Menu Blocks and Items

From PhpCOIN Documentation

Contents 1 Sidebox Menus 2 Menu Blocks 3 Menu Items 4 Menu Item Types 4.1 Text Hyperlink 4.2 Image 4.3 php Function

Sidebox Menus

phpCOIN can display one or more menu blocks in either or both of the left and right-hand columns. Each menu block can contain hyperlinks or images or even the output from a php function. As an example, in the left-hand column of this site are two Menu Blocks (navigation and toolbox) and within each block are several Menu Items.

Menu Blocks

A Menu Block is the "wrapper" that holds one or more Menu Items. In Admin -> Menu Blocks you can select an existing Menu Block to edit or delete, or you can add a new Menu Block. When adding or editing, each Menu Block looks like this:

• Position: The display order of the block
• Title: The header for the block
• Status: ON is viewable, OFF is not displayed
• Admin Block: YES means that only a logged-in admin can see the block
• User Block: YES means that only a logged in user or admin can see the block
• Column: Whether this block should appear in the left-column or the right-column or neither column on pages that have the appropriate column turned ON in Admin -> Components

Menu Items

A Menu Item is part of the actual content for a Menu Block. A Menu Block will hold one or more Menu Items, which means that you can add as many individual hyperlinks or images or functions output to a menu block as you like. You can also mix and match the Menu Items, so a Menu Block can have hyperlinks and/or images and/or function outputs.

In Admin -> Menu Blocks you can select an existing Menu Item to edit or delete, or you can add a new Menu Item to an existing Menu Block. When adding or editing, each Menu Item looks like this:

• Block ID: Which Menu Block this item is assigned to.
• Item ID: The order to display the item in within the block
• Text: The content for the item ~ what the user sees
• URL: Where to link to, if it is a linkable item
• Target: Whether the link should open in a new window, the same window, etc.
• Type: Whether this is a text hyperlink, an image, or the output from a php function
• Status: ON means the item is visible, OFF is not displayed
• Admin Item: YES means that only a logged-in admin can see the item
• User Item: YES means that only a logged in user or admin can see the item

Menu Item Types

A Menu Item can be text or an image or the output from a php function. A Menu Block will hold one or more Menu Items, which means that you can add as many individual hyperlinks or images or functions output to a menu block as you like. You can also mix and match the Menu Items, so a Menu Block can have hyperlinks and/or images and/or function outputs:

Text Hyperlink

For the Menu Item:

• Enter the text for the link in the "Text" field.
• Enter the hyperlink URL in the "URL" field.
• Set the "Type" to "Text"

Text: phpCOIN.com
URL: http://www.phpcoin.com
Type: Text

Text: Place Order
URL: mod.php?mod=orders
Type: Text

Image

First define the image in the /coin_themes/theme/config.php file. The quickest way is to copy one of the existing image definitions, and edit the $_TCFG name and the actual image filename as required.

If you use $_PARM_PREFIX in the definition, then phpCOIN will expect to find the image in the coin_themes/theme/images/nav directory.

$_TCFG['_IMG_NEW_BUTTON'] = $_PARM_PREFIX.'new_button.gif'
   .'" alt="'.$_LANG['_THEME']['ALT_IMG_NEW_BUTTON']
   .$_PARM_SUFFIX; // Image URL for: "New Button" Button (big)

Or you may choose to place the image in the /coin_images directory:

$_TCFG['_IMG_NEW_BUTTON2'] = '<img src="coin_images/new_button2.gif" border="0">';

For the Menu Item:

• Enter the variable name for the image in the "Text" field. The variable name must begin with "$" and no single quotes in the variable.
• Enter the URL that the image will redirect to when clicked in the "URL" field.
• Set the "Type" to "Image".

Text: $_TCFG[_IMG_NEW_BUTTON]
URL: http://www.mysite.com/myurl.php?myid=5
Type: Image

php Function

First add the function to the /coin_includes/custom.php file. Even better is to add your function to /coin_overrides/custom_override.php so that future upgrades to phpCOIN will not overwrite your custom function(s). Some restrictions on the function:

• The function must return the output and not echo it. If you echo it, you will end up with the output at the wrong place on the screen.
• The function name MUST begin with "do_" for security reasons.
• Remember where the output is going. Use something too wide, or that outputs pages of info, and the menu block will reflect this.

Here is an example of a php function that will output an image and text:

 <?php
  function do_show_paypal_graphics() {
  	$_images  = '<div align="center">';
  	$_images .= 'We accept<br>';
  	$_images .= '<img src="coin_images/paypal_methods.gif" border="0" alt="PayPal">';
  	$_images .= '</div>';
  	return $_images;
  }
  ?>

For the Menu Item:

• Enter the name of the function, minus the "do" prefix, in the "Text" field. This input must begin with the leading underscore "_" and must match the function name except for the leading "do".
• Enter n/a for the "URL" because it is ignored.
• Set the "Type" to "Function".

For example, if your custom function in located in /coin_overrides/custom_override.php and it is called do_show_paypal_graphics()

Text: _show_paypal_graphics
URL: n/a
Type: Function