Editing a Section

When you click “modify” in the CMS Setup > Database Editor list, an edit page appears for updating that section’s settings. The interface contains tabs for Overview, Menu Link, List Page, Viewers, Advanced, and MySQL Source.

Below the tabs, Code Generator and Editor shortcut buttons open the Code Generator preloaded with this section and the section’s record editor. (These buttons aren’t shown for Menu Link or Menu Group menus.)

Overview Tab

Database Table

The database table name storing section data, shown with the table prefix. The section’s menu type (e.g., Single Record Editor, Multi Record Editor, Category Menu) is displayed beside it. If you change the table name, you’ll need to update all viewers referencing the old table name.

Enabled Actions

A grid of checkboxes controlling which actions are available in the section:

• List Page — Preview, Create
• Per Record (links on each list row) — View, Modify, Erase
• Modify Page — Preview, Erase (Save is always enabled)

Uncheck Create to prevent new record creation, or Erase to prevent record deletion. The Preview checkboxes add Preview buttons that open the section’s viewer pages: the List Page Url for the list preview, and the Preview Page Url (or Detail Page Url) for the record preview (see the Viewers tab). Single record menus show only a Preview checkbox.

Instructions

Optional content displayed below the main heading on the section’s editor pages. Use it for context, instructions, or notes for content editors. Accepts HTML and PHP.

Max Depth

For category menus, the maximum level of nesting allowed for categories. Leave blank for unlimited.

Menu Link Sections

Menu Link menus have no database records, so for those the Overview tab shows link settings instead:

Link Url

The URL the menu link opens (e.g., https://www.example.com/).

Open Link In

Where the link opens: same window, new window or tab, or an inline iframe within the CMS.

Iframe Height

Height of the inline iframe in pixels. Only shown when “inline iframe” is selected; defaults to 600 when blank.

Display Message

Optional message shown when the link is opened: as an alert dialog for external links, or at the top of the page for inline iframe links.

Menu Link Tab

Menu Name

The section name displayed in the program menubar (e.g., News, FAQ).

Hide Link

Hides the section from the menubar. For record-editing sections the section remains accessible by direct link (?menu=tablename); for Menu Groups and Menu Links it’s simply hidden.

Expanded

For Menu Groups, always shows the group expanded instead of letting users collapse it.

Indentation

Indents the menu link by up to 5 levels, useful for visually grouping links under a Menu Group. Not available for Menu Groups themselves.

Icon

An icon class name displayed before the menu link, with a live preview and a dropdown of preset Font Awesome icons. You can also enter any free Font Awesome or Bootstrap Icons class name.

Count

For multi record and category menus, shows the section’s record count beside the menu link.

List Page Tab

List Columns

For multi record menus, specifies which fields appear in the CMS record list. The full record editor displays all fields. Enter field names separated by commas.

Search Fields

For multi record menus, specifies which fields should be searched when keywords are entered in the CMS record list. Separate field names with commas (e.g., title, summary, content). Leave blank to disable search entirely, or enter _all_ for a large textbox that searches all fields.

For more control, enter one search field per line in the format Label|FieldList|searchType:

• Label — displayed before the search input (e.g., Keyword, Status)
• FieldList — the field name(s) to search, comma separated (or _all_). A single list or checkbox field displays as a dropdown of its options; add [] after a list field name (e.g., categories[]) to let users select multiple values. Multiple field names display as a text input.
• searchType — one of: match, keyword, prefix, query, min, max, year, month, or day (see search types)

Examples:

Keyword|title,content|query
Status|product_status|match
Full Name|createdBy.fullname

createdBy.fullname is a special case for searching by record owner.

Order By

For multi record menus, designates the fields used to sort the CMS record list. Separate fields with commas (e.g., title, date DESC, author).

Common sorting commands:

• fieldname DESC — sorts in descending (reverse) order
• fieldname+0 — sorts values as numbers, useful when sorting produces unexpected results such as 1, 2, 20, 21, 3, 4, 45, etc.

For advanced users, the Order By field accepts standard MySQL ORDER BY clause syntax.

Per Page

For multi record menus, the default number of records to show per page in the CMS record list (5 to 1000, default 25).

Viewers Tab

These URLs are used when creating links to viewers for this section. Each URL input is automatically prefixed with the Website Prefix Url from General Settings, useful on development servers with temporary URL prefixes such as /~username/.

List Page Url

Enter the relative URL of your List Page (e.g., your news index page). Examples:

• Absolute URL http://www.example.com/news/newsList.php becomes relative URL /news/newsList.php
• Absolute URL http://www.example.com/news.php becomes relative URL /news.php

Detail Page Url

Enter the relative URL of your Detail Page (e.g., your news full story page). Examples:

• Absolute URL http://www.example.com/news/newsDetail.php becomes /news/newsDetail.php
• Absolute URL http://www.example.com/news/index.php becomes /news/index.php

Preview Page Url

The relative URL opened by the record Preview button (enabled on the Overview tab). Leave blank to use the Detail Page Url.

Filename Fields

Optional fields added to viewer links to create descriptive URLs. The first non-blank field value is used. For example, with author, title as the filename fields, if author is blank the title value appears in the URL instead.

• With blank filename fields: http://www.example.com/news.php?8
• With a title filename field: http://www.example.com/news.php?example-new-article-8

Disable Accounts

Hides records created by deleted, disabled, or expired users.

Advanced Tab

Record Limits

For multi record menus, sets the maximum number of records allowed: a total limit for the section, plus an optional per-user limit for non-editor users. When a limit is reached or exceeded, new records cannot be added, though existing records remain. Editors and admins are exempt from the per-user limit, and any Max Records limits set under Admin > User Accounts > Section Access also apply.

Required Plugins

A comma-separated list of plugin filenames or paths (e.g., myPlugin.php, shop/cart.php). If any listed plugin isn’t active, access to the section is blocked with a “Please activate the following plugins” message. Matches active plugins whose path ends with the specified filename or path.

MySQL Source Tab

Shows the section’s underlying MySQL details:

Table Schema

The table’s normalized CREATE TABLE statement, with links to dump the schemas for all tables in MySQL or CMS format.

Indexes

Lists the table’s indexes (type, name, columns), with links to modify the indexed field or drop custom indexes. New indexes can be added by entering an ALTER TABLE ... ADD INDEX statement. Note: custom indexes must be recreated manually on each server.

Foreign Keys

Lists foreign key columns with their referenced table and ON DELETE/ON UPDATE actions, linking to the defining field.

Triggers

Lists MySQL triggers on the table: name, timing (BEFORE/AFTER), event (INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE), and SQL statement.

Field List & Field Editor

Field List

Displays all fields in the section. You can add, modify, or remove fields from this page. Fields can be reordered by dragging in real time. Changes update immediately without saving. See Field Editor for details on editing individual fields.

Quick Add

Instantly creates fields using default settings, which can be further customized by clicking “modify”. Enter a Field Label, choose a Field Type (none, text field, text box, wysiwyg, date/time, list, checkbox, upload, separator, or tab group), and the Field Name is filled in automatically from the label (editable). Field Position adds the field to the top or bottom of the field list.

Advanced Commands

The pulldown menu at the bottom of the page enables or disables “System Field Editing”. Fields marked as System Fields cannot be modified or erased unless this option is enabled, protecting critical system fields.