Promotions

The site, cdaonline.org, has several areas in which to promote upcoming events. The first is on the homepage in the white panel on the lower left. This area is a module position (promote) on the homepage template (ir_dentist). The type is mod_custom and is set up to allow editing.

If you are creating a new promotion, it would be a good idea to make a copy of the current module and rename it, for future use. To do so, go to the module manager from the admin area, Extensions/Module Manager; select the module you want to duplicate (i.e. “Promote”), then click on the “Copy” button on the top right. You will now have a duplicate module, now entitled “Copy of…”. It would be a good idea to rename the new module to something that makes more sense (i.e. COMOM 2009 Promo).

To edit: from the admin area, go to Modules/Promote. At the bottom of the window, there is an area entitled “Custom Output.” This is regular text editor with which you can create a new promotion. It is a simple process of adding text, graphics and links through the same process editing an article.

Most of the other settings on the module page do not need to be changed. The import thing is that the Position is set to “promote,” that the module is enabled and that menu selections are set to all.

Click on “Save” and the module will be updated wherever it is used. In the case of the module in promote position on the homepage, it will only be updated on the single page it is used.

COMOM is also promoted on the Public “Welcome” page. In this case, the Content Templater was used, to facilitate placing the promotion wherever it was needed. The COMOM Promo made in Content Templater was only used on the one page. It could, however, be used multiple times.

Consider promos like this as a mini article you place within another article, only simpler. You should not create a title and alias (in the area right above the editor); just give the item a name (in the details panel). You may also ignore the section and category functions.

To add to an article, used the “Templates” dropdown menu on the bottom of the editor.

Note: if you make a change to the content in Content Templater, the information is NOT automatically updated in the article the item is place. There is no “back link” to Content Templater. An alternative is being sought.