Standard Content Page Structure for Websites

Our standard Content module allows a website administrator to manage the content of the site, but how does it do this? Well, basically, the module takes all the content of the site and conceptually breaks it down into smaller and smaller parts, until we end up with simple blocks of content that can be easily managed.

To start with, we look at the entire site. Quite simply, this is made up of many pages of content, organised into a hierarchical system. So, the SC module allows the administrator to manage the menu system, adding new pages, deleting pages and moving them around within the structure. Then we have the page itself:

The page is divided into incrementally smaller parts like so:

Global Elements

The global elements of the page, as the name implies, are the same on every page on the site. These generally include the logo, menu and copyright notices. These elements generally do not change, and do not need to be managed. The menu will often change according to which page is currently open (eg: the current page might be highlighted), but this is done automatically, and no participation by the administrator is required.

Page Space

This is the part of the page that is available for content. The Content module uses this level to collect meta-data about the page (title, keywords, description, etc.), and to allow the administrator to select a layout for the content of the page.

Template

The template defines how the content of the page is laid out. Templates divide the available page space into columns, each of a distinct width. A system will generally have between two and six templates to choose from. The simplest implementation of a template will have just one column of content which takes up all the available page space. More common is a two column template with one wide column for the main content of the page, and a much thinner column for contextual and supporting information (eg: references, links to similar articles, small photos, etc). More complex structures will often be needed for special pages, like the home page, which may need up to six columns, arranged in rows on the page, to allow for all the elements that make up a good homepage.

Columns

Each column has a fixed width, and acts as a container for content blocks. The blocks stack within the column from the top down, and always fill the entire width of the column. The SC module provides an interface to allow the administrator to manage the columns by adding, moving or deleting blocks within each column in the template.

Content Blocks

Content blocks are the smallest parts of our structure, and these are where the actual content is created, and added to a page. There are many different types of content block, each specifically designed to handle a special kind of content. The most common is the Standard Content Block, which allows the administrator to add copy and format it with headings, images, links and other markup using the TinyMCE editor from Moxiecode. This block will allow almost any kind of content, but some of the more complicated data (eg: rates tables), while possible, are extremely difficult to create without knowledge of HTML. We therefore create other content blocks, defined on a project-by-project basis, to handle the kinds of content that will be used on a site, to make sure that it is as easy as possible for the site-owner to create all the content on the site.

There are a number of content blocks that we use repeatedly in our sites, and I’ll discuss some of those next time.