| I love blocks. They add flavor to your site, and they're a great way to remind users of all the great content on your site. PHP-Nuke includes a number of built-in blocks that act as "teasers," alluding to content elsewhere on your site and luring users in.  | Sidebar . FRIDGEAlluding was on my word-a-day calendar today, and I've been dying to use it. Yesterday was antidisestablishmentarianism, and I'm still looking for someplace to wedge that into the text. |
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To use the built-in blocks, go into the Administration menu and click Blocks. You'll see something like Figure 37.1. Figure 37.1. Building a new block for your site. 
Fill in the Title field, but leave the RSS/RDF File URL field blank. You're not creating an RSS block; you're using a built-in block. Those are listed in the File Name drop-down list. These choices are included with PHP-Nuke: Advertising. This block displays banners that were created as block banners (rather than page-wide banners). Big Story of Today. This block displays the title of the most-read article on your site for the day. Categories Menu. This block displays the categories you've defined on your site, allowing users to quickly see articles related to each. Content. This block displays the titles of the items in the Content module. Encyclopedia. This block displays entries from the Encyclopedia module. Ephemerids. This block displays ephemerids, which are those "on this day in 1913" type of trivia bits. You set up ephemerids using the Ephemerids item on the Administration menu. Forums. This block displays the titles of the last several posts in your forums. Languages. This block allows users to select their preferred language for the site. Last 5 Articles. This block displays the five most recent stories from the News module. Last Referrers. This block displays the last few sites that referred people to your Web site. Login. This block provides a shortcut for users wishing to log in, or wishing to register for an account on your site. Modules. This is a "main menu" block, displaying all active modules configured to display in the Modules block. It also displays a link to the home page of your site. Old Articles. This block displays items from the Stories_Archive module. Random Headlines. This block displays random headlines from the News module. Reviews. This block displays items from your site's Reviews module. Search. This block provides a shortcut into the Search module, allowing users to quickly search your site for content. Subscription. This block provides a quick shortcut to your subscription page, which you set up in the site preferences. Survey. This block displays the most recent survey, allowing users to quickly respond to the poll. Top10 Downloads. This block displays the titles of the ten most-downloaded items from the Downloads module. Top10 Links. This block displays the titles of the ten most-visited items in the Web Links module. Total Hits. This block displays the total number of visits, or hits, to your Web site. User Info. This block displays basic information about the user who's logged on.
Pretty neat, huh? What I really like about the built-in blocks is that they help users realize what your site has to offer. A PHP-Nuke site can have a lot going on: Reviews, Content, News, Downloads, and more. Normally, only the Modules block gives any insight into the site's possibilities and features; by using some of these additional blocks, you can hint at the breadth of content and features your site offers, tempting users to explore and check things out. |
