Part III: Working with Components, Modules, and Plugins 368 To add a Banner module to your site, follow these steps: 1. Go to the Extensions menu and select the Module Manager option. The Module Manager loads in your web browser. 2. Click the New icon on the toolbar at the top of the Module Manager. The New Module dialogue opens. Refer to Figure 17.2. 3. Select the Banner option and then click the Next button. The Banner dialogue loads in your web browser. 4. In the Title field, type a name for the module. This field is a required. 5. Set the option Enabled to Yes. 6. Set the Position control to assign the module to a position on the page. 7. Set the Menu Assignment to specify the pages upon which the module appears. 8. Select any additional options or parameters you wish; all other fields are optional. 9. Click the Save icon on the toolbar at the top right to save your new module. The sys- tem creates the module, closes the dialogue, and returns you to the Module Manager. Tip Sites frequently employ more than one instance of this module, because running multiple Banner modules allows you to run ads in different positions and on different pages. With the available parameters and the abil- ity to run multiple instances, it is possible to get quite a bit of variation out of this module. Copying an existing Banner module is the fastest way to create multiple modules. Cross-Reference See Chapter 12 for information on implementing the Banner module. Breadcrumbs module The Breadcrumbs module of your Joomla! system is responsible for the display of the breadcrumbs trail on your web site’s pages, as shown in Figure 17.9. A breadcrumb trail is a position marker, in the sense that it shows users where they are in the site, and provides a way for users to navigate back or up to higher levels in the site’s hierarchy. Note The system name for this module type is mod_breadcrumbs. The Parameters section is divided into two sections: Module parameters and Advanced parameters, as shown in Figure 17.10. Chapter 17: Working with the Site Modules 369 FIGURE 17.9 The Breadcrumb module’s output, viewed from the front end of the site. The Breadcrumb module The Module parameters section contains the following options: l Show Home: Choose whether the breadcrumb always includes a link back to the home page. The default setting is Yes. l Text for Home entry: Type the label you want to appear for the home page entry in the breadcrumb trail in this field. The default setting is Yes. Note this control is dependent upon the previous, Show Home. Where Show Home is set to No this field has no func- tion. l Show Last: Choose whether the breadcrumb always includes the current page. The default setting is Yes. l Text Separator: Select a keyboard symbol to be used to separate entries on the bread- crumb trail. If this is left blank the system uses the default separator, “>>” l Module Class Suffix: This field allows you to specify a suffix that will be automatically appended to all CSS styles that affect this module. The use of a specified suffix makes it possible for you to style this module individually. Part III: Working with Components, Modules, and Plugins 370 FIGURE 17.10 The Breadcrumbs module parameters. The Advanced parameters section contains only one option, Caching, and it is permanently set to Never. This option cannot be changed. To add a Breadcrumb module to your site, follow these steps: 1. Go to the Extensions menu and select the Module Manager option. The Module Manager loads in your web browser. 2. Click the New icon on the toolbar at the top of the Module Manager. The New Module dialogue opens. Refer to Figure 17.2. 3. Select the option Breadcrumbs and then click the Next button. The Breadcrumb Module dialogue loads in your browser. 4. In the Title field, type a name for the module. This field is required. 5. Set the option Enabled to Yes. 6. Set the Position control to assign the module to a position on the page. Chapter 17: Working with the Site Modules 371 7. Set the Menu Assignment to specify the pages upon which the module will appear. 8. Select any additional options or parameters you wish; all other fields are optional. 9. Click the Save icon on the toolbar at the top right to save your new module. The sys- tem creates the module, closes the dialogue, and returns you to the Module Manager. Tip While the Breadcrumbs module is an easy way to improve the navigation and usability of your site, if you are using third-party components, you should check your Breadcrumb output because some components may not produce the result you expect. Breadcrumb output can also be a bit confusing where you use your menu items to link to pages deep inside your site. In that case, the user with one click may penetrate several layers inside your site. The result will be a long and complex breadcrumb trail that may be confusing to some users. Custom HTML module The Custom HTML module allows you to create modules that contain HTML code and then posi- tion those on your pages. This useful option allows you to integrate outside functionality, like an affiliate link, or a PayPal button or to display content in a sidebar or other module position. Note The system name for this module type is mod_archive. The Custom HTML module dialogue varies from other module types. The important difference is the presence of an additional section on the workspace, as shown in Figure 17.11. The section is labeled Custom Output, and it provides you with a field for inputting whatever you want this module to display. Note that you can add to this module type text, images, or pure HTML. If you have a WYSIWYG Editor enabled on your site, the Custom Output section will display the WYSIWYG toolbars. Tip Some WYSIWYG Editors, including Tiny MCE, restrict your ability to enter certain HTML tags. Accordingly, if you want to work in HTML unhindered by restrictions, you should visit the Global Configuration Manager and set the option for the control Default WYSIWYG Editor to No Editor. After you have saved your module, you can switch the WYSIWYG Editor back on. The Parameters section contains only the Module Class Suffix control, which allows you to specify a suffix that will be automatically appended to all CSS styles that affect this module. The use of a specified suffix makes it possible for you to style this module individually. Part III: Working with Components, Modules, and Plugins 372 FIGURE 17.11 The Custom HTML module dialogue. Note this module dialogue includes a unique section labeled Custom Output. In this example, the TinyMCE WYSIWYG Editor is enabled. To add a Custom HTML module to your site, follow these steps: 1. Go to the Extensions menu and select the Module Manager option. The Module Manager loads in your web browser. 2. Click the New icon on the toolbar at the top of the Module Manager. The New Module dialogue opens. Refer to Figure 17.2. 