Aurora: Header and Footer configuration
The global Header & Footer page template is a bit different from some of the other page templates because it’s applied across the entire community. It enables you to style the top and bottom portions of your community site pages for a cohesive experience. As with other page templates, you can reorder widgets within both the Header and Footer sections. See Create and arrange sections in a Page Template. Header You can adjust settings for the entire Header section and/or for the widgets that make up the Header. Header settings For the overall Header page template, you can adjust these settings: The Background color selector applies your selected background color to the entire Header page template (behind the widgets). The colors available here have been set in your community's theme. When you hover your cursor over a color choice in the color picker, the hex code is displayed. This enables you to distinguish between similar colors before making your selection. The Background image feature enables you to upload a background image for the entire Header page template (behind the widgets) and configure how it is aligned and displayed. The Background image appearance enables you to adjust 3 different settings for the image selected for the Header page template: Size: Choose from among Auto, Contain, and Cover. Position: Choose an option with a combined alignment of center, left, or right and bottom, center, or top. Repeat: Choose from among No repeat, Repeat, Repeat X, and Repeat Y. Note: Background color and image are visible through transparent widgets. For example, in the screenshot below, an image was chosen for the overall Header, and the gray background color chosen for the Banner widget was set to 51% opacity. Therefore, the Header image is showing through the selected Banner color. Out of the box, the page header is made up of three customizable widgets: Navigation widget Breadcrumb widget Banner widget Designer enables you to add more widgets to the Header if desired—click Add widget (plus icon) and select a widget. Customize as desired. Refer to Getting Started with Widgets to see a list of the widgets you can use. Navigation widget configuration The Navigation widget is the portion of the Header page template that contains links to navigate your community. Use the following settings to adjust this widget to your specifications. Note: The Navigation widget cannot be adjusted on any other page templates. Navigation links Navigation links in the Aurora Navigation widget are entirely customizable. You can add and arrange links next to the logo in the header or in the side menu. Create a text link Text links are the links that appear in the body of the navigation bar to the right of your logo. Note: If you want to add any community pages that are outside of your community structure (such as the Groups home page) to the navigation, you can follow the procedure for adding an external link. Enter the URL for the page in the URL field. Create a side menu link Side menu links appear when a community member opens the side menu. This enables you to maintain a clean navigation bar in cases where you have too many menu options to display at once. Note: If you want to add any community pages that are outside of your community structure (such as the Groups home page) to the side menu navigation, you can follow the procedure for adding an external link. Enter the URL for the page in the URL field. Change link highlight style You can adjust the highlight styling, color, font, and alignment of links in your navigation bar using these tools available in the editor. The Link highlight style area of the menu focuses on the method by which links are highlighted as you move your cursor over them. The 3 available options are: Color: When you hover your cursor over a link, the color of the link changes. The specific color is defined in the area below the Link highlight style and depends on whether you have visited the link previously. Underline: When you hover your cursor over a link, the link is also underlined in a color defined below the Link highlight style. Background: When you hover your cursor over a link, the background of the link changes to a color defined below the Link highlight style. Link and icon colors There are 4 color options for the navigation bar you can adjust. These include: Link color: The color of the link label when it is not highlighted. Link highlight: The color of the link label when it is highlighted. Icon color: The color of any icons that appear in the navigation bar. Unread highlight: The color used to highlight a link that has not yet been visited by the member. The color drop-down menu doesn't just display the currently configured color for the item—it also indicates whether or not a selected color meets accessibility rules for the community. If you adjust the highlight style or color setting in a way that doesn't meet the rules, a caution icon appears over the color indicator. Additionally, when you hover your cursor over a color choice in the color picker, the hex code is displayed. This enables you to distinguish between similar colors before making your selection. Link style and alignment In this area, you can adjust the size, style, and alignment of the text links in your navigation bar. Font size: Use the slider to adjust the size of the font of the links. Font weight/style: Use the Style drop-down menu to adjust the style of the font of the links: Light, Regular, Medium, Bold, Italic. Alignment: Select from left, center, or right alignment for link placement on the navigation bar. Logo height The Logo height slider changes the amount of vertical space (in pixels) that the logo is given in the navigation bar. Mobile devices and other small viewports may display a smaller value than the one set here when