Core Modules Overview

All of the modules that come installed and configured as part of the PostNuke system are considered core modules. They are fully integrated and tested with each other to ensure the proper operation of your site. In addition, many custom modules, written by other PostNuke site developers, are available for download that can extend the functionality of your default install. These components are considered third-party modules, but be aware they are not guaranteed to work perfectly with your site.

Tip

Development announcements and links to many third-party modules can be found on the PostNuke website at http://mods.postnuke.com/.

Very popular third-party add-ons are often promoted by the PostNuke team, and many have been integrated into the PostNuke core system for distribution with upcoming version releases. The following sections provide short overviews of each of the core modules included with PostNuke.

Add Story

This module adds articles to PostNuke. They can optionally appear on the News page, and articles submitted through this module do not require approval to go live. In addition, a link inside Add Story allows you to review articles currently waiting on approval that were submitted using the Submit News module. See Chapter 5, "Article Modules," for more information on Add Story.

Admin

Admin is a module that creates and controls the Administration Menu.

Admin Messages

Admin Messages are static posts that appear above the changing articles on the News page. The News page is usually the default home page for a PostNuke site, and the Admin Messages are intended to display announcements or other important information to users.

The messages appear on the News page through a block. It is, of course, possible to create other blocks or customize a theme's display to allow Admin Messages to appear anywhere and in any form on the site. See Chapter 5 for more information on Admin Messages.

Autolinks

You can set up special links for keywords you feel are important for your site's users. When a keyword appears on a news article or section page, for example, it is automatically changed to be a hyperlink to the site address you configured in the Autolinks module settings.

Autolinks must be activated for specific individual modules. By clicking Edit under the Actions column on the Modules Management page, you see an Activate Autolinks for This Module check box. Enabling this option and submitting the form associates the linking system to the module.

Although it is a handy feature, the Autolinks module is a known cause of speed reduction for PostNuke sites. If your visitors don't really need the links, it's recommended you disable this module.

AvantGo

AvantGo is a free service that allows a user to have access to a website's news articles and other content through a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or smartphone. The AvantGo module in PostNuke allows your site's information to be served to users using the AvantGo software.

If your visitors do not use PDAs or smartphones to access your site information, this module is best removed. For more information on AvantGo, visit the official site at www.avantgo.com.

Banners

The Banners module is a well-featured advertising system that controls and monitors ads for your site. You can set up client accounts and then define each banner with a run schedule for a given client. Statistics are logged for each banner, including impressions and click-throughs. In addition, your clients can visit your site to see their ads' performance. See Chapter 13, "Money-Making Modules," for more information on banners.

Blocks

The Blocks module controls the existence and appearance of blocks on your site. More in-depth information on blocks can be found at the end of this chapter.

Censor

Objectionable content submitted to your site can be managed using the Censor module. Words added to the censor table are dynamically replaced when they appear on a page. The word shown in place of the questionable words can be changed; by default, five asterisks appear. In addition, you can turn the Censor Mode on or off at any time.

Tip

Keep in mind that anything can be censored, but you have to be specific. Use varied and creative spellings of words with which you are concerned. In addition, you can enter a site name or uniform resource locator (URL) if your site allows open posting and someone keeps spamming his site to your users.

Comments

The Comments module allows visitors to add their own opinions or clarifications to articles. Comments appear below the full article view and can be moderated by users or administrators. The Reviews module also allows comments, but review comments are part of the Reviews module. The Comments module only manages article comments. See Chapter 6, "User Interaction Modules," for more information on Comments.

Credits

Credits is a simple module tool that lists all of the modules currently installed on your site with the version, description, author, documentation, and licensing information provided by the modules' developers. You can link to the module from any menu with {Credits} or by simply using the URL /index.php?module=Credits.

Downloads

Files can be distributed from your site using the Downloads module. You can reference files stored locally on your server or remotely on a different server. Each download can also be rated with user votes. The Downloads module also has support for multiple category levels to group files. The upcoming PostNuke 0.8 will also include a sitewide category system, which will be available for the Downloads module and the very similar Web Links module. See Chapter 6 for more information on Downloads.

