Implementing titles in ExpressionEngine |
I guess it is time to come back from my little hiatus to actually write a blog post. I recently moved, so I have been busy with getting settled and working on freelance projects as well. If you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed that I have recently become obsessed with ExpressionEngine. I completed a project at work using it, and I realized that I could have done something much more efficiently. |
I had to create an “online newsletter” that had issues that were made up of multiple articles. I ended up creating two separate weblogs: one for each issue, and one for individual articles. In the issues weblog, there was a Playa custom field which could be used to pick the individual articles to be published in that issue. But, another one of Brandon Kelly’s fabulous extensions, FieldFrame, seems to be a much better choice for creating this functionality. Read more at trevordavis.net |
In this ten-minute video tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a flexible system for arranging a variety of sidebars on any or every page in your site. |
| Note: Playa 1.3.x has since been replaced by Playa 2.x. If you’re running 1.3.x, this tutorial will work fine. If you’re using 2.x, you will have to modify your template code slightly, but the general principle of selecting and ordering sidebars is exactly the same.Read more at ee-developer.com |
Custom Fields Related Entries |
In the previous tutorial I covered using the field type related entries for the gallery. Here we relate to a weblog, and introduce two extensions: Multi Related. |
Related entries is a very powerful method to include content from other weblogs or galleries in your post. It gives a drop down list of all the articles in the entry it is related to.
Below is the code for a field named “fieldname” where I am pulling in information from a separate weblog which I want to include in my article.
The id parameter is the name of your custom field. |
{related_entries id=“fieldname”}
<a href=”{title_permalink=“templategroup/template}”> {title} </a> <br / >
{summary}
{/related_entries} |
ExpressionEngine has custom fields built right in to the system, no plugins needed. Also one can create as many custom field groups and fields as wanted for different areas of their site to customize the data entered. The data in the fields are also given their own field in the database making custom database queries simple and easy, and making searches by fieldname possible. |
Few realize how powerful this is. One can create new field groups and associate each to a different weblog, and we have the makings of a custom CMS that will outperform anything on the market. The combination of field data having their own rows in the database, unlimited field capability, use of the query module or php in the templates, and the use of conditionals allows for unlimited customizations of content and puts EE over the top as CMS Read more at www.bkdesign.ca |
Custom Fields in EE - File |
 There is an extension for EE by Mark Huot (one of many he has done, all excellent!) that adds an extra custom field option to the standard ones. File. Simple name - multiple purpose - all to make your life easier. When one sets file as a custom field type you also set the directory to upload to. A custom field to upload files, resize images automatically, (size can be set), and have uploaded files organized by folder. It also has multiple files upload capability. (File_ext field in below images, click for larger view).
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 One can use the built in file upload settings to use this as a custom field. Here I made a separate upload directory just for mp3’s and can upload right from here before saving the entry. (It works after as well.) |
 Notice that as soon as a file is picked, another window opens! One can upload a series of files all at once, good for a series of files or images included into an article using the field name as a tag in your template. |
Relationships in ExpressionEngine |
Relationships are hard, aren’t they? I mean - not only do you have to figure them out in your offline face to face world, then you sit down to learn them in ExpressionEngine and they’re still difficult. |
This 49 minute screencast can’t help you earn stripes from a manager running your workteam like an Army platoon nor can it help you deal with that coworker who keeps stealing your lunch from the shared fridge. |
What this screencast can do is give you a complete education around ExpressionEngine relationships - from defining what they are, to looking at specific types, to comparing relationships to categories, to working with EE’s native relationship capabilities, and then working with two of the leading 3rd party relationship extensions (Playa from Brandon Kelly and Related Entries from Solspace). Read more at www.train-ee.com |
Building Campaign Monitor Part I - ExpressionEngine Weblogs
This first post in this series is all about weblogs. Lots, and lots, of weblogs. The easiest way to explain how we set up the weblogs for the Campaign Monitor site is to let everyone login to the back-end and have a look around - just promise not to delete anything. You can login with username: ‘admin’ and password: ‘asif’. The second easiest way is to write a detailed, nine-thousand-word overview (see below). Read more at newism.com.au |
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