About third party templates

Hello Felix,

You're right. CMS Builder is a much more powerful and flexible program.

A template can be a great way to start designing a website, because much of the hard work has already been done for you.

Integrating CMS Builder into a template design can be a bit challenging, however it should not be hard to do and much of the code can be pasted directly into a template design.

Content management basically separates the design of a page from the content on the page, but it helps to understand the basic way that PHP based Content Management systems and CMS Builder work.

Here are a few excerpts from my CMSB Cookbook www.thecmsbcookbook.com that may help to get you started:

HOW DOES CMS BUILDER WORK?
Once you’ve installed CMS Builder, following the really simple instructions on the Interactive Tools web site, you’ll probably want to dive right in and create your first web site. I would urge you to wait until you’ve watched the videos on the Interactive Tools website, and until you’ve read at least the introductory chapter of this cookbook. I’d also suggest that you follow the creation of the 2 sample pages later in this chapter.

In order to use CMS Builder effectively, and to minimize the frustration that’s common to all first timers, there are a few new concepts that you’ll have to get your head around.

TYPES OF DATA BASE INTERFACES
CMS Builder uses 2 basic types of database interfaces to manage web pages.

1) A single record interface, for information that may be changed but only exist in one form at a time. Examples of this type of information would be an “about me” page, “contact information” and the directions to a specific location.

2) A multi record interface for information about a series of items that have the same basic informational structure, (name, address, description). Examples of this type of information would be a list of images, a calendar of events, and a list of products.

The multi record interface manages 2 types of pages. "List" pages that show a listing of either image thumbnails, event titles and dates, or products, and "details" pages that shows detailed information about a specific item in the list.

SECTION EDITORS
In CMSB, the database record interface that you’ll create is called a section editor. A section editor contains the menu of fields that will be used to organize the content of your web page. It is where you will set up certain restrictions regarding the type of data that can be entered (only certain file types, certain characters), how much information can be entered (300 characters, 12 images), how that information is processed and displayed (show or hide the record on a certain date), and in some cases who is allowed to enter the information (the administrator only, or the original author).

You can create either Multi Record editors or Single Record editors depending on the type of data they are to manage, and create a menu structure that contains the types of fields that suite your application.

You can also choose from a set of preset menu structures, and even use copies of your own editors to create additional editors for use on the same or different sites.

FIELDS
Once you’ve created either a basic single record or multi record section editor, you can add a number of types of fields to that editor’s menu structure to facilitate the entry of various types of information.

The simplest of these fields is a “text” field, which is a one line field that can only accept text as it’s input.

The next type is the “text box”. A text box is similar to a text field, but it can accept multi line text entry.

If you need a greater degree of flexibility in entering their data, you can create “WYSIWYG” fields that present a WYSIWYG editor interface, either allowing uploads or not, your choice.

There are “list” fields that can take their input from either single or multiple entry pull down lists or radio buttons.

There are “checkbox” fields that output different values depending on whether they’re checked or not.

There are “upload” fields that allow users to upload documents, images and even flash, video and audio files. Upload fields have a great deal of flexibility attached to them and are among the most complex.

There are also some “special” fields that can let you show or hide a record from a web page, enter a date and sort or control your records using those dates, decide when to publish a record to a website or when to remove or unpublish that record, and other special functions that help to customize your implementation.

Once you understand these few basic tools that are in your arsenal, you can begin to implement CMSB into your web design.

Once you've created a section editor and a number of fields, the code required to display your information on your web pages can be automatically generated by the code generator that is built in to CMS Builder.

I hope this information helps you.

Best,

Jerry Kornbluth