space is limited. Other elements The following settings enable you to show or hide additional elements on the navigation widget: Language picker: (for Localized Communities only) The drop-down menu that enables community members to switch between your enabled languages. With the Style drop-down menu, you can also indicate whether you want to show the Icon, the Label, or the Icon and Label. Search icon: The magnifying glass icon that gives members access to the community's search functionality. Register link: If an unauthenticated or unregistered user is on the site, they can access the registration link to create an account. Username: Username of the currently authenticated member next to their avatar in the navigation bar. Background color and image You can set a background color or add a background image to your navigation bar using these options. The Background color selector applies your selected background color to the navigation bar and any drop-down menus that appear from it. The colors available here have been set in your community's theme. When you hover your cursor over a color choice in the color picker, the hex code is displayed. This enables you to distinguish between similar colors before making your selection. The Background image feature enables you to upload a background image for the navigation bar and configure how it is aligned and displayed. The Background image appearance enables you to adjust 3 different settings: Size: Choose from among Auto, Contain, and Cover. Position: Choose an option with a combined alignment of center, left, or right and bottom, center, or top. Repeat: Choose from among No repeat, Repeat, Repeat X, and Repeat Y. The Background opacity option lets you set the percentage of opacity in the image you’ve uploaded. Visual effects The Visual effects settings enable you to turn on or off visual elements for the navigation widget: Fixed position on page scroll: Fix the navigation bar into position at the top of the page as you scroll down. Show bottom border: Show a small border at the bottom of the navigation bar to separate it from other page elements. Show bottom shadow: Add a drop-shadow effect to the bottom of the navigation bar. Boundary padding The Boundary padding settings add padding to the top and/or bottom of the navigation bar. The first number field enables you to set the amount of vertical padding (in pixels) above the logo. The second field enables you to set the vertical padding (in pixels) below the logo. Breadcrumb widget configuration The Breadcrumb widget is the portion of the Header page template that shows the member where they are in the community, especially within the hierarchy of parent and child places. Note: The Breadcrumb widget cannot be adjusted on any other page templates. Link color and highlight You can adjust the color of the breadcrumb links and icons: Link and icon color: The color of the links and icons when they are not highlighted. Link highlight: The color of the link label when it is highlighted. Background color You can set a background color for your Breadcrumb widget using these options. The Background color selector applies your selected background color to the breadcrumbs. The colors available here have been set in your community's theme. When you hover your cursor over a color choice in the color picker, the hex code is displayed. This enables you to distinguish between similar colors before making your selection. The Background opacity option lets you set the percentage of opacity in the image you’ve uploaded. Visual effects The Visual effects settings enable you to turn on or off visual elements for the navigation widget. For the breadcrumb bar, the only visual effect option is Show bottom border, which adds a small border to the bottom of the breadcrumb bar to separate it from other page elements. Banner widget configuration The Banner portion of the Header page template contains the title of the page as well as any descriptive text you’ve included for a particular page. Note: You can override the settings of the banner in the page header on individual page templates outside of the Header & Footer template. If you make changes to the banner on another page template and you want to revert it to the default Header & Footer banner, you must reset the page template for that individual template. At that point, the global Header & Footer page template banner will appear on that page template. If you don’t reset the page layout after making changes to the banner, the banner will operate independently of the one on the Header & Footer template. Text colors Use the Text color drop-down menu to set the color for any text that may appear in the banner. The color drop-down menu doesn't just display the currently configured color for the item—it also indicates whether or not a selected color meets accessibility rules for the community. If you adjust the highlight style or color setting in a way that doesn't meet the rules, a caution icon appears over the color indicator. Additionally, when you hover your cursor over a color choice in the color picker, the hex code is displayed. This enables you to distinguish between similar colors before making your selection. Background color and image You can set a background color or add a background image to your navigation bar using these options. The Background color selector applies your selected background color to the navigation bar and any drop-down menus that appear from it. The colors available here have been set in your community's theme. When you hover your cursor over a color choice in the color picker, the hex code is displayed. This enables you to distinguish between similar colors before making your selection. The Background image feature enables you to upload a background image for the navigation bar and configure how it is aligned