phpWebSite allows an individual or group to
easily maintain an interactive, community-driven
web site.A brief summary of features is
outlined below:
- Easy, web-based administration - minimal
computer experience is needed to maintain
site content.
- Flexible layout control - site page layout can
be changed at anytime.
- Topic-based announcements - organize site
announcements by category with automatic
history rollover.
- Interactive content - visitors can post comments,
submit announcements and web links.
- Full featured event calendar - post events by
category and subcategory in a flexible
cross-referenced calendar.
- Customized user experience - themes allow
each visitor to customize the web site for his
or her preferences or special needs.
- XHTML and WAI compliance - we are
committed to meeting XHTML 1.0 specifications
by our 1.0 release. Current errors are minimal.
Concepts
Templates
Everything in the 1.x series of phpWebSite is
templated using template files and the
Pear HTML_Template_IT templating system.
All the files are strictly html and contain no php.
This allows you to customize every aspect of your
site and allows for some very interesting themes.
These templates can be saved with each theme
as well, allowing you to create a whole new look
and feel for each theme. It also allows you to "inject"
your own text or html directly into module output
without editing any php code. This is one of the
most powerful tools for the web designers out there
who really don't have the time to learn php just to
create a great looking site.
Content Variables
Every module is assigned a content variable by
the layout module. When any page is rendered,
phpWebSite uses these content variables to
position any output received from modules.
When you turn on the box move feature via layout,
you are simply moving content variables around.
Modules
The 1.x series of phpWebSite has a true modular
nature. Every module has it's own files, templates,
installation and version information, and graphics.
phpWebSite itself is really just a main core and
several core modules. During installation, you can
choose to install the core modules only. All other
modules will have to be added by hand via Boost
Some core modules include layout, users, and
boost. Core modules are only deemed core
modules when they provide functionality used by
every other module in the system.
Users
Users in the 1.x series have only one account.
That account can be setup as a default user
account or can be given administrative privileges
to specific modules within the site (granulated
administration).
Modules
Layout Manager
This module allows admins to choose the theme
to use for their phpWebSite. It also allows users
to change that theme so they can have their own
look and feel when they visit your site.
Probably the most powerful feature of the Layout
Manager is the ability to move and change the
"boxes" on your site. Clicking small arrows you
can position any block where you would like.
Site Search
This module is mostly used by other modules to
allow their content to be searchable. If you enter
a module where searching is available, a block
will appear with a search form in it allowing you
to enter and perform searches on that module.
Language Administrator
This module is used to do translations on phrases
found on your site. There is an administrative side
that allows you to actually do the translations
yourself or you can import language files that
someone else provided to you.
User Manager
The user manager does just what the name
suggests. It allows you to create and manage
users and groups and their permissions on your
site. You can also turn on a feature to allow you
to edit the "Modules Menu". You can remove
and move modules around on the menu to suit
your needs.
Announcements
The Announcements module allows you to post
announcements to your site that show up on the
home page. Users can also submit their own
announcements, though they must be approved
by an admin before they will show up on the
mainpage (See Approval Module).
Comment Manager
This module is mostly used by other modules to
allow comment threads to be associated with and
item such as an announcement. Anywhere you see
comments being posted, this module is behind
the scenes, handling all the work needed to track
those comments and their replies.
Link Manager
This module allows you to add and manage links
for your site.
Block Maker
This is the module that allows you to create blocks
for your site. You choose to have these blocks
show up anywhere you wish. You choose modules
that you wish the block to show up in.
Menu Manager
This module allows you to create and manage
multiple menus for your site. On install there is a
default menu created to show the basic format
of an existing menu.
Menus can be hidden and shown depending
on which module is active and links can be
nested and ordered.
Web Pages (formerly PageMaster)
This module allows you to create and manage web
pages for your site. Each page is created a section
at a time. Once created, pages can be added to
the menu very easily and at the admin's leisure.
Form Generator
This module is quite powerful in the right hands.
It allows for forms to be created and saved then
presented to the public or to users who have
accounts on your site. The results saved via the
online form can be exported or viewed via
Form Generator.
Calendar
The calendar module allows you to post and track
events that may be occurring and you want to let
your users know about. With several views and
many attributes that can be assigned to these
events, users are sure to know about upcoming
events if you use this module. Some other features
include fully templated calendar views allowing for
many different styles or formats, repeating events,
and image support.
Boost
This is the module installer for phpwebsite. It
allows admins to install, upgrade, and uninstall
any module in the system. To install a module,
simply place it's files in the ./mod/ directory and
go into Boost. Assuming the developer of the
\ module uses Boost functionality, the module
will show up in the module list and allow you to
choose to install the module.
Security
This module allows you to do some basic security
functions for your site. You can ban IPs or allow
only specific IPs and create and manage custom
error pages.
Branch Creator
If setup correctly, this module allows admins to
create "branch" sites that extend the "hub" site.
Branch sites rely on the same code base as the
hub site. They can be setup to use the same
database as the hub by using table prefixes or
can use their own databases. When a branch
is created there is a basic directory structure
that is created for that branch that contains any
themes, images, or other site specific files.
Debugger
This module is mostly for development use.
It allows you to turn on debugging information
that is useful in tracking down errors in code.
Module Maker
This module is mostly for development use. It
allows you to change any information for a
given module (i.e.: module directory, module
name, session variables, class files, etc.).
Help
The help system provides inline help where eve
a programmer has taken advantage. This
module allows you to edit the help content for
specific modules at any time and you can turn
on and off help for specific modules or site wide.
Approval
This is the central approval body for the
phpWebSite system. Upon visiting this module,
an admin is presented with any user submitted
content that requires approval. With a simple click
of "Yes" or "No" an admin can accept or refuse the
content submitted.
FatCat Categorizer
This module is mostly used by other modules to
handle categorizing their data. You can create or
manage those categories through this module
and categorize all of the information on your site.
FAQ
This module provides an interface to manage a list
of frequently asked questions. Besides from
creating and maintaining FAQ's you can control
Layout view, Sorting and Rating. The module
includes statistics and queries to pinpoint
FAQ's with no activity, low ratings and much more.
Document Manager (formerly FileManager)
This module allows you to manage documents
which can have multiple files associated with it.
Notes
This module provides basic functionality to send
and manage notes to users of the website.
