for the multi-use formatting scripts:

1. /includes/modules/news_box_format. Change line 80 to read

Code:

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unset($news_info, $news_and_clause, $max_news_items);

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2. /includes/sideboxes/news_box_sidebox.php. Change line 83 to read

Code:

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unset($news_sidebox_num, $news_and_clause, $max_news_items);

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Thanks! Made the unset changes, however the issue persists. Screenshots:

VIEWALL-GridTitleDateDesc_doesnt_show_desc: https://rosestarstudio.com/VIEWALL-G..._show_desc.png
ARTICLE-GridTitleDateDesc_duplicate_desc: https://rosestarstudio.com/ARTICLE-G...icate_desc.png
VIEWALL-GridTitleDate_ok: https://rosestarstudio.com/VIEWALL-GridTitleDate_ok.png
ARTICLE-GridTitleDate_shows-duplicate-desc: https://rosestarstudio.com/ARTICLE-G...icate-desc.png

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RoseStar

Thanks! Made the unset changes, however the issue persists. Screenshots:

VIEWALL-GridTitleDateDesc_doesnt_show_desc: https://rosestarstudio.com/VIEWALL-G..._show_desc.png
ARTICLE-GridTitleDateDesc_duplicate_desc: https://rosestarstudio.com/ARTICLE-G...icate_desc.png
VIEWALL-GridTitleDate_ok: https://rosestarstudio.com/VIEWALL-GridTitleDate_ok.png
ARTICLE-GridTitleDate_shows-duplicate-desc: https://rosestarstudio.com/ARTICLE-G...icate-desc.png

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For the missing descriptions, edit /includes/templates/template_default/sideboxes/tpl_news_box_sidebox.php, line 35, correcting the variable name:

Code:

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        $news_sidebox_content = zen_trunc_string($news_sidebox_content);

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Note, too, that I'm unable to replicate the duplicate descriptions' issue.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lat9

Note, too, that I'm unable to replicate the duplicate descriptions' issue.

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That fixed it! Thank you for your time!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lat9

For the missing descriptions, edit /includes/templates/template_default/sideboxes/tpl_news_box_sidebox.php, line 35, correcting the variable name:

Code:

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        $news_sidebox_content = zen_trunc_string($news_sidebox_content);

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That fixed it! Thank you for your time!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RoseStar

That fixed it! Thank you for your time!

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@RoseStar, thanks for your patience and applying those corrections. I'll get an update for News Box Manager v3 going.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lat9

@RoseStar, thanks for your patience and applying those corrections. I'll get an update for News Box Manager v3 going.

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... and I've just submitted v3.1.1 of News Box Manager - v3 for the Zen Cart moderators' review. I'll post back here when it's available for download.

This release contains changes associated with the following GitHub issues:

#25: Clean up multi-use variables, previous settings being applied to follow-on renderings.
#26: Correct MySQL error when home centerbox display uses Categories setting (for strict MySQL installations).
#27: Correcting 'no description included' when a sidebox uses GridTitleDateDesc layout.

Working with 1.5.7c, is it possible to have more than 4 newsboxes? Ideally, I'd like 8 as I have 8 topics I talk about in my newsletters I publish, and this is the online catalog for each section.

Thanks :-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elemi

Working with 1.5.7c, is it possible to have more than 4 newsboxes? Ideally, I'd like 8 as I have 8 topics I talk about in my newsletters I publish, and this is the online catalog for each section.

Thanks :-)

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That looks do-able; I'll get some documentation together to describe how to expand the number of different types of news. That will only affect the news categories, not the number of sideboxes supported.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lat9

That looks do-able; I'll get some documentation together to describe how to expand the number of different types of news. That will only affect the news categories, not the number of sideboxes supported.