and displayed. The Background image appearance enables you to adjust 3 different settings: Size: Choose from among Auto, Contain, and Cover. Position: Choose an option with a combined alignment of center, left, or right and bottom, center, or top. Repeat: Choose from among No repeat, Repeat, Repeat X, and Repeat Y. The Background opacity option enables you to set the percentage of opacity in the image you’ve uploaded. Visual effects The Visual effects settings enable you to turn on or off visual elements for the navigation widget. For the banner, the only visual effect option is Show bottom border, which adds a small border to the bottom of the banner to separate it from other page elements. Footer You can adjust settings for the Footer section and/or for the widgets that make up the Footer. Out of the box, the Footer contains an uneditable widget with basic footer content (for example, some links to important areas in the community, Powered by Khoros information, etc). This widget is intended as a placeholder that you can delete and replace with your own footer content. You can adjust settings for the entire Footer section and/or for the widgets that make up the Footer. You can adjust the following settings for the overall Footer page template: The Background color selector applies your selected background color to the entire Footer page template (behind the widgets). The colors available here have been set in your community's theme. When you hover your cursor over a color choice in the color picker, the hex code is displayed. This enables you to distinguish between similar colors before making your selection. The Background image feature enables you to upload a background image for the entire Footer page template (behind the widgets) and configure how it is aligned and displayed. The Background image appearance enables you to adjust 3 different settings for the image selected for the Footer page template: Size: Choose from among Auto, Contain, and Cover. Position: Choose an option with a combined alignment of center, left, or right and bottom, center, or top. Repeat: Choose from among No repeat, Repeat, Repeat X, and Repeat Y. Other widgets You can also add custom or Text/HTML widgets to the Header & Footer. In these cases, several options are available. All options described in Custom widget configuration and Text/HTML widget configuration are available with the addition of two more options under More options: Use width of page content: Sets the widget as wide as the page content only rather than as wide as the browser window. Remove widget wrapper: Removes the default padding around the widget. Related topics: About Page Templates Using Page Templates Create and arrange sections in a Page Template Getting Started with Widgets Override the global banner on page templatesAbout Aurora Page Templates
Designer provides many page templates you can use and customize to fit the needs of your community. Many of these fall into similar categories and therefore have similar widgets and out-of-the-box designs. Some are a bit more complex and apply to the community globally. Below is an index and description of these categories and individual page templates. While there are many page templates and widgets to choose from, much of the functionality is repeated throughout Designer. For more information on this functionality, see the following articles: Using Page Templates Create and arrange sections in a Page Template Getting Started with Widgets Community Home template The Community Home page template applies only to the homepage of your community. On this template, you can add any widgets you want members to see on the very first page they land on in the community. Commonly added widgets are: Recent Content Places Top Contributors Top Content Header & Footer template The global Header & Footer template is unique in that it applies across your entire community. It contains the site header—composed of the navigation bar, the breadcrumb trail, and the banner—and the site footer. For more information, see Header & Footer Configuration. Container Dashboard templates Container dashboard templates define how higher-level place landing pages appear to members of the community. The following dashboard templates fall into this category: Category Dashboard Group Dashboard These templates enable you to provide a look into what’s available to members of that container to read, follow, and comment on. Commonly added widgets are: Recent Content Category Information or Group Information Members Top Contributors Top Content Content Type Dashboard templates Content type dashboard templates define how content type landing pages appear to members of the community. The following dashboard templates fall into this category: Forum Dashboard Blog Dashboard Knowledge Base Dashboard Ideas Dashboard Event Dashboard These templates enable you to provide a look at what’s going on in a board (forum, blog, knowledge base, events board, ideas board). Commonly added widgets are: Recent Discussions or Recent Content Forum Information, Blog Information, Knowledge Base Information, Event Board Information, or Ideas Board Information Top Content Top Contributors Content type-specific widgets are not available on a different content type’s dashboard template. For instance, you cannot add a Recent Discussions widget to a Knowledge Base Dashboard or an Ideas widget to a Blog Dashboard. Content post templates Content post templates define how a particular piece of content looks to members. The following templates fall into this category: Forum Discussion Blog Post Knowledge Base Article Idea Event These page templates come out of the box with widgets that cannot be deleted because they contain the body of a top-level discussion, post, article, or idea or because they contain a space for commenting on a