Help! EZ Pages

[bob6003]

In Tools/LayoutBoxesControl/ I turned on EZ Pages.
Next I went to Tools/EZ Pages and created a new page.

Threre are 14 ez pages located at Tools/EZ Pages. No matter what settings I use there,
Nothing shows up when I go to the Online Catalog.

Can someone tell me what I’m missing here?

All the help I can find just says that EZ Pages are easy to build. Which they are, I just don’t know how to make them appear in the Online Catalog.

I understand from reading the FAQ's and the Wicki that EZ pages can replace templates and everything else. Is this true?

[kobra]

Here is the FAQ on ezpages copied from the info page in the demo DB

I hope that this assists

Summary

EZ-Pages is a fast, easy way of creating links and additional pages.

The additional Pages can be for:

* New Pages
* Internal Links
* External Links
* Secure or Non-Secure pages
* Same or New Window

In Addition, there is the ability to create "related" links in the format of a Chapter (group) and its TOC (related pages/links).

Link Naming

Links are named by the Page Title. All Links need a Page Title in order to function.

If you forget to add a Page Title, then you will not be able to add the Link.

If you do not assign an Order for the Header, Sidebox or Footer, then the Link will not display even if you have a Page Title.

Link Placement

While you have the option of adding Additional Links to the Header, Footer and Sidebox with EZ-Pages, you are not limited to these three Link locations. Links can be in one or more locations simply by enabling the Order for the Location(s) where the Link should appear..

The Link Location Status for the Header, Footer and Sidebox is controlled simply by setting these to Yes or No for each setting. Then, set the Order in which the Link should appear for each location.

This means that if you were to set Header to Yes 30 and Sidebox to Yes 50 then the link would appear in both the Header and Sidebox in the Order of your Links.

The Order numbering method is up to you. Numbering using 10, 20, 30, etc. will allow you to sort the Links and add additional Links later.

Note: a 0 value for the Order will disable the Link from displaying.

Open in New Window and Secure Pages

With EZ-Pages, each Link can take you to the same, main window for your shop; or, you can have the Link open a brand new New Window. In addition, there is an option for making the Link open as a Secure Page or a Non-Secure Page.

Chapter and TOC

The Chapter and TOC, or Table of Contents, are a unique method of building Multiple Links that interact together.

While these Links still follow the rules of the Header, Footer and Sidebox placement, the difference is that only one of the Links, the Main Link, needs to be displayed anywhere on the site.

If you had, for example, 5 related Links, you could add the first Link as the Main Link by setting its location to the Header, Footer or Sidebox and set its Order, as usual.

Next, you need to assign a Chapter or Group number to the Link. This Chapter holds the related Links together.

Then, set the TOC or Table of Contents setting. This is a secondary Sort Order for within the Chapter.

Again, you can display any of the Links within a Chapter, as well as making any of these Links the Main Link. Whether the Links all show, or just one or more of the Links show, the Chapter is the key to grouping these Links together in the TOC or Previous/Next.

NOTE: While all Links within a Chapter will display together, you can have the different Links display in the Header, Footer or Sidebox on their own. Or, you can have the additional Links only display when the Main Link or one of the Additional Links within the Chapter has been opened.

The versitility of EZ-Pages will make adding new Links and Pages extreamly easy for the beginner as well as the advance user.

While this page was made in HTMLarea editor, any HTML editor could be used.

However, becareful ... HTML editors will often add the opening and closing tags for the and to the file you are working on.

These are already added to the pages via EZ-Pages.

External Link URL

External Link URLs are links to outside pages not within your shop. These can be to any valid URL such as:

http://www.sashbox.net

You need to include the full URL path to any External Link URL. You may also mark these to open in a New Window or the Same Window.

Internal Link URL

Internal Link URLs are links to internal pages within your shop. These can be to any valid URL, but should be written as relative links such as:

index.php?main_page=index&cPath=21

The above Link would take you to the Category for categories_id 21

While these links can be the Full URL to an Internal Link, it is best to write as a Relative Link so that if you change domains, are work on a temporary domain or an IP Address, the Link will remain valid if moved to another domain, IP Address, etc.

Internal Links can also open in a New Window or the Same Window or be for Secure or Non-Secure Pages.