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thank you, I only use 1 sidebox so this solution will work for me :-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elemi

thank you, I only use 1 sidebox so this solution will work for me :-)

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Documentation now available: https://github.com/lat9/news_box_man...wsbox_types.md

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lat9

Documentation now available: https://github.com/lat9/news_box_man...wsbox_types.md

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Thank you - Perfect! :-)

seems there is a mistake in the docs, you forgot to adjust the defines after you copied and pasted

Code:

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Add the names of the additional types (5 through 8):

    define('BOX_NEWS_NAME_TYPE1', 'Type1');
    define('BOX_NEWS_NAME_TYPE2', 'Type2');
    define('BOX_NEWS_NAME_TYPE3', 'Type3');
    define('BOX_NEWS_NAME_TYPE4', 'Type4');
    define('BOX_NEWS_NAME_TYPE1', 'Type5');
    define('BOX_NEWS_NAME_TYPE2', 'Type6');
    define('BOX_NEWS_NAME_TYPE3', 'Type7');
    define('BOX_NEWS_NAME_TYPE4', 'Type8');

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by barco57

seems there is a mistake in the docs, you forgot to adjust the defines after you copied and pasted

Code:

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Add the names of the additional types (5 through 8):

    define('BOX_NEWS_NAME_TYPE1', 'Type1');
    define('BOX_NEWS_NAME_TYPE2', 'Type2');
    define('BOX_NEWS_NAME_TYPE3', 'Type3');
    define('BOX_NEWS_NAME_TYPE4', 'Type4');
    define('BOX_NEWS_NAME_TYPE1', 'Type5');
    define('BOX_NEWS_NAME_TYPE2', 'Type6');
    define('BOX_NEWS_NAME_TYPE3', 'Type7');
    define('BOX_NEWS_NAME_TYPE4', 'Type8');

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Thanks for the report; all better now.

Cindy, this is great, however is there any way to create an index for the articles?, and how do I get them to come up in a search?
Or a list of the different sections in my footer? www.AmorAromatherapy.com

Thanks
Tania :-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elemi

Cindy, this is great, however is there any way to create an index for the articles?, and how do I get them to come up in a search?
Or a list of the different sections in my footer? www.AmorAromatherapy.com

Thanks
Tania :-)

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Tania, you'll use index.php?main_page=all_articles&t=1 to view all articles of Type1.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lat9

Tania, you'll use index.php?main_page=all_articles&t=1 to view all articles of Type1.

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Thanks Cindy.... ummm, where am I putting that exactly...? Developer Tool Kit didn't find a resemblance of this at all...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elemi

Thanks Cindy.... ummm, where am I putting that exactly...? Developer Tool Kit didn't find a resemblance of this at all...

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You'd edit your site's footer, creating an anchor tag similar to

Code:

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<a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_ALL_ARTICLES, 't=1'); ?>">Articles for Type1</a>

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I have a couple of questions.. I am using 1.5.7 v3.1.1.
I am trying to change the wording at the top of the "All Articles" page. The heading currently says: "ALL TYPE4 ARTICLES". Can you please tell me how I can change this? The url is:https://coolintentions.com/index.php...l_articles&t=4.

Also, for some reason the articles use to display at the bottom of the home page and when I upgraded to the more recent version of this module, it no longer will display. Any help would be awesome. Thank you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chuckrey

I have a couple of questions.. I am using 1.5.7 v3.1.1.
I am trying to change the wording at the top of the "All Articles" page. The heading currently says: "ALL TYPE4 ARTICLES". Can you please tell me how I can change this? The url is:https://coolintentions.com/index.php...l_articles&t=4.

Also, for some reason the articles use to display at the bottom of the home page and when I upgraded to the more recent version of this module, it no longer will display. Any help would be awesome. Thank you.

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Oh, one more thing....
Just for the record, I did copy over the following to the existing tpl_index_default.php

<?php
//-bof-news_box_manager-lat9 *** 1 of 1 ***
$mnbf = $template->get_template_dir('tpl_modules_news_box_format.php', DIR_WS_TEMPLATE, $current_page_base, 'templates') . '/tpl_modules_news_box_format.php';
if (file_exists($mnbf)) {
require $mnbf;
}
//-eof-news_box_manager-lat9 *** 1 of 1 ***
?>

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chuckrey

I have a couple of questions.. I am using 1.5.7 v3.1.1.
I am trying to change the wording at the top of the "All Articles" page. The heading currently says: "ALL TYPE4 ARTICLES". Can you please tell me how I can change this? The url is:https://coolintentions.com/index.php...l_articles&t=4.

