On this page…
Steps for using the Page List Block
Make the appropriate settings on the Add tab.
Check your results with the Preview tab.
Feel free to switch back & forth between the Add & Preview tabs until you’re happy with what you see.
When you’re happy with the results, press Add.
An explanation of the various settings on the Add tab follows.
Number and Type of Pages
Enter the number of pages you want to display in the text box.
Select the Page Type from the dropdown menu. Note that your list may not be the same as that shown in the figure.
Filter
If the is_featured Page Attribute exists (because WebSanity created it for you), and you’ve been using it, you can choose to display only those pages by checking the box next to Featured Pages Only.
If you want to list Page aliases instead of Page names, check the box next to Display Page Aliases.
Pagination
If you select 50 Pages for display, you probably don’t want all 50 to be shown at one time. Instead, you might want to allow users to page through the list, seeing a few at a time. If that is what you want, check the box next to Display Pagination Inferface If More Items Are Available Than Are Displayed.
Location in Website
You’ve selected the number of Pages and their Page Type. But where are those Pages located in your Site Structure?
You have three choices in answering that question:
- Everywhere: anywhere on your website and in your Site Structure.
- Beneath This Page: only beneath the current Page in your Site Structure.
- Beneath Another Page: you want to display Pages that exist under another Page in your Site Structure. If you select this, you now need to click on Select Page and choose the Page from within your Site Structure.
Sort Pages
In what order do you want the Pages to appear? Make your choice here.
Provide RSS Feed
Do you want to provide an RSS feed of your page list? This would be especially nice if you see additional Pages being added to your Page List regularly, as an RSS feed would make it easy for those who subscribe to that feed to receive notifications about those new Pages.
TIP: For more on RSS feeds, see the excellent 4-minute video "RSS in Plain English" at YouTube or read the explanations at any of these sites:
- http://www.problogger.net/what-is-rss/
- http://rss.softwaregarden.com/aboutrss.html
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10628494.
If you choose Yes, you need to enter information for RSS Feed Title and RSS Feed Description:
- RSS Feed Title: Something that reflects the Page List you’re creating, like “Reptiles at the Saint Louis Zoo” or “Recent Projects by Habitat for Humanity St. Louis”.
- RSS Feed Description: A sentence or two that describes the Page List. Keep it short and sweet.
If you choose No, RSS Feed Title and RSS Feed Description do not appear, as they are unnecessary.
Truncate Summaries
Next to each Page name (or alias), the Page List Block displays the description of the Page. If you do not want the entire description to be displayed:
- Check the box next to Truncate Descriptions.
- Enter a number in the textbox indicating how many characters from the description you wish to use; by default, the number is 128.
Editing the text in a Page List Block
You may need to edit a Page List Block to change the text displayed under a link. Remember that the link titles come from the Names of those Pages, and the text underneath those links (if there is any), comes from the Descriptions of those Pages.
For instance, take a look at the following figure, which shows text that is generated by a Page List Block:
Editing the link in a Page List Block
There are links to four sub-pages shown: Caregiver Awards Luncheon, Long Term Care Conference, Volunteer Recognition Luncheon, & Media Events. Each of those links are actually the titles of sub-pages that are children of the current Page. If you want to change those links, you just need to edit the Page’s Name.
Editing the text under the link in a Page List Block
There is text underneath Caregiver Awards Luncheon & Long Term Care Conference—that text comes from those Pages’ Descriptions. There isn’t any text underneath Volunteer Recognition Luncheon & Media Events because those Pages don’t have any Descriptions (which isn’t good—almost all Pages should have Descriptions!).
Say you need to change the text of the first item, from “19th Annual” to “20th Annual” & from “December 5, 2013” to “December 4, 2014”. Since the source of this text comes from that particlar Page’s Description, to change the text, you just need to edit the Page’s Description.
If you see Pages listed that you want to exclude…
Go to the Page that you want to exclude from the Page List Block.
Hover over Edit and press Properties.
The Page Properties panel will open.
Click on the Custom Attributes tab.
Select the Yes checkbox next to Exclude From Page List from the Custom Attributes dropdown menu.
Choosing Exclude From Page List will prevent your Page from showing up in a list found in a Page List Block.
Press Save.