Documentation Wiki

Installing Extensions

PostNuke has a wide range of extensions of extensions available through the extensions database∞. This page instructs you on how to install the modules, blocks, themes and plugins you download.

Modules

It is very likely that you will want to add some of the huge extra functionality provided by third party modules to your site. To do this you will need to install, and configure modules. The procedure for this is quite simple, as most modules follow a similar install procedure, some modules however are different, and it is recommended you always read the documentation provided with any module you download.

To install a third party module, first download it. A wealth of modules can be found at http://community.postnuke.com/module-Database-main-tid-3.htm∞. All modules are kept in the /modules directory of a PostNuke install, so you will need to extract the files on your local hard drive, and then upload the files, to your modules folder. Make sure that the directory structure is correct, it should look like this: modules/modulename/. Inside the directory should be files such as pnadmin.php, pnuser.php and pninit.php. There should also be a number of sub-folders, these should remain as they are.

Once you have uploaded your module, you will need to use the ‘Modules’ administration module to initialise and activate the new module. To use the Module administration, click on the administration link when you are logged in, and navigate to the Modules area of the administration panel, this allows for the installation, activation, and deactivation of modules of the modules you have in your modules directory. First click the 'Regenerate' link at the top of the page to bring up any new modules you added since you last regenerated. Initialise and activate the new module, most modules will have an administration interface which will appear when your module is activated. To check that it has installed correctly, navigate back to the administration menu, and look for a new link relating to your module. To begin configuring the module, click this link.

Themes

Getting AutoTheme? to work with your PostNuke site: a tutorial on How to create a brand-new AutoTheme? block and implement it

Note: This has been tested on PN 0.762 and 0.764, and with AutoTheme? Lite (0.87).

1.Go to the PN Admin page. In System, Blocks, create a new block, as follows:
(This example uses Core/Generic menu because I find it's the most useful block.)
Fill in the fields of the Add block form as follows:
Title: aPostNukeBlock?
Block: Core/Generic menu
Position: Left
Collapsible: Yes
Default state for block: Expanded
Language: English
Click Update.

2.When the Display and Content panels open below, fill in one line, as follows:
Title: aMenuItem?
URL: #1
(this is just a dummy link to use for the time being).
Description: Leave this blank for now.
Click Update.

3.Still in the PN Admin page, go to 3rd Party, AutoTheme?. Choose the name of the theme you want to use from Themes, then Configure.

1. Click the Block Areas menu. In the Add Block Area box at the bottom of the page, give it the name anAutoThemeBlock? then click the Add button.
2. Now use a text editor to create an html file that will hold the content of this new block. Call it newHTMLBlock?.html. At the top of this file, type <!-- [block-content] -->. Save this file in the themes/your_AutoTheme_name directory (where all the other AutoTheme? templates are).
3. Still in the PN Admin page, in 3rd Party, AutoTheme?: make sure your_AutoTheme_name is selected, then click the Theme Defaults menu, followed by the Block Control menu. The new PN block you created in Step 1 – aPostNukeBlock? – will appear somewhere in the column on the left, under the column heading Block. Notice that in the next column, under the column heading Block Area, the value Left is displayed in a drop-down list. (AutoTheme? simply takes this from PostNuke's System, Blocks setting, which we left as Left in Step 1.) In this drop-down list, change this value by selecting anAutoThemeBlock?, which you created in Step 2a. Also check that in the far-right column, under the column heading Enable, the radio button is set to Yes. Click the Save button at the bottom of the page.
4. Still in the PN Admin page, in 3rd Party, AutoTheme? click the Theme Defaults menu again. On the left, under the column heading Default Theme Templates, you'll see your new AutoTheme? block's name, anAutoThemeBlock?, followed by the word Blocks. In the next column, under the column heading File name, select the name of the html file you created in Step 2b – newHTMLBlock?.html – from the drop-down list.

From the third column, under the column heading Show Block block by default, click the Yes radio button.
Click the Save button at the bottom of the page.

4.In your theme template, which will be called theme.html unless you've created a different one, type <!—[anAutoThemeBlock?-blocks]--> wherever in the template you want your new menu to appear, and save your changes. Note that what you typed is the name of the new block area you created in Step 2a, followed by –blocks.

5.Finally: what did you want to have displayed inside this new menu block? I use Pagesetter a lot, so the example I'll give is of a link to one of my Pagesetter publications.

Go back to the PN Admin page, to System, Blocks, and edit the block called aPostNukeBlock?, by replacing the dummy link #1 under the column heading URL with a Pagesetter url, e.g.: index.php?module=pagesetter&func=viewpub&tid=1&pid=1
(Obviously you replace tid=1 and pid=1 with the relevant numbers for your Pagesetter publication.)
Click Update.

When you refresh your website in the browser, you should see the menu aMenuItem? appear. When you click on this, it'll take you to your Pagesetter publication.

End of Tutorial

Blocks

Blocks are small additions that display data to site users in some way; typically along the side of a Postnuke page. Most often, blocks are included with modules, such as a block that display the latest posts from PNForum. However, occasionally you will see stand-alone blocks that do not come with a module. The instuctions for installing a stand-alone block are below:

1. Download and extract the block files into the directory <your site>/includes/blocks.
2. Upload the block file.
3. In your administration panel, go to the Blocks section. You should now see a list of existing blocks.
4. Click [New block] and you will be presented with a list of options for the block you want to create. The options are explained below
5. When you are satisfied with your choices, click [Update] and the block will now be created. Note that you will now be presented with a Modify block form to make changes if something went wrong. If everything looks ok, just click [Update].

• Title: This is what will appear above the block on your site.
• Block: Here is where you will select the block type you want to create.
• Position: You can choose where you want the block to appear on your site: Left side, right side or center.
• Collapsible: If you want your site users to be able to "hide" this block from view, select Yes. This is similar to minimizing and maximizing windows.
• Default state for block: Choose whether you want the block to initially appear collapsed (hidden) or expanded.
• Language: Choose the language that the block should display in or select All

Plugins

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UserDocs

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CategoryUserDocs