Also, for some reason the articles use to display at the bottom of the home page and when I upgraded to the more recent version of this module, it no longer will display. Any help would be awesome. Thank you.

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The "Type1" through "Type4" text is changed via edit to your template's override of /includes/languages/english/extra_definitions/news_box_manager_defines.php.

P.S. I've no clue as to why those articles aren't being included as a homepage centerbox.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lat9

The "Type1" through "Type4" text is changed via edit to your template's override of /includes/languages/english/extra_definitions/news_box_manager_defines.php.

P.S. I've no clue as to why those articles aren't being included as a homepage centerbox.

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Thank you for your response.:smile:

Hi,

Thanks for this great plug in as it provides such a great blog like highlight for items!!

I had one question that I couldn't find if it had been answered. I am running zen cart v.1.5.7 and when I post a new news post, the date it displays on the post is always incorrect. I made a new post today and the date shows as Sept. 23.

I am wondering where I could change this?

Thanks for your help,

Jeff

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NWCE

Hi,

Thanks for this great plug in as it provides such a great blog like highlight for items!!

I had one question that I couldn't find if it had been answered. I am running zen cart v.1.5.7 and when I post a new news post, the date it displays on the post is always incorrect. I made a new post today and the date shows as Sept. 23.

I am wondering where I could change this?

Thanks for your help,

Jeff

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I'm in the middle of a bunch of stuff right now, but I've created a GitHub tracking issue (https://github.com/lat9/news_box_manager_v3/issues/28) to remind myself to come back when I've got time.

Thanks lat9 for your help and reply! I appreciate it!

Jeff

Hi lat9,

I have solved my own problem when working on this over the last day or so. It deals with the custom code that the company who made my template have inputted and incorrectly formatted.

Thanks again for your reply and help,

Jeff

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NWCE

Hi lat9,

I have solved my own problem when working on this over the last day or so. It deals with the custom code that the company who made my template have inputted and incorrectly formatted.

Thanks again for your reply and help,

Jeff

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Thanks for the update (and timesaver)! I appreciate that.

v3.2.0 of News Box Manager - v3 is now available for download: https://www.zen-cart.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=2264

This release contains changes associated with the following GitHub issues:

#15: Provide a sort form for the display on the all_articles page.
#17: Enable article content search on the all_articles page.
#29: Correct PHP Warning on a new-article preview.
#30: Make the "See All" text a language constant.
#31: Minimum Zen Cart version is now 1.5.8a; adding Bootstrap template support.
#34: Remove template-override of the index page from the distribution; refer to the readme.html.
#35: Use zen_cfg_read_only as the setting function for the plugin's configured version.

Greetings!

I'm having a problem or 2 with my newsbox (3.2.0)

1. The date showing for my article is not showing correctly on my homepage nor on my all articles page nor on the article page itself. I'm sending screenshots of the correct date shown in my admin news box manager (all articles) and from the homepage of my site (www.cedargroveherbs.com), all articles page and the article page. The date is correctly shown in my sidebox though (https://www.cedargroveherbs.com/discount_coupon.html)

Attachment 20578Attachment 20579Attachment 20580Attachment 20581

2. When creating an article how do I add the image I want for the article on the home page, side box and the article itself. I ended up taking a rather long route to do it this time but I wonder if there's a better way - like being able to add the picture in the admin>tools>news box manager...

I got it fixed

If your news comes out on the storefront side showing html tags:

<p>Bla bla bla</p><p>We are pleased to announce ...

This means the plugin was installed without admin sanitization rules, so when you show it on the storefront, you will have to use something like:

<div class="news-content"><?php echo htmlspecialchars_decode(stripslashes($news_content)); ?></div>

In includes/templates/template_default/templates/tpl_article_default.php instead of just

<div class="news-content"><?= $news_content ?></div>

In 1.5.8+/PHP8+, going to admin/news_box_manager1.php (or 2, 3, or 4) will fail because the underlying language file defines are not pulled in.

