Masterpage

How to

1. Access Masterpage
2. Import a Masterpage
3. Apply a Masterpage
   • Across the entire site
   • To an Individual page
4. Create a new Masterpage
5. Edit a Masterpage
6. Insert Editable Content Regions

Accessing Masterpage

To use Masterpage you must be logged in with the administrator toolbar visible across the top of your screen. Select the  button and then Masterpage from the drop down menu on the left of your screen to load the Masterpage Manager.

The Masterpage Manager will look similar to the one below, showing each of the templates currently linked to your website. After the title of one Masterpage in the manager appear some red text [ Current ]  - this identifies the current Masterpage that is active across your website. The current Masterpage is also identified by number, above the Manager table. This is handy when more than ten Masterpages exist in the manager.

Note:

A page within your site may not be using the 'current' Masterpage. See Applying a Masterpage for individual pages below.

The Manager Options menu appears on the left side of the screen.

Up to ten objects will appear on each page of the Manager. When more than ten Masterpages exist in a folder the top of the Manager will change. Forward and back arrows allow movement through the pages. The drop down list shows the ID numbers for the objects on each page.

Importing a Masterpage

For a visual tutorial - click here.

To import a Masterpage template click 'Import' from the menu. A new page will load showing the template style types that are currently available to import.

Selecting one of these will load screenshots of the templates in that section.

Applying a Masterpage

For the Entire Site

In the example below, the template 'Melbourne' is the existing primary Masterpage.

1. To apply a Masterpage to all pages in your website, click the radio button for that template. In this example 'Sydney' is selected.

Select 'Set Primary Masterpage' from the Manager Options Menu. The page will reload. The new primary template will be identified at the top of the Manager by number, and the red text [ Current ] will appear after the Masterpage's title in the Manager table.

For an Individual Page

Individual pages can have their own layout, by linking a different Masterpage to them. Changing a primary template with the above steps will not affect any pages that have had a Masterpage set individually.

• Access the Page Manager via the Applications menu in the Aplinx toolbar at the top of your screen.
• In Page Manager, navigate to the page you wish to individualize. Select the Aplinx icon next to this page.

• Select 'Properties' from the page options menu.
• A new page will load similar to the one below.

If you know the ID number of the Masterpage you wish to use, type this in the text box next to 'Use Masterpage'. Select 'Save' to complete the change in layout.

• To select a different Masterpage (or if you do not know the Masterpage ID number) you may also click on the 'Pick' button.
• The Masterpage Manager will load. Select buttons are now available. The primary Masterpage is highlighted in dark grey. Click 'Select' next to the template for this page.

• The Page Information will reload with your selected Masterpage ID number inserted into the Use Masterpage text box. Select 'Save' to complete the change in layout.

When viewing this page again, the new layout will appear. For more information see Use Masterpage in the Page Manager section of this help guide.

Creating a new Masterpage

A new masterpage may be created either from scratch or by duplicating an existing template.

Duplicating is convenient if you require a page layout on an individual Masterpage that holds most, but not all of the original's attributes.

New Templates - Blank

To create a new Masterpage, enter the Masterpage manager and click 'New' at the top of the menu on the left side of your window. A new page will load. In the text box type a name for the new Masterpage and select 'Save'. The Masterpage manager will load showing the new template at the bottom of the list.

The new template will be BLANK. If you set this as the primary Masterpage before editing it, no page contents will appear when pages in your website are viewed. To show page content with a newly created template you must Edit the Masterpage first.

Duplicating an Existing template

Enter the Masterpage manager and click the radio button next to the template you wish to duplicate.

Select 'Duplicate' from the Manager Options menu. The copy will appear below all other Masterpage's in the manager. It will have a new ID number but the same title.

Both the original and the duplicate will share one copy of images, styles and articles - editing these for one template will affect both.

WARNING:

Deleting the original template will remove all the original images, styles and articles associated with it even if you have duplicated this template. Modified images, styles and articles will not be remove. Deleting a copy will not remove these items.

Editing a Masterpage

Editing a Masterpage is done by first accessing the Masterpage manager.

Changing the Masterpage Title

To change the name/title of a Masterpage template, click the radio button next to the template's ID number and then select 'Metadata' from the menu on the left of the window. The current name held by the template will be shown in the first text box. Click the 'Save' button to save any changes. For more information refer to Metadata.

Changing the Masterpage Layout

To customise a Masterpage, click the radio button next to the template's ID number and select 'Edit' from the menu on the left of the window. A new page will load showing the current layout of this masterpage. If the master page you are editing was previously blank like the one in the image below select the 'Click to Edit' button to open the menu.

If you have imported a Masterpage, some content will already exist.

The brown action toolbar and a thin brown border surround the template elements. All objects within this border are editable here. When you return to individual pages in your website, only content within the red Editable Content regions can be changed. Each of the objects within the Masterpage has it's own grey action's toolbar. Selecting the 'Click to Edit' button will open the Edit menu for that object.

Selecting the 'Click to Edit' button on the brown actions toolbar will open the Edit Masterpage menu.

For more information see: Edit Page Layout - governing the page structure Edit Metadata - catalogs your objects Select Object Styles - backgrounds, fonts, colours Edit Object Permissions - editing access for users

For information on inserting content on a Masterpage see:

• Page Content
• Masterpage Content Regions (below)

Ordinary page content, images and styles that are inserted via Masterpage will be seen on every page using that template.

Masterpage Editable Content Regions

The 'Editable Content' regions represent place-holders on a page governed by a Mastepage template. These regions are customized on individual pages in your website. Most of the templates available to import have two default Editable Content areas - they are 'Title' and 'Content Area'. Whilst editing the Masterpage these regions appear similar to the image below:

When editing an individual page, the content areas are instead represented by a single 'Insert' button for each section. Below shows how content areas appear on individual pages when no articles or images have been inserted.

Using the same titles for each of the sections in every Masterpage that is created makes the templates interchangeable. Therefore, if you create your website using one template - inserting page content and titles into their respective areas - setting a new primary template will reformat the page content. No page content would be lost.

To Insert an Editable Content Region

• Select 'Content' from the Aplinx toolbar at the top of your screen.
• Select 'Masterpage' from the Content menu.
• In the Masterpage manager, select the radio button next to the Masterpage template you wish to alter. Click the 'Edit' button from the menu on the left of your screen.
• Select 'Insert' in the position where you wish to add a new content region. In this example the gap on the right of the Masterpage template has been selected.

• The Content Manager will load in a new window. When altering a Masterpage, a new button - 'Editable Content Region' - appears at the top of the Content Manager. Select this button.

• A new screen will load. In the text box, enter a new name for your Editable Content Region and select 'Save'.

Warning

If you name more than one Editable Content Region on the same Masterpage with the identical titles, all content inserted into one will appear in both. If two Content Areas are required with different articles or images, the Editable Content Region should be given a different name.

In this example the new Editable Content area has been called 'Image Area'.

To rename or remove an Editable Content Area select 'Click to Edit' on the object's grey toolbar.

Editing the name of an Editable Content Region will retain all content that has been inserted onto individual pages.

Removing the Editable Content Region will not delete content that has been inserted into these regions on individual pages, but it will cause this content to disappear from view. This content can be viewed again by re-inserting another content region with the same name.

For information on inserting content into an Editable Content Region see Page Content.