In this section, we will go through the more advanced functionality in Artisteer that enables you to extend the number of template positions generated by default. But before we start, we will learn how to display the available positions and their names in Joomla!. You will need this information to use additional positions efficiently.
To check the position of a Joomla! Template, do the following:
- Log in to the Joomla! administrative panel.
- Navigate to Extension | Template Manager from the menu.
- Click on the Options button on the toolbar.
- Enable the Preview Module Positions option.
- Click on Save & Close.
With this function enabled, go to your page, using the address that is in the format http://address-of-your-site/index.php?tp=1.
You should see your home page, but its name will be displayed in every template position:
Special address displays positions' names and locations in Joomla!
This functionality applies to Joomla!, WordPress, and Drupal templates.
You can add a new position in the header area. This is handy if you need a special position to show in the header's additional menu, image link (logo), and so on. You can add only one position in the header. In our example, we use .artx project from Chapter 2, The Template Step-by-Step:
The new position will be inserted in the place you have clicked. You can move it and resize using the mouse, like any other shape.
Our header with new template position inserted
You can't insert something into this position using Artisteer, but after exporting template to CMS (that is, Joomla!), this position can be used as any another.
Our new, empty position-31 in Joomla!
Some content inserted into our new position (as Custom HTML module, Joomla!)
This functionality applies to Joomla! and WordPress templates.
You can also insert new template positions into the footer. It's very easy. You edit the footer area just like the page's content, inserting new rows and cells, using tools from the Edit tab.
Buttons from Content group on the ribbon's Edit tab work also for the footer
Footers containing many rows and cells won't be exported as one template position, but Artisteer will create new template positions for each cell.
The following screenshot contains an example grid in the project's footer. All cells will be exported as template positions:
The exported footer's cells that are available Widget Areas in WordPress are as follows:
The exported footer's cells that are available module positions in Joomla! are as follows:
This feature, introduced in Artisteer 4.1, shows all the possibilities when you stop to think about the footer as a place not only for inserting copyrights, but when you treat this area as "everything below the main content". There are kinds of websites (especially multimedia portals), in which the layout is a custom grid of different modules/widgets. You can achieve such a template with Artisteer by designing any grid of positions. Remember that the dimensions of template areas adapt to the content they display, and the dimensions of empty areas are zero. According to your needs, you may decide to use one, several, or all areas you have created. You can even decide not to display any article at all, hiding the main Content Area and using only this grid for displaying modules/widgets.