Change

require DIR_WS_LANGUAGES . $_SESSION['language'] . '/lang.news_box_manager.php';

to:

global $languageLoader;
$languageLoader->loadExtraLanguageFiles(DIR_WS_LANGUAGES, $_SESSION['language'], FILENAME_NEWS_BOX_MANAGER . '.php', '/');

Quote:

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Originally Posted by swguy

If your news comes out on the storefront side showing html tags:

<p>Bla bla bla</p><p>We are pleased to announce ...

This means the plugin was installed without admin sanitization rules, so when you show it on the storefront, you will have to use something like:

<div class="news-content"><?php echo htmlspecialchars_decode(stripslashes($news_content)); ?></div>

In includes/templates/template_default/templates/tpl_article_default.php instead of just

<div class="news-content"><?= $news_content ?></div>

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That begs the question: How did the plugin get installed without its distributed sanitization rules (admin/includes/extra_datafiles/news_box_manager_sanitization.php)?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by swguy

In 1.5.8+/PHP8+, going to admin/news_box_manager1.php (or 2, 3, or 4) will fail because the underlying language file defines are not pulled in.

Change

require DIR_WS_LANGUAGES . $_SESSION['language'] . '/lang.news_box_manager.php';

to:

global $languageLoader;
$languageLoader->loadExtraLanguageFiles(DIR_WS_LANGUAGES, $_SESSION['language'], FILENAME_NEWS_BOX_MANAGER . '.php', '/');

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See this GitHub issue for resolution forthcoming in v3.2.1: https://github.com/lat9/news_box_manager_v3/issues/39

v3.2.1 of News Box Manager v3 is now available for download: https://www.zen-cart.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=2264

This release contains changes associated with the following GitHub issues:

#36: article page, breadcrumbs don't include current article name
#37: SitemapXML addition: Fatal error due to missing $
#39: Correct type-specific admin tools language loading

> That begs the question: How did the plugin get installed without its distributed sanitization rules (admin/includes/extra_datafiles/news_box_manager_sanitization.php)?

This is a great question. Here's the answer: some of the Perfectus templates come bundled with an incomplete copy of this plugin.

https://alchemycabinet.com
2.0.1
Lotsoplugins

I installed this recently and mostly love it.
It seems to be working on the front end of the shop, but on the back end it's throwing errors:

Quote:

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Code:

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[01-Sep-2024 03:50:16 UTC] Request URI: /index.php?main_page=all_articles, IP address: MY IP, Language id 1
#0 /includes/templates/MY TEMPLATE/templates/tpl_all_articles_default.php(114): zen_debug_error_handler()
#1 /includes/templates/MY TEMPLATE/common/tpl_main_page.php(178): require('/home/alchem44/...')
#2 /index.php(94): require('/home/PATH/...')
--> PHP Warning: Undefined array key "news_content" in /includes/templates/MY TEMPLATE/templates/tpl_all_articles_default.php on line 114.

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The errors appear when I hit the "view all" link on the front page, or the "news" link on the breadcrumb trail on the invidual article pages.
Help?

Yep, if you've configured the storefront listings to show no content (only title and date); GitHub issue created for tracking: https://github.com/lat9/news_box_manager_v3/issues/40

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lat9

Yep, if you've configured the storefront listings to show no content (only title and date); GitHub issue created for tracking: https://github.com/lat9/news_box_manager_v3/issues/40

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'kay...so how and where do I fix that?

On the News Box Manager page there isn't any field or prompt asking what to display -or not.
Is it the "content length" option under configuration? I assumed that meant the limit to the size of content of an article? Increasing that number from the default "0" to "100" doesn't seem to change anything on the front page or on the "all articles" page; nor has it stopped the errors from appearing.