Ephemerids

An Ephemerid is something that is short-lived, often used to describe insects. Ephemerids in PostNuke act as a "this day in history" feature, in that you can create entries that appear just for the day in question.

FAQ

FAQ is an acronym that stands for frequently asked questions. Websites often have FAQ pages with helpful content in a question-and-answer format. Users can submit questions to the FAQ module; the questions wait for an administrator to answer them and submit them to the site. The PostNuke FAQ system also allows you to create categories to organize the questions. See Chapter 14, "Support and Statistics Modules," for more information on FAQ.

Groups

Groups are used to define site permissions for user accounts. Their function is similar to every other user groups system; specific users are grouped for easy reference by group name, and resources are restricted or permitted by groups.

By default, PostNuke only comes with the groups Admins and Users, but you can add as many more custom groups as you want. It's also possible to assign permissions to individuals, but, in general, the group system is always preferable. See Chapter 9, "Users and Permissions," for more information on Groups.

Languages

The Languages module allows you to define the primary language for your site. PostNuke can also run in a multilingual mode if you want to have multiple language packs installed simultaneously. Flag images are also included to make language selection easier.

Legal

The Legal module is an integrated part of the core PostNuke system that manages the display of legal information for the site, such as the privacy policy, user registration, access requirements, and terms of use statement. The text for your site can be changed by editing the file /modules/legal/lang/eng/global.php.

Lost Password

This module works with the User module to allow your site's users to retrieve their password if they have forgotten it. PostNuke initiates an email to the user with a confirmation code. The user can then enter the code on your site, and a new password is generated for her account and mailed again to the user's address. The user can log back in with the random password, just as a new user does.

Mailer

The PostNuke Mailer manages the way your site sends email. You can select SendMail, Qmail, SMTP, or the default PHP Mail() for your site's mail transport, and the module allows you to enter in an SMTP username and password to authenticate with a secure mail server.

Mail Users

Administrators can communicate with registered users using the Mail Users module. You have the option to select a specific user to contact or email all registered users with a single check box. Users must have a current valid email address in their account to receive a message, and you must have email capability configured with PHP for your PostNuke site.

Members List

Members List is a simple module that provides directory access to all registered user accounts. Users are listed with their account name, real name, an avatar if one has been selected, and a status marker to show whether they are currently online. If the user entered a personal website URL, a link is available to it. In addition, PostNuke has a built-in message system in which you can enter a message to a user through this module, which is available to him the next time he logs in.

This module also provides search capability. Users can search by nickname, real name, or website URL. Alternatively, all users are browsable through the alphabetical navigation links.

Messages

The Messages module allows personal messages to be sent from one user to another. This is the same message system mentioned in the preceding Members List section.

Modules

The Modules module manages the existence and configuration of all modules in your PostNuke site. To add, remove, update, or edit a module, use this module.

Multisites

Multisites is a complex module that allows you to create multiple PostNuke websites, each with a separate domain and look, but which share some database tables. It allows you to share content between sites on the same server that are otherwise independent. See Chapter 25, "Multisites," for more information.

News

The News module contains the backend functionality to site articles. News items are mainly configured through related modules, such as Add Story and Submit News. See Chapter 5 for more information on News.

New User

The New User module handles the account sign-up and creation for new users to your site. When users register with PostNuke, they must enter basic account information and are emailed their introductory random password to confirm their address. All new user functionality is handled through the New User module. See Chapter 9 for more information on New User.

Past Nuke

This module was written to include administrative compatibility for older PostNuke modules that are no longer available with the current release. This module is disabled by default, and is only important if you need the backward compatibility.

Permissions

Access to all PostNuke content happens through the Permissions module. Groups or individual users can be given authorization for site resources. Each permission setting is ordered with precedence to higher entries. Care must be taken when making changes to this module. See Chapter 9 for more information on Permissions.

pnRender

The pnRender module is a component of the Xanthia Templating Environment (XTE). It's a subclass of the Smarty Templating Engine for PHP (smarty.php.net) and provides a framework for automating and modularizing the presentation of PostNuke modules. All new PostNuke modules should be developed using pnRender, but not all current modules employ pnRender. pnRender itself is used by other modules that depend on pnRender's tools to function. See Chapter 10, "Themes," