diary of a noob redux

The Default Item-Level Template

Ditto has a single template built in. It is an item-level template which by default is applied to all items in the list:

<div class="ditto_item" id="ditto_item_[+id+]">
<h3 class="ditto_pageTitle"><a href="[~[+id+]~]">[+pagetitle+]</a></h3>
<div class="ditto_documentInfo">by <strong>[+author+]</strong> on [+date+]</div>
<div class="ditto_introText">[+introtext+]</div>
</div>


Sources of Item-Level Templates

There are a number of options for overriding and/or expanding upon what is provided by the default item-level template.

Ditto’s built-in template is defined in the English language file. Each language file can have it’s own default template definition.

When calling Ditto you can use one or more of the five parameters that let you specify specific templates to be used for displaying various items in the list.

&tpl -- The template you specifiy with this parameter will be used by default for all items in the list. This default may be overriden for certain items using the four other template parameters.

&tplAlt -- The template you specifiy with this parameter will be used for every-other item in the list.

&tplFirst -- The template you specifiy with this parameter will be used for the first item in the list.

&tplLast -- The template you specifiy with this parameter will be used for the last item in the list.

&tplCurrentDocument -- The template you specifiy with this parameter will be used for the item (if any) that corresponds to the page that is currently being displayed. One example of how this feature can be used is when using Ditto to display a menu of pages in a sidebar. You may wish the page currently being displayed in the main part of the browser window to be highlighted in the menu.


Where Item-Level Templates are Stored

Ditto’s built-in template is defined in the English language file.

Optionally, each language file can have it’s own default template definition.

When using the Ditto parameters to specify templates, you have three options:

If the value of the parameter begins with "@FILE:", then Ditto expects the rest of the value to be a file pathname that points to a file that includes the indicated template. [Any rules about where the pathname starts, or about the filename extension?]

If the value of the parameter begins with "@CODE:", then Ditto expects the rest of the value to be the template itself (right there in the snippet call).

Otherwise, the value of the parameter is assumed to be the name of a MODx chunk that contains the indicated template.


Placeholders That May be Used in Item-Level Templates

Ditto has built-in definitions for a number of placeholders that you may use in your templates. Extenders may also define placeholders, but this section describes only the ones built into Ditto itself.

You may use any MODx document field as a Ditto placeholder by using a placeholder in this format:

[+document_field_name+]

You may use any template variable that is associated with the document template for the page within which the Ditto call is made, by using a placeholder in this format:

[+template_variable_field_name+]

Note that in previous versions of Ditto, you had to prepend "tv" to the name of the template variable. This is no longer required.

Ditto defines these placeholders that can be used in all item-level templates:

[+title+] -- Contents of one of the document’s title fields. There’s probably an order in which it tries to find a title.

[+summary+] -- Either introtext in full if set, or the first part of content.

[+link+] -- Creates an HTML link to the document corresponding to the item in the list. By the visible title of this link is defined within the current language file. In the English file this is the text "Read more...".

[+author+] -- The name of the MODx user recorded in the document’s createdby field. If this cannot be found, then the name of the root administrator of this MODx installation is used instead.

[+date+] -- The value of the document field specified by the &dateSource parameter. By default createdon is used.



Note that if you wish to create HTML links yourself, you can get the URL to a document with

[~[+id+]~]

which can then be used in the construction of your link, e.g.:

<a href="[~[+id+]~]">[+pagetitle+]</a>

 <div id="newsfeed"> <p><a href="[~[+id+]~]" class="newsroom">[+pagetitle+]</a><br />
             <p class="author">[+date+]</p>
             <p class="author">posted by <a href="#">[+author+]</a> </p>
             <br />            
             <span class="style2">[+introtext+] </span><a href="[~[+id+]~]" class="readmore">
            READ MORE
            </a>
           
			
			</div>

anyone who wishes to comment/reply/interrupt the stream of consciousness