Thanks again for your help. :)

Or, maybe...just maybe I spoke too soon.
Changing content length to 100 and changing from "list" back to the default "table" under configuration may have fixed the problem. I'm scared to jinx it by posting too soon but don't want to waste anyone's time looking for an issue that has been fixed. o.O

I guess we can consider it "fixed". :) If it starts malfunctioning again I'll letcha know. :)

Thank-you all for your time. :)

Is there a way to add (or change) the pagination in the admin panel? I'm up to 50+ articles and scrolling to the bottom to insert a new one every time is a bit taxing.

It would be nice if I could at least set it to only display 25 or so at a time?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DragonLady

Is there a way to add (or change) the pagination in the admin panel? I'm up to 50+ articles and scrolling to the bottom to insert a new one every time is a bit taxing.

It would be nice if I could at least set it to only display 25 or so at a time?

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The admin pagination uses the value in Configuration :: Maximum Values :: Admin Search Results Per Page.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lat9

The admin pagination uses the value in Configuration :: Maximum Values :: Admin Search Results Per Page.

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Aha! I didn't realize that pertained to the news box. Thank-you sooo much! That is very helpful.

I really enjoy this mod, however none of the articles seem to be searchable thru the web search function on my site, and I don't have a contents page with it. Is there a way to set these options up? I have all the keywords in, however they don't appear to be searchable.

I have 6 categories for mine, and currently 64 articles across those categories.

Thank you

v 3.2.1

Not an issue, or a least not a big one.

I set in the admin profile for a limited admin access the [all types] to be accessed, but when going to tool > News Box Manager [all types] i get:

Code:

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Sorry, your security clearance does not allow you to access this resource.
Please contact your site administrator if you believe this to be incorrect.
Sorry for any inconvenience.

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If I select in the admin profile the type 1/2/3/4 they are accessable, yet the all types is not.
What am I missing?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by keneso

v 3.2.1

Not an issue, or a least not a big one.

I set in the admin profile for a limited admin access the [all types] to be accessed, but when going to tool > News Box Manager [all types] i get:

Code:

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Sorry, your security clearance does not allow you to access this resource.
Please contact your site administrator if you believe this to be incorrect.
Sorry for any inconvenience.

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If I select in the admin profile the type 1/2/3/4 they are accessable, yet the all types is not.
What am I missing?

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Probably nothing. It'll take me a bit to research your issue.

Don't take it the wrong way and I apologize in advance for my ignorance but:

What s the difference between this plugin and the EZ pages?

Both can be displayed in sideboxes and have similar options except for the Meta details....

Are the articles stored in the database as well?

Can be php code be used within the content of articles?

Would the use of "articles" be better as opposed to have a separate blog ( using wordpress on a subdomain or similar)

I am just trying to understand the pros/cons of this plugin.

Thank you

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nicksab

Don't take it the wrong way and I apologize in advance for my ignorance but:

What s the difference between this plugin and the EZ pages?

Both can be displayed in sideboxes and have similar options except for the Meta details....

Are the articles stored in the database as well?

Can be php code be used within the content of articles?

Would the use of "articles" be better as opposed to have a separate blog ( using wordpress on a subdomain or similar)

I am just trying to understand the pros/cons of this plugin.

Thank you

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Point taken, the differences are
1. The sidebox displays the latest news.
2. The articles can be displayed in a front-page centerbox.
3. Separate integration with SitemapXML.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lat9

Point taken, the differences are
1. The sidebox displays the latest news.
2. The articles can be displayed in a front-page centerbox.
3. Separate integration with SitemapXML.

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Thank you lat9

I didn't know about the centerbox and would have to experiment a bit more with it.

Not sure if it can be done ( and I haven t been able to do it) but can the articles be arranged in a certain way:

For example:

sideboxe displays main article ( or should i say topic )

Once "topic" is clicked , it brings up the article page which also incorporate "extract" of related articles....

"Topic" page would similar to a table content of other related articles.

I understand that the article could have link integrated to achieve this but I was hoping for a more automated way ( probably beyond the scope of the plugin)

Hi

Can someone who is using this plugin share their web url with me so I can see it in action?

PM me if you prefer, thanks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by royaldave

Hi

Can someone who is using this plugin share their web url with me so I can see it in action?

PM me if you prefer, thanks.

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I use it on my website; see my message footer.