3. Select the option Custom HTML and then click the Next button. The Custom HTML Module dialogue loads in your web browser. 4. In the Title field, type a name for the module. This field is required. 5. Set the option Enabled to Yes. 6. Set the Position control to assign the module to a position on the page. 7. Set the Menu Assignment to specify the pages upon which the module will appear. 8. Enter your content in the field marked Custom Output. 9. Select any additional options or parameters you wish; all other fields are optional. 10. Click the Save icon on the toolbar at the top right to save your new module. The sys- tem creates the module, closes the dialogue, and returns you to the Module Manager. Chapter 17: Working with the Site Modules 373 Tip This module type should be thought of as simply the custom content module. Despite the name, entering cus- tom HTML is only one thing you might do with this module type. This is a catchall module category that has quite a bit of utility for a site administrator who needs to create placeholders for a variety of content that does not fit neatly into one of the other module types. If you use your site actively, you will mostly likely find that you will use this Module one or more times. Cross-Reference Chapter 7 contains a discussion of using modules to display content on a site. Feed Display module The Feed Display module type is used to create a module that contains content obtained from an RSS feed, as shown in Figure 17.12. The module allows you to input a feed URL and specify the output for the front end of your web site. You select from the available module positions to display the contents on the front end of the site. The system automatically retrieves and refreshes the feed data. Note that this module is independent in functionality and not associated with the News Feed Component. FIGURE 17.12 The output from a Feed Display module. Field Display module Part III: Working with Components, Modules, and Plugins 374 If you have installed the Joomla! sample contents, you will find a module named Feed Display. The module is linked to the Joomla! Community blog, but it is unpublished. Note The system name for this module type is mod_feed. The Parameters section is divided into two sections: Module parameters and Advanced parameters, as shown in Figure 17.13. The Module parameters section contains the following controls: l Module Class Suffix: This field allows you to specify a suffix that will be automatically appended to all CSS styles that affect this module. The use of a specified suffix makes it possible for you to style this module individually. l Feed URL: The address of the feed. Typically this begins with http://. This field is required. l RTL Feed: If your feed reads right to left, set this option to Yes. l Feed Title: Controls whether to display the title of the feed, as supplied by the source of the feed. l Feed Description: Controls whether to display the description of the feed, as supplied by the source of the feed. l Feed Image: Controls whether to display the image associated with the feed, as supplied by the source of the feed. l Items: Specify an integer value to control the number of feed items that will be displayed in the module. The default is 3. l Item Description: Controls whether to display the description of the feed item, as sup- plied by the source of the feed. l Word Count: Specify an integer value to control the length of the feed item shown. Set the value to zero to show the entire item. The Advanced parameters section contains caching options for the module: l Caching: This control allows you to exempt a specific module from the site’s caching, as set in the Global Configuration. Select the option No Caching to prevent the contents of this module from being cached. The default setting is No Caching. l Cache Time: Specify an integer value for the number of minutes the system will store the module contents before refreshing. To add a Feed module to your site, follow these steps: 1. Go to the Extensions menu and select the Module Manager option. The Module Manager loads in your browser. 2. Click the New icon on the toolbar at the top of the Module Manager. The New Module dialogue opens. Refer to Figure 17.2. Chapter 17: Working with the Site Modules 375 3. Select the option News Feed and then click the Next button. The Feed Module dia- logue loads in your web browser. 4. In the Title field, type a name for the module. This is a required field. 5. Set the option Enabled to Yes. 6. Set the Position control to assign the module to a position on the page. 7. Set the Menu Assignment to specify the pages upon which the module will appear. 8. Specify the address of the feed source in the field labeled Feed URL. 9. Select any additional options or parameters you want; all other fields are optional. 10. Click the Save icon on the toolbar at the top right to save your new module. The sys- tem creates the module, closes the dialogue, and returns you to the Module Manager. Tip The use of modules to hold feed data is a common and effective technique for displaying feed content on your web site. You can set up multiple modules to pull content from multiple sources and then match the module placement to pages that contain relevant content. FIGURE 17.13 The Feed Display module parameters. Part III: Working with Components, Modules, and Plugins 376 Cross-Reference I cover the use of modules to bring external content into your site in more detail in Chapter 7. The News Feeds component is covered in Chapter 14. Footer module The Footer module type serves no purpose other than to generate and display a Joomla! copyright notice, as shown in Figure 17.14. The module cannot be controlled other than to limit its display to particular positions or pages. The default Joomla! installation comes with a Footer module, published in the Footer module posi- tion on each page. Note The system name for this module type is mod_footer. The Parameters section contains only one option: Caching, as shown in Figure 17.15. This control allows you to exempt a specific module from the site’s caching, as set in the Global Configuration. Select the option No Caching to prevent the contents of this module from being cached. The default setting is Use Global. FIGURE 17.14 The Footer module, viewed from the front end of the site. Footer module . sections: Module parameters and Advanced parameters, as shown in Figure 17 .10 . Chapter 17 : Working with the Site Modules 369 FIGURE 17 .9 The Breadcrumb module’s output, viewed from the front end of. Figure 17 .11 . The section is labeled Custom Output, and it provides you with a field for inputting whatever you want this module to display. Note that you can add to this module type text, images,. makes it possible for you to style this module individually. Part III: Working with Components, Modules, and Plugins 372 FIGURE 17 .11 The Custom HTML module dialogue. Note this module dialogue