Article generator wizard

This is a very useful plug-in which allows you to create a custom article output list. The wizard will walk you through creating your very own box or list with articles matching your filter and criteria, like “More News”, “Latest News” or similar. Choose from given options to compose a search query (filter) for your custom box/block. You can display as many boxes as you like and easily generate them to suit your needs.

Article generator wizard gives you great flexibility to create any kind of lists and hugely improve your site content by adding desired article boxes. It makes it very easy to organize and maintain your site articles.

This is a much improved way to build sites that integrate a lot of related contents. Via this plug-in you may compose the criteria (filter) for your custom blocks. The easy-to-use interface and ability to select only the articles you wish to include allow you to add as many custom boxes as you need.

You need to access the Plug-ins section. Click on the Plug-ins link which is located in Main menu at the top of your administrator panel.

A list of all plug-ins currently registered to the system is displayed on the right hand side of the screen on Downloaded plug-ins tab.

To install Article generator wizard plug-in you need to click on the install icon on the right side of the plug-ins name.

This will take you to the page with the installation link: Click here to Install the plug-in

After you run the installation, you will be informed that the plug-in was successfully installed.

You may easily go back to the Plug-ins page, by following the link: Click here to go to Plug-in

To uninstall Article generator wizard plug-in you need to click on the uninstall icon on the right side of the plug-in name.

This will take you to the page with the link for uninstall: Click here to uninstall the plug-in

You will be informed that the plug-in was successfully uninstalled and you may return to the Plug-ins page by clicking the link: Click here to return to Plug-in home page.

The path to the Article generator wizard plug-in:

Click on the Plug-ins link (which is located in Main menu at the top of your administrator panel).

Choose Article generator wizard plug-in from the list of all installed plug-ins (on the left side of the screen).

This plug-in can be accessed only by users with administrator-level privileges.

This four-step wizard will lead you through the process of creating a custom box. Use Next button to go ahead or Previous if need to return.

Select the appropriate title, unique ID and a template:

• Title → Fill this field with a name for a new article list. The title should be brief, clearly indicating the criteria you used for creating this custom box.

• ID → Box needs to be assigned with a unique alpha-numeric identifier.

• Template → By using the drop down menu you may choose the most suitable template

Now select the actual filter that will be used to create the article list, like category or categories, tags, keywords, author name(s) or similar, and optionally select the date frame for which the query applies.

• Keyword(s) → Type in the keywords that you want to base your search on. In order to include both the article body and the title leave unchecked the fields below. Otherwise, check the mentioned option and only the article titles will be searched.

• Author → This allows you to query for articles published by a specific author.

• Exact name → It is possible to disable previous search process and only search for a particular author name by checking the exact name box, below the author.

• Article status → You may include only articles with a specific status (headline, active, pending or archived).

• Search categories (use ctrl for multiple) → The custom box will contain only the articles from the chosen categories.

• Tag → Get a list of all articles marked with a specific tag.

• Find post from → Limit the search and include only articles created from the time you choose.

• and older → This field indicates that you want to expand your search and look at the date after a specific date as well as on that exact date.

Choose sorting filter, ordering and number of articles for your box.

• Sort by → This provides you an extensive option to sort the results of the search. You are able to specify the order in which articles should be listed.

• Sort order → You may choose between Descending/Ascending sort order.

• Search limit → Fill this with the exact number of articles that you want displayed.

Finally, choose if the articles inside your custom box/list are going to be unique throughout the page, meaning if a particular article is printed in this box, it can’t be seen anywhere else on the page. Also, choose if the content of the box will be added to our Fast Cache system or not.

Vivvo 4.1 has internal flagging system for articles, making them “dirty” or “flagged” when they are displayed on the page. In some boxes (like headlines, latest articles, etc.) you might want to take advantage of this, and do not duplicate articles. But in other, like “most commented” or “most emailed” you obviously do not. Every individual template handles this using two basic parameters: one for “flagging” articles as dirty if used, and other for instructing box not to use “dirty” articles.

• Flag as “printed” → Adds article(s) to the internal list of the already printed ones.

• Skip flagged articles → If you set this option, the box will not use the articles already flagged as “printed”.

• Cache this → Add an entire block to the fast caching system.

After clicking on Generate button, the system will generate VTE code in the “Generated code” box on the left-hand side of this page. Use that code in template file where you want your custom list to appear. Make sure to consult the manual on what templates are used for main page, categories and article pages.