discussion, post, article, or idea. However, you can add other widgets to these templates. Commonly added widgets are: Featured Content Related Content Recent Discussions Content type-specific widgets are not available on a different content type’s post template. For instance, you cannot add a Recent Discussions widget to a Knowledge Base Article template. Member Profile template The Member Profile page template applies only to the Member Profile, which is what members see when they click another member’s username in the community. On this template, you can add any widgets you want that give information about the member being highlighted. This template comes out of the box with a member information widget that cannot be deleted. This widget contains the member’s username, rank, email address, join date, number of contributions, and number of likes. You can add other widgets to this template. Commonly added widgets are: Contributions Top Contributions Groups Featured Content Search Results Page template The Search Results Page template applies only to the page that appears when someone runs a search in your community. This page template includes the following four widgets out of the box that cannot be deleted: Search bar widget (with filters) Content Results widget (shows content matching the search query) People widget (shows people whose usernames match the search query) Places widget (shows places with names matching the search query) Note: If the search term does not match with a particular widget type, that widget is not displayed in Designer or in the community. For example, if no places match your query, the Places widget is not visible in Designer or on the Search Results page in the community. Refer to the table below to understand the capabilities and limitations of each section or widget on this page template. Note: While you can add widgets to the bottom of the column containing the People widget and the Places widget, you cannot add a new widget between these two widgets. You can also add new sections to this page template. These can be moved and deleted, and you can add Text/HTML widgets to them. Related topics: About Community site structure About Categories About Groups About Blogs About Forums About Knowledge Bases About Ideas About Events About the Aurora member Profile page About Aurora Search Refer to the Build Khoros Communities course for training on site design.Aurora: Top Contributors widget configuration
The Top Contributors widget displays a series of contributors with the highest ratings based on popularity metrics including Likes/Votes Received, Posts (Topics and Replies Created), Topics Created, and Solutions Authored. It is available on the Community Home Page, the Category Dashboard, the Group Dashboard, the Forum Dashboard, the Blog Dashboard, the Knowledge Base Dashboard, and the Ideas Dashboard. Layouts The Layouts section features the List, Grid, and Card layouts. The information that can be displayed for each contributor depends on the Layout and its unique set of available elements. List Grid Card Configuration Options The configuration options available depend on the layout selected. For example, the List layout style has a List Style setting, while the Grid layout includes an Avatar Size option. List Style The List Style is unique to the List layout and determines how items in the list are separated from each other. You can choose to have whitespace (Space) between items, a horizontal line (Divide), or a defined Border that separates items in the list into individual visual blocks. Avatar Size Unique to the Grid layout, the Avatar Size setting changes the size of the avatar images as they appear in the grid. You can choose between a Medium or Large avatar size. Widget Title The Title appears at the top of the widget. If the Visible Only to Screen Readers toggle is active, the title remains hidden from most visitors; however, the title information is still relayed to visitors using screen readers. Number of Items You can designate the number of contributors featured in the widget using the Number of Items slider (maximum 20). Sort You can sort contributors by several different categories using the Sort By drop-down menu. Available options include: Likes/Votes Received Posts (Topics and Replies Created) Topics Created Solutions Authored Sort By gives you the power to create a widget dedicated to the top solvers in your community and another for members with the most likes on their content. The Time Period defines the length of time popularity metrics are calculated. This enables you to create a widget featuring a single top contributor for the week/month/year, your top five of all time, or any variation in between. List Item/Card Elements The List and Card layouts include elements that can refine the information about each member that appears in the widget. These elements include: Avatar Rank Count Roles to exclude You can exclude specific roles from being displayed in the Top Contributors widget. This is helpful when your administrators or other staff create a large amount of content but you want to highlight only your other members’ contributions to the community. To exclude roles, select the field and then choose the roles you want to exclude. Members assigned to the roles you select are not displayed on the Top Contributors widget. More Options Additional options for the widget appear in the More Options section of the Edit Widget panel: The Hide if Empty option hides the widget in the event that nothing meets the criteria to be displayed (for example, if no contributors have authored any accepted solutions and Solutions Authored is the Sort By criteria). Optimize page-load time uses lazy loading to load images as the member scrolls down the page.Aurora: Recent Content widget configuration
