Hi

I want to do something like this( just an example) but for what I
understand so far it seems
strange to me that for the FrontPage I'm gonna need A LOT of k2
modules... is that right?(check the image)

I counted like 16 K2 modules, and is intended to have yet more articles
regions.







Questions
- I see the K2 article layout options(lead, primary, secondary, columns,
etc.) are at Category level which are shown on a Category view... so...
does that mean I can forget those options for a position on the
Frontpage?, that is, for example, for a position on the frontpage to
show 2 article columns, then 4, then etc. is not possible?, am I going
to need a position for each column?, that sounds useless, as I need them
to be from the same category, etc.

- It seems I don't need the component position in the FrontPage, at
least it doesn't show anything as everything is on K2 articles..., but
then I see it shows categories and items on its respective views. Is
that Normal? "component" position displaying nothing on frontpage?

I've been doing websites since 1998 (DreamWeaver, Fireworks, FLASH, PHP,
MySQL, etc.)

I'm new at Joomla but I took my time(weeks) to study it theoretically
and now I'm doing some tests with a simple template just to see how k2
behaves. I know the nature of templates and overrides but haven't yet
used overrides.

So far I have just tested how to show K2 modules on frontpage and its
options

What would be the logical steps?(think of it as a contents table)
- Install joomla
- Install K2
- Create categories
- Create template and it positions(?)
- ¿?? (override... views, layouts..  something)
- ¿¿? create X templates or templates
- ???
- ???

thank you very much

Hi Giorgio,

OK, there is a lot to cover here ;)

Looking at your screenshot, I would say that Modules A, B, C are going to be your leading, primary and secondary, these can be used on the frontpage. These items can be added to a Frontpage category, which uses its own K2 template as it will differ from all the others.
Changes will of course be needed to the php and css files to achieve this. No Modules used needed to achieve this as it just uses the content position.

Modules (D, E, F) and (H, I, J) and (K, L, M, N, O) can be done using the Tabs and Slides module from Joomlaworks or any other that supports K2. So instead of 11 modules, you now have 3

Thats leaves just Module P and G so a total of 5 modules.

I would recommend to setup in the following order, some users will of course do this differently.

Install Joomla
Install Joomla template
Install K2
Create Categories
Create some demo items.
Set Category Options
Add in some modules for structure
Create Extra Field Groups (if needed)
Create Extra Fields
Create k2 template over ride from default
Modify K2 template over ride
Setup User groups

Finally you say "that is, for example, for a position on the frontpage to
show 2 article columns, then 4, then etc. is not possible?, am I going
to need a position for each column?, "
Within any category you can specify the number of leading items and columns, primary and columns, secondary and column. So you could have Leading as 1 column, Primary as two columns and Secondary as two columns.
If you have sub categories you can also have those displayed as well, or limit it to just the parent category by using the catalogue mode.

Hope that helps and is a good start point for you.

Simon
K2 Support

Thank you Simon

It does look very useful, I'm about to dive in on sub/templates and overrides to get the hang of it and grasp the possibilities. I have just poked here and there just to locate some code and see how it behaves when I change something but I still need to check the documentation to have all in place on my mind about the layout/views files location, etc..
About your comments on the LayedOut articles(lead,primary, etc.) on a FrontPage category I'm yet to see what "Frontpage category" exactly refers to, as I have only see those layout options on the Category Edit page. And I see the results just when I click on a Article's Category link..., which takes me to what I think is a Category view.
I'm guessing a Frontpage Category you mean there's a way to have on the FrontPage a position/module that shows a Category based layedout set of articles.

I'm yet to study the documentation on this, at least I already have an idea of how to tweak the Html/Php/Css to suit my needs but if there's an easier way I hope I can see it.

thank you very much again.

Giorgio

With reference to Frontpage Category, I mean create a category call it Frontpage and use it to place any items to be be displayed on the front page.

we have created support documents at K2Joom.com, but we are in the process of a major update and the files are not currently available.

Let me know what other questions you have.

Simon
K2 Support

Giorgio said:Thank you Simon
It does look very useful, I'm about to dive in on sub/templates and overrides to get the hang of it and grasp the possibilities. I have just poked here and there just to locate some code and see how it behaves when I change something but I still need to check the documentation to have all in place on my mind about the layout/views files location, etc..
About your comments on the LayedOut articles(lead,primary, etc.) on a FrontPage category I'm yet to see what "Frontpage category" exactly refers to, as I have only see those layout options on the Category Edit page. And I see the results just when I click on a Article's Category link..., which takes me to what I think is a Category view.
I'm guessing a Frontpage Category you mean there's a way to have on the FrontPage a position/module that shows a Category based layedout set of articles.

I'm yet to study the documentation on this, at least I already have an idea of how to tweak the Html/Php/Css to suit my needs but if there's an easier way I hope I can see it.

thank you very much again.

Giorgio

I see

I'd need to check combinations of how to categorize, filter etc. the articles.
For example, articles need to belong to certain category like Sports, National, etc.
So when someone clicks on "Sports" they can see all the Sports Articles.

I don't see Frontpage as a category because authors need to categorize articles with something relevant.
So frontpage regions will be like of 2 types:
Those showing articles from a specific category(Sports, Showbiz, etc.) with a certain layout(lead, secondary, etc.) and...
Those showing articles from ANY category, most like articles manually specified by author to be shown on those regions, again, with the possibility of having a layout(main, secondaries, tertiaries, etc.).

I'm yet to check how to achieve this, I remember that at module level there's the option to specify which articles to show. So the FrontPage's main article could be from any category(Politics, International, etc.) and that is a must.

2 specific questions...
A)
I see that at Category level the backend offers Layout options like lead, primary, secondary, columns, etc. etc.
Is it possible(and normal) to have on FrontPage more than one Region/Position/Module or whatever that shows this layedout articles? For example.. several articles from Sports layedout/styled differently, then several International articles also with more than one layout?

B)
Once I cleaned up all joomla sample data and categories, I added my own sample categories and articles, I made a simple test template with the usual positions, I created some k2Content modules and assigned them to positions, so the FrontPage was already showing articles where I wanted. I noticed the main content area (jdoc component tag) didn't show anything, so I deleted it and added a module position with its k2module assigned on its place, then I realized once I click on an article or its category.. it didn't work or it "didn't go anywhere".., so I added back the jdoc component tag (just below the "main" module position) and links then worked.
Is it normal the component tag doesn't show something on FrontPage?

Sorry for this questions, I'm most likely to figure it out myself in the next hours because I'm still on the process of exploration.


than you very much for your help.

A) Leading, Primary, Secondary are just ways of displaying the content items from the selected category. They can not be assigned to particular categories, other than the category that they are in.

B) For the main content area, have you set a menu link for HOME that points to a category or item?

Try creating one and testing.

Simon
K2 Support

Giorgio said:I see
I'd need to check combinations of how to categorize, filter etc. the articles.
For example, articles need to belong to certain category like Sports, National, etc.
So when someone clicks on "Sports" they can see all the Sports Articles.

I don't see Frontpage as a category because authors need to categorize articles with something relevant.
So frontpage regions will be like of 2 types:
Those showing articles from a specific category(Sports, Showbiz, etc.) with a certain layout(lead, secondary, etc.) and...
Those showing articles from ANY category, most like articles manually specified by author to be shown on those regions, again, with the possibility of having a layout(main, secondaries, tertiaries, etc.).

I'm yet to check how to achieve this, I remember that at module level there's the option to specify which articles to show. So the FrontPage's main article could be from any category(Politics, International, etc.) and that is a must.

2 specific questions...
A)
I see that at Category level the backend offers Layout options like lead, primary, secondary, columns, etc. etc.
Is it possible(and normal) to have on FrontPage more than one Region/Position/Module or whatever that shows this layedout articles? For example.. several articles from Sports layedout/styled differently, then several International articles also with more than one layout?

B)
Once I cleaned up all joomla sample data and categories, I added my own sample categories and articles, I made a simple test template with the usual positions, I created some k2Content modules and assigned them to positions, so the FrontPage was already showing articles where I wanted. I noticed the main content area (jdoc component tag) didn't show anything, so I deleted it and added a module position with its k2module assigned on its place, then I realized once I click on an article or its category.. it didn't work or it "didn't go anywhere".., so I added back the jdoc component tag (just below the "main" module position) and links then worked.
Is it normal the component tag doesn't show something on FrontPage?

Sorry for this questions, I'm most likely to figure it out myself in the next hours because I'm still on the process of exploration.


than you very much for your help.

Ooohhhhh...,right, I get it.
ok, I've just created a "Home" menu item with Category layout and set it as default...
Now is showing on the frontpage. ok nice.

This is what you meant on your first post.. "Modules A, B, C are going to be your leading, primary and secondary, these can be used on the frontpage. These items can be added to a Frontpage category, which uses its own K2 template as it will differ from all the others."

I hope its templating overrides and Styling are easy to do.. first I need to locate which files and codes are used on this... ha!

I'll keep exploring, doing some tests and learning.


thank you again

K2Joom said:A) Leading, Primary, Secondary are just ways of displaying the content items from the selected category. They can not be assigned to particular categories, other than the category that they are in.
B) For the main content area, have you set a menu link for HOME that points to a category or item?

Try creating one and testing.

Simon
K2 Support

Luckily, I just got K2Joom.com backup and running.
Pop over there and you will see K2 Docs menu.
This is all useful data we created to support K2 Users.

Forum will be closing shortly as we have joined forces with K2 to provide the official support.

Play and enjoy.

Simon
K2 Support