EZ-Pages Additional Pages vs Internal Links vs External Links

The Type of Link that you create is based on an order of precidence, where HTML Content will superceed both the Internal Link and the External Link values.

The External Link URL will superceed the Internal Link URL.

If you try to set a combination of HTML Content, Internal Link and/or External Link, the Link will be flagged in the listing with a read icon to alert you to your mistake.

WARNING ...

When using Editors such as HTMLarea, if you hit enter in the HTML Content area
will be added. These will be detected as "content" and will override any Internal Link URL or External Link URL.

Admin Only Display

Sometimes, when working on EZ-Pages, you will want to be able to work on a Live Site and see the results of your work, but not allow the Customers to see this until you are done.

There are 3 settings in the Configuration ... EZ-Pages Settings for the Header, Footer and Sidebox Status:

* OFF
* ON
* Admin Only

The Admin Only setting is controlled by the IP Address(es) set in the Website Maintenance.

This can be very handy when needing to work on a Live Site but not wanting customers to see the work in progress.

[polarduality]

Did you set a sort order for each page you created?

If you leave it at 0 they won't be displayed. You MUST set a sort order for each page from 1 and on.

[bob6003]

Here is the FAQ on ezpages copied from the info page in the demo DB

I hope that this assists

Thanks for taking the time to post a very long reply to my cry for help. I'm a two day old zenner and I'm not sure I even remotely qualify as any kind of zenner! I really didn't understand the explanation about EZ Pages so I guess I won't go there! I refuse to give up trying but it's uphill all the way.

Can you tell me how to find the info pages in the demo Db? I can't find it anywhere. Maybe there will be something there that will click with me.


I want to do something that is really simple. As an example, Take one of the existing sideboxes that I know I will never use and edit what it says. Like take the box REVIEWS and edit it to read "GO HOME" or something like that. Thats the step I'm missing here. I can open and close the boxes but I can't edit them.

Im sure the answer is in plain sight but without an understanding of the terminalogy I'm not finding it.

My biggest problem is I don't understand any of the terminalogy. But anyway, thanks for trying to enlighten me. I'll keep on reading and try not to ask for too much help.

[polarduality]

i think questions are always welcome.
just make sure to use the nifty search feature to see if there is a solution/answer to the same problem in another thread.

i myself haven't gotten into modifying/creating sideboxes because it did feel a bit overwhelming ;)

[kuroi]

Can you tell me how to find the info pages in the demo Db? I can't find it anywhere. Maybe there will be something there that will click with me.

The pages to which Kobra refers are specific to EZ-Pages. If you haven't already unloaded the demo database with your installation, then there is an EZ-Pages link in the header that helpfully demonstrates and explains EZ-Pages. Otherwise Kobra's post covers the juiciest parts of the explanation.

Don't worry about posting questions. You're clearly reading, thinking and making more effort to solve problems yourself than some people, and your questions are not of the normal run of the mill, answered many times before and already in the FAQ variety, so they're always likely to welcomed.

[madk]

Something that really needs to be stated in a FAQ or the WIKI is how to link to an EZ-Page.

index.php?main_page=page&id=26

Replace 26 with the ID of the EZ-Page you need to load.

Hope that'll help you a bit.

[bob6003]

thanks so much for responding. I still just "don't get it" when it comes to ez pages. I'm going to end this thread and put ez pages on the back burner.

I've searched the FAQ's and wiki's for information on the sideboxes but everything I find is based on the assumption I know more than I do. I just want to change the name of a sidebox: i.e. "reviews" and rename it "return to website" and I also want to add an image and an url to the box. All the answers I get assume I know where the items they are talking about are located. If you wanted to change a sidebox would it be by editing a php file somewhere on the server? If so, how would you know the name of php file?

See...really basic basic stuff that I'm missing. Once I get to the answer something like this then perhaps the FAQ's and Wiki's will make more sense to me.

Thanks again for taking the time send me information.

Bob

[kobra]

For some of your concerns:

Many items can be located by using the admin > tools > developers tools

At the bottom left of this screen enter the text that you are seeking in the drop down select the files to search and then search.

For 'reviews' select all catalog files and you will find several.

the one for the english.php file and the reference of :

define('BOX_HEADING_REVIEWS', 'Reviews');

is the one that can rename the box heading....caution: renaming it will not change the associated functions that are linked to this box and it's contents.

[bob6003]

Thanks Kobra