The Recent Content widget displays the most recent items from blogs, knowledge bases, forums, ideas, and/or events within your community. It can be configured with different layouts, a specified number of items, and a variety of other elements. Layouts The layouts included for the Recent Content widget are Detailed list, List, and Card. From the Edit Widget panel, select any of these options to change the layout. Each layout has its own set of unique options available. Detailed list The Detailed list layout features a smaller thumbnail accompanied by the item's title, various elements, and a preview of its content. List Card Configuration Options List style The available List style options for Detailed list and List include: Space: Uses whitespace to create space between items. Divide: Adds a horizontal line to divide items. Border: Creates a border that separates items into individual boxes. Title The Title sets the title that appears at the top of the widget. If the Visible only to screen readers toggle is enabled, the title remains hidden to most visitors; however, the title information is still relayed to visitors using screen readers. Scope The Scope field enables you to select where the widget is scoped. You can scope to the community, a category, a group, or a specific board. If you select a specific board, the Content types to include drop-down menu becomes inactive. Content Types to Include Use the Content Types to Include drop-down menu to select the type(s) of content types to display in the widget. Options include: All (All content types) Blogs only Knowledge Bases only Discussions only Ideas only Sort You can set the default Sort By filter to one of the following options: Newest topics Most recent (applies only to top-level posts and replies, not nested replies) Detailed list Options The available sort options for the Detailed list layout depend on the state of the Show additional filter/sort tabs toggle. If deactivated, you can set the default Sort By filter to one of the options listed in the previous section. Below Sort and filter options, you can also turn on Show filter and sort controls to add a Tagged line where members can click + Tag to enter a tag to filter content by that tag. If, however, the Show additional filter/sort tabs toggle is active, you can configure the different sort options available to visitors through tabs that appear on the top of the widget. These include: Sort by Most Viewed Sort by Most Liked Sort by Most Replies Filter by Newest Topics Filter by Most Recent Filter by Items with No Replies Yet Number of Items The Number of items slider gives you control over the number of items displayed on the initial page load before a Show More option appears. List item/Card elements Elements are additional pieces of information that can be displayed along with each item in the widget. The list of available elements changes depending on which layout you've selected. Detailed list and List layouts have an additional Lead with drop-down menu. It enables you to choose to display the item author's Avatar, discussion style Icon, or None along with the item in the widget. More Options Additional options are available at the bottom of the Edit Widget panel. Hide if empty hides any tabs that don't have corresponding items. Include "Show More" link adds a link to the bottom of the widget to enable visitors to display additional items once the Number of items has been reached. Optimize page-load time uses lazy loading to load images as the member scrolls down the page.Aurora: Feature content, places, and idea statuses on a page
In many Aurora communities, people who are not admins and therefore have no access to Designer may need to edit featured content and featured places on a particular page. With the Edit items in list widgets permission enabled for their associated role, a member can go right to the page where they want to add featured items and add content, places, or idea statuses using the Edit Featured Content, Edit Featured Places, Edit Featured Idea Statuses, or Edit Featured Guides button. By default, community members with the Group Owner or Group Curator role are granted the Edit items in list widgets permission. An admin must have first added the widget from Designer on a particular page template. From then on, members with the appropriate permissions can edit the featured items as desired at any time on the pages tied to that template. When admins add the widget in Designer, they can preview how it will look within the community using sample content. Because some pages in your community may benefit from different featured content, places, or idea statuses, the sample content added in Designer is not published to the community. You must go to the page in the community where you want to feature content, places, idea statuses, or guides and add them there. Featured content is decided on each individual instance of the widget. Note: Currently, there is no way to draw featured content, places, or idea statuses from a global source. Be sure to update the featured widget on every page where you place it. If you reset the layout of a page with a populated Featured widget or delete a section containing a populated Featured widget, that Featured widget is deleted from all other page templates on which it appears. If you attempt to reset or delete, you will receive a warning that also indicates all other places where the widget is located. Feature content Go to the page in the community where you want to feature content. Locate the Edit Featured Content area and select the button. In the Content field, search for content to add. You can then reorder the content by grabbing it with your cursor and dragging it to the desired location. Select Save to commit your changes and return to the page. Feature places Go to the page in the community where you want to feature places. Locate the Edit Featured Places area and select the button. In the Places field, search for places to add. You can then reorder a place by grabbing it with your cursor and dragging it to the desired location. Select Save to commit your changes and return to the page. Feature idea statuses Go to the Ideas Dashboard page in the community where you want to feature idea statuses. Locate the Edit Featured Idea Statuses area and select the button. Select Add Status as many times as necessary to add the idea statuses you want to feature. (Optional) Reorder the statuses by grabbing them with your cursor and dragging them to the desired location. Select Save to commit your changes and return to the page. Feature Guides Go to the page in the community where you want to feature guides. Locate the Edit Featured Guides Content area and select the button. In the Edit Featured Guides window, search and select the guides you want to feature. Select Save to commit your changes and return to the page. The widget is added to the selected guide. Note: To edit any existing widgets on your community pages, select the pencil icon next to them. For example, see the Featured Guides widget below: Related topics: Configure the Featured Content widget Configure the Featured Places widget Configure the Featured Idea Statuses widget Using Featured Guides widget Permission descriptions About roles and permissionsAurora: Ideas widget configuration
The Ideas widget provides a list of ideas in the related Ideas board. It is available on the Ideas Dashboard and Idea page templates. Layout The layout options available for the Ideas widget are Detailed List, List, and Card. From the Edit Widget panel, select any of these options to change the layout of the selected type. Each layout has its own set of options. Detailed List The Detailed List layout features a smaller thumbnail accompanied by each idea's title, chosen elements, and content preview. List On the List layout, each idea is displayed in a list with its title and chosen elements. Card With the Card layout, each idea is displayed on a tile with its title, all chosen elements, and content preview. Configuration Options List style The available options in the List style section for the Detailed List and List layouts include: Space: Uses whitespace to create space between items. Divide: Adds a horizontal line to divide items. Border: Creates a border that separates items into individual boxes. Content alignment When you select the Layout of Card, you can also choose whether to align the card content to the left or center. Title The Title sets the title that appears at the top of the widget. If the Visible only to screen readers toggle is turned on, it is relayed only to visitors using screen readers. Number of items Use the slider to indicate how many Ideas (up to 20) can be displayed on the widget. Sorts and filters The Show filter and sort controls option enables the community member to filter the list of ideas by status and tag. In the Sorts and filters area, if you selected Detailed List for the Layout of the widget, you have the option to add multiple sorts and filters that appear on tabs or drop-down menus at the top of the list. Community members can click these to sort and filter ideas as desired. Click Add and select the ones you want to use. If you selected List or Card for the Layout, you have the option to select a single sort or filter option to organize the Ideas in the widget. Sorting options: Most Comments Most Recent Most Views Most Votes Newest Trending (combination of recency and number of votes) Status set filters: New In Progress On Hold Completed Closed The sort order for the status sets is always Most Recent. List item/Card elements Elements are additional pieces of information that you can turn on to be displayed in the widget. The list of available elements changes depending on which layout you've selected: Author Author rank Comments/reply count Idea Status Preview image Preview text Tags Timestamp Unread count View count Detailed List and List layouts have an additional Lead with menu. Select an option that designates what to show along with the idea in the widget: the idea author's Avatar the content type Icon None The Detailed List and Card layouts have an additional Vote display menu. Select an option from among: Vote on Ideas: With this option enabled, members can vote on ideas directly on the Ideas widget. Show Count Only: With this option enabled, members see only the count of votes on an idea. None Lines of preview text to display The Lines of preview text to display slider gives you control over how many lines of text from the Idea are displayed along with the Idea in the widget. After the set number of lines, an ellipsis (...) is used. More options Additional configuration options for the widget appear in the More options section: Hide if empty: Prevents boards that have no ideas on them from appearing in the widget. Include “Show More” link: Creates a Show More link if more Ideas are available than the number designated on the Number of items slider. Optimize page-load time: Optimize the page's load time using a lazy load method. Widgets only appear as the member scrolls down the page, shortening the time to render the page.Aurora: Create Post Button widget configuration
