configuring tt_news can be especially tedious. this howto tries to explain which steps to take and where the difficulties lie in installing and using this extension.

download and basic installation

the first step to using the newsletter extension tt_news is to download and install the extension file from the repository. if installation with the extension manager should not work, you might want to consider having a look at the instruction for manual installation.

upon installation changes will be made to the database and tables added. agree to the suggested changes. if you should encounter problems after installing tt_news (fatal error...), check the database correction page.

template preparation

go to the page root and choose the template view. select the "info/modify" option, and click on "click here to edit whole template record". in the flex form, go to "includes" and include the static template "css-based tmpl (tt_news)". in case you should want an rss feed generated from the news, add "news-feed (rss, rdf, atom) (tt_news)" as well.

the pages in the pagetree

once the extension is downloaded and the template prepared, it is time to add pages to the page tree. you will need one sysfolder that keeps news categories and news, and at least two more pages in the tree: one where news are shown as a list, and one where single news are shown in more detail.

you best set up the sysfolder above the website root (name it "news" or something alike), and the page containing the list where it should show up in the menu. install the page containing the detail view (and possibly one for the archive view) as a sub page inside the list page.

now click on the sysfolder "news" to edit the page properties; chose "options" and set "contains plugin" to "news". save the page. if the installation of the plugin is done successfully, the icon in the page tree will switch from the "folder" symbol to a "news" symbol. next set up sample news categories and news (you need that for setting up the front end (fe) plugin later). this can be done in two ways: either by clicking on the news folder icon, selecting "news category" (or "news", respectively); or by changing to the list view and using the "add entry" icon in the right frame. one category should be set up at least, e.g., "general", since every news needs to be assigned to at least one category.

next click on the icon of the empty page that will contain the list of news. select "edit page properties" and set sysfolder "news" to be the general storage page under "options". save to close setting the page properties, and add content to the page: you have to install and subsequently configure the news front end plugin here.

the fe plugin will be the content of this page. choosing this plugin will change the available fields in the flex form. after inserting the plugin, you have to decide on the view of the news you want to have. select "list" for a start, and set the ordering criteria (e.g., "date/time" and "descending). next thing to select are the news categories - this is why setting up categories in the sysfolder should be done in advance. if you want to make sure that only the selected categories are displayed in the page, set the category mode accordingly. the sysfolder is the startingpoint for the news plugin.

the page containing the detailed view of the news (and the one for the archive view as well) have to be set up analogously: install and configure the plugins there.

template setup

go to the root page to modify the template. select the constant editor and start setting up tt_news constants there.

in the "links and target" section, set "pid_list" to the pid of the sysfolder containing the news plugin. "singlepid" and "archive link parameter" are the pids of the respective pages in the tree; "backpid" should just be the pid of the page containing the list view if you don't want to set up something fancy.

this should do about everything for starting the news part of a website.