Boilerplate_XH

Boilerplate_XH facilitates to manage and (re)use text blocks consisting of (X)HTML on CMSimple pages. This way, you write some text once, and can reuse it on several pages. Actually boilerplate() is very similar to newsbox(). But while newsbox() is working with hidden CMSimple pages, boilerplate() stores its content in separate files. So you can use this feature to keep your content.htm small by replacing the complete page content with a Boilerplate_XH text block.

Please do read this documentation before you encounter any problems!

Important Notice

Boilerplate_XH couldn't be tested so far in various environments. It is a so called release candidate. Use with caution!

Requirements

Boilerplate_XH is a plugin for CMSimple_XH. It requires a UTF-8 encoded version.

Installation

The installation is done as with many other CMSimple_XH plugins. See the CMSimple_XH wiki for further details.

Backup the data on your server.
Unzip the distribution on your computer.
Upload the whole directory boilerplate/ to your server into CMSimple_XH's plugins directory.
Set write permissions to the subdirectories config/, css/, languages/ and the plugin's data folder.
Switch to Plugins → Boilerplate in the back-end to check if all requirements are fulfilled.

Note that the boilerplate data files may be accessed directly by requesting their URL. A .htaccess file to prohibit this is already contained in the default data folder. For other servers or for custom data folders you have to take care for yourself that these data are protected from non authorized access.

Settings

The plugin's configuration is done as with many other CMSimple_XH plugins in the website's back-end. Select Plugins → Boilerplate.

You can change the default settings of Boilerplate_XH under "Config". Hints for the options will be displayed when hovering over the help icon with your mouse.

Localization is done under "Language". You can translate the character strings to your own language (if there is no appropriate language file available), or customize them according to your needs.

The look of the Boilerplate_XH can be customized under "Stylesheet".

Usage

You can manage your text blocks in admin mode; go to Plugins → Boilerplate → Text Blocks. The usage should be pretty much self explaining, but some notes might be appropriate:

The text blocks' names can be choosen arbitrarily, but may contain only lowercase letters (a-z), digits (0-9), underscores and hyphens.
The inputs at the right are containing the appropriate plugin call. Just click them once and copy the selection to the clipboard for later pasting on a CMSimple_XH page.
From CMSimple_XH 1.5.2 on, the text blocks can be edited with the same editor that's used for editing CMSimple_XH pages. In older versions only a textarea is available.
From CMSimple_XH 1.5 on, you can use plugin calls in the text blocks, so you can nest the text blocks or call any other plugin you like.

Inserting of a text block on a page is done with the following plugin call:

{{{PLUGIN:boilerplate('NAME');}}}

Replace NAME with the name of an already defined text block. The easiest way is to copy&paste the plugin call from Boilerplate_XH's administration.

Note that using boilerplate() in the template is possible, but for performance reasons using newsbox() instead is preferable.

License

Boilerplate_XH is licensed under GPLv3.

Credits

Boilerplate_XH was inspired by rühgallisaniener and Hoffmann5928.

The plugin icon is designed by Mart (Marco Martin). Many thanks for publishing this icon under GPL.

This plugin uses free applications icons from Aha-Soft. Many thanks for making these icons freely available.

Many thanks to the community at the CMSimple_XH-Forum for tips, suggestions and testing.

And last but not least many thanks to Peter Harteg, the "father" of CMSimple, and all developers of CMSimple_XH without whom this amazing CMS wouldn't exist.