Using 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. Page Templates vs. Themes Access the Page Templates tool Access a template's edit page Basic functionality 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 theDesignerpage,you can choose between the Theme and Page Templates options. The Themeeditoris 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 listreveals Edit and Settings buttons. Opening theSettingsmenu gives you the option to reset the template's layout to its default settings. Click Editto 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 Templatesin 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 theDesktop, 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 theEdit 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 clickSave andPublish, 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 WidgetsAurora: Create and arrange sections in a page template
The Page Templates builder enables you to create and arrange sections within your page templates, which provide a location for widgets to be assigned within the page. Sections can be static or dynamic, giving you the power to create, organize, and reorganize them as needed. Sections are essentially display shelves for widgets that you want to appear on pages assigned to the page template. Create a new page section Change the display order of sections Remove sections from a page template Configure page sections Configure section options Layout Title and Description Background Color Background Image Background Image Appearance Some page templates include widgets that provide the core content needed for that template to function as intended. To prevent these sections from being mistakenly edited or deleted, Aurora Designer automatically locks sections that contain the following content widgets: Blog Post content Knowledge Base Article content Forum Discussion content Idea content Event content This means that for Blog content and Event content: The section cannot be edited or deleted. The main content widget cannot be deleted. Widgets cannot be added, edited, or removed from the section. The widget type cannot be changed. Widgets cannot be moved in or out of the section. And for Forum, Knowledge Base, and Idea content: The section cannot be deleted. The main content widget cannot be deleted. Widgets cannot be moved in or out of the section. (However, the widgets can be moved within the section.) For example, here we see that there are no configuration options for the Blog post section (bottom right in image) but we still have partial control over the Knowledge Base article widget (top left in image) and complete control over the Related Content widget. Create a new page section On any page template, you can add a new section to a page in two ways: Click Add sectionin thePage Overview panel on the left. Click Add section(plus icon) within the preview of the page template content. Change the display order of sections You can reorder sections of the page template from the Page Overview. Just drag and drop the listed sections using the dotted, vertical lines to the left of each section. You can also move an item up or down one level by clickingUpand Down(arrow icons)located in the toolbar to the left of each section. Remove sections from a page template You can remove sections from the page by clickingDelete (trash can icon) located in the toolbar to the left of each section. Note: Deleting a section removes the section and any widget(s) contained within. Any widgets that were in that section need to be recreated elsewhere. Configure page sections Each section comes with its own set of options that you can configure using the Edit Section panel. You can access the configuration panel in two ways: Click the section in the Page Overviewpanel. ClickSettings(gear icon) beside the desired section in the page preview. Configure section options Each section has a series of configuration options available. After changes are made in the Edit Section panel, you can save them by clicking Save and Publish button in the upper-right corner of the page template. You can configure the layout, title and description, background colors, and background images. Layout The Layout options enable you to add columns to your section so you can place widgets in 1-, 2-, or 3-column layouts. In addition to an equal-width 2-column layout, you can also instead select one with a wider right or left column. Title and Description The Title and Description of the section is optional.If theVisible only to screen readersis not turned on, the title and description appear in the community. If thetoggle is active, the title remains hidden from most visitors; however, it is still relayed to visitors using screen readers. When the Visible only to screen readers option is not turned on, the color picker andtext alignmentoptions can be designated for the Title and Description. Background Color Each section can have its own background color. The colors available are determined in the community's theme. A transparent background uses the page's background color. 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. Changing the background color of a section can change the way widgets inside the section look. It can add a colorful pop to your content or provide a subtle difference in shades that make it easier to tell sections apart. Background Image You can add aBackground Imageto the background of the section. It is displayed over the background color. To upload a new background image: Click Add(plus icon). Click Upload Image and choose a PNG, JPEG, or SVG file from your local drive to upload. Alternatively, clickSearch for an Image. After you have selected an image file, you are presented with a series of options. Background Image Appearance After you have selected a background image, you can refine how it appears using the Background Image Appearance options. The Size of the image display can be set to Cover, Auto, or Contain. Cover: Fit the image to the section vertically. Auto: Automatically adjusts the image to fit in the background. Contain: Fit the image to the header section horizontally. The Position setting sets the general position of the background image as it relates to the header. Options include: Center Center Center Top Center Bottom Left Center Left Top Left Bottom Right Center Right Top Right Bottom If your background image is meant to tile (continuously repeat), you can use the Repeat options to configure the behavior you want. Options include: No Repeat Repeat (tile) Repeat X (horizontally) Repeat Y (vertically) To edit or remove a background image: ClickEdit(pencil icon). ClickUpload ImageorSearch for an Imageto select a new image. ClickRemove Imageto delete the image from the background.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.