On the Blog Dashboard, Forum Dashboard, Event Dashboard, Ideas Dashboard, Knowledge Base Dashboard templates, and any of the content type templates (Blog Post, Forum Discussion, and so on), you can add and configure the Create Post Button widget to enable members with appropriate permissions to create content in that particular place. Button style Designate whether you want a Standard, Large, or Hero style button in the widget. Button width and alignment For the width, select from the following options: Width of label: The button’s width spans the width of the action text on the button. Width of column: The button spans the width of the column where the widget lives. When you select Width of label, you can select an alignment of left-justified, centered, or right-justified. Button label With the Button label field, you can rename the button in the widget. The text for this button defaults to the terminology for the content type associated with the page template where the widget is placed. For example, on the Blog Dashboard, the button says Create a Post, while on the Knowledge Base Dashboard, it says Create an Article.Aurora: Guides widget configuration
The Guides widget appears on the Knowledge Base Dashboard page template in communities that use the KB Guides feature. The KB Guides feature also enables you to turn on or off guide navigation (table of contents) on the Knowledge Base Article template. To learn more about KB Guides, refer to About KB Guides. Type The KB Guides feature enables you to organize your content either by Guides or by Manually-sorted Articles. Guides: Create a hierarchical structure for listing and ordering articles into Guides and Chapters to enhance organization, improve navigation, and provide a more structured learning experience for users. Manually-sorted Articles: Manually sort knowledge base articles on the KB board in Manage Content > Guides by dragging and dropping them into the desired order. This enables members to view and navigate the content in the sequence you prefer. Layout If you choose Guides for the Type, you can select from the following Layout options: List Card If you choose Manually-sorted Articles for the Type, you can select from the following Layout options: Detailed list List Card Configuration options List style The available List style options for Detailed list and List include: Space: Uses whitespace to create space between items. Divide: Adds a horizontal line to divide items. Border: Creates a border that separates items into individual boxes. Card size and text alignment If you select Card as the Layout type, you can set the Card size (Small, Medium, or Large) and the Card text alignment. Widget title The Widget title sets the title that appears at the top of the widget. If the Visible only to screen readers toggle is enabled, the title remains hidden to most visitors; however, the title information is still relayed to visitors using screen readers. Number of items Use the slider to indicate how many articles or guides (up to 20) can be displayed on the widget. List item/card elements Elements are additional pieces of information that can be displayed along with each item in the widget. The list of available elements changes depending on which layout you've selected. Guides Layout options Description: Description of the KB Guide defined in Manage Content > Guides for the knowledge base Avatar: (Card only) Knowledge Base content type avatar or avatar defined in site structure Manually-sorted Articles Layout options Author: Username of the author of the article Body preview/teaser: (Detailed list and Card) Preview text for the article Image preview: (Detailed list only) A preview of any image(s) in the article Centered card content: (Card only) Article content is centered on the card Media preview: (Card only) Preview of any media included in the article Place: (Detailed list and Card) Board where the article lives Reply count: (Detailed list and Card) Total number of replies to the article Tags: (Detailed list and Card) Any tag(s) associated with the article Timestamp: Time and date the article was published Unread message indicator: (Detailed list only) Total number of unread posts or comments on the article (for example, "1 unread"). View count: (Detailed list and Card) Total number of views the article has received Like count: (Detailed list and Card) Total number of likes the article has received Author rank: (Detailed list and Card) Rank of the author of the article Detailed list and List layouts have an additional Lead with drop-down menu. It enables you to choose to display the item author's Avatar, discussion style Icon, or None along with the item in the widget. Max lines of description text The Max lines of description text slider gives you control over how many lines of text from the post are displayed along with the post in the widget. After the set number of lines, an ellipsis (...) is used. More options Additional options are available at the bottom of the Edit Widget panel. Hide if empty: Hides the widget if there are no articles or guides to be displayed. Include “More Guides” link: Adds a link to the bottom of the widget to enable visitors to display additional items once the Number of items has been reached. Optimize page-load time: Uses lazy loading to load images as the member scrolls down the page. Configuring the Knowledge Base Article content widget In communities that use the KB Guides feature, the Knowledge Base Article widget on Knowledge Base Article templates can be configured to show the guide navigation. To configure the Knowledge Base Article widget for KB Guides: In Designer, go to the Knowledge Base Article template where you want to adjust the widget. Locate the Knowledge Base Article widget and select Settings (gear icon). In the Edit Widget panel, below Guides, turn on or off Show guide navigation. With Show guide navigation on, guides appear on the article page within the widget. With Show guide navigation off, the widget appears as though you do not have the KB Guides feature enabled and does not show a table of contents.Aurora: Text/HTML widget configuration
The Text/HTML widget enables you to create custom content blocks on most page templates. These widgets can be filled with formatted text or HTML. Not only can you use this widget for the currently selected page template, but each Text/HTML widget is saved in a library so that you can assign it to any other page template you edit. Add a Text/HTML widget: Click Add widget (plus icon) where you want to add the widget. In the Add Widget panel, click Text/HTML. Click Add Widget. Add your custom text using the content editor or add HTML source code by clicking More... (... icon) and then the Source code (< > icon) in the editor's toolbar. Enter a Widget name that will be used to identify the widget from the Widget Library (Optional) Enter a Widget description to add more information for the widget in the Widget Library. Click Save. Configure the Text/HTML widget as described in the section below. Configure the Text/HTML widget You can configure the following options: Widget Title: The title that appears at the top of the widget. Visible only to screen readers: When this option is active, the title will remain hidden from most visitors; however, the title information is still relayed to visitors using screen readers. Remove widget background: When this option is active, the background of the widget is hidden so that the section background shows through. Visible To: Use the drop-down menu to indicate whether the widget should be displayed to All Users, Signed-in users, or Non-signed-in users. Optimize page-load time: When this option is active, images load as the member scrolls down the page. Edit Widget Content: Click this to return to the content editor for the widget. Related topics: Custom widget configuration Developer Docs: Introduction to Handlebars ComponentsUsing Aurora Page Templates
The Page Templates area of the Designer empowers you to create customized experiences for your community visitors across several different page types. With page templates, you can add or remove sections and widgets, customize individual page components, and build out a unique experience for each type of page featured on your site—all from a simple, intuitive user interface. For a list and description of available page templates, see About Page Templates. Page Templates vs. Themes The Page Templates tool gives you control over page templates as well as the sections and widgets included within. The Theme, controlled through the Theme editor, applies across all of your page templates. Access the Page Templates tool Authenticated members with roles that grant them permission to use page templates can access the tool by opening the Account menu and clicking Designer. On the Designer page, you can choose between the Theme and Page Templates options. The Theme editor is where you can modify the look and feel of the community. This includes the color scheme, fonts, and other visual elements. The Page Templates editor is where you can select from available page templates to customize the layout and configuration of your community pages. Access a template's edit page Hovering your cursor over one of the items in the Page Templates list reveals Edit and Settings buttons. Opening the Settings menu gives you the option to reset the template's layout to its default settings. Click Edit to go to the template's edit page where you can change its layout, add and remove widgets, preview changes for multiple device types, and publish them to your community. Access another page template within the editor While using the page template editor, you can switch to another page template by selecting it from the page template picker. You can also return to the full page template list by clicking View All Page Templates in the drop-down menu. Basic functionality The page templates feature has tools that make it easy to create, organize, and customize the user experience across your community. Everything you need to create and arrange sections, add and customize widgets, and preview changes for various device types are readily accessible from the main Page Templates interface. Preview and Zoom Page Overview Section and Widget controls Publish changes Preview and Zoom Prior to publishing any changes to your live site, you can not only zoom in on page content, but you can also preview your page templates as they would appear on several common device types. Click the Desktop, Tablet, or Phone icons to see how the page template appears to visitors on the target device type. After you have finished previewing your changes, click the active icon again to return to the editable page templates view. Page Overview The Page Overview presents a list of current sections as they appear on the page template. You can rearrange sections by clicking the dotted lines to the left of each section title and dragging them into a new position. You can add new sections by clicking Add Section. To edit and configure sections, click a section name to go to the Edit Section panel. Section and Widget controls Controls for sections and widgets are located across the page templates tool. 1 – Add section 2 – Section controls 3 – Widget controls For sections, you have many of the same options found on the Page Overview, including section creation, arrangement, and removal. Using the editor, you can arrange, configure, and remove widgets using the widget controls. Clicking the Settings icon opens the widget's options panel, enabling you to configure the widget's settings. With some sections and widgets, you may be prevented from adding, editing, removing, and/or moving content to prevent issues with the page template. For more information, see Create and arrange sections in a Page Template. Publish changes After you have made all of your desired changes, click Publish to make them live in your community, or click Cancel to revert to the original state. When you click Save and Publish, the changes you make are published immediately on any pages using the page template you edited. Related topics: About Page Templates Create and arrange sections in a page template Getting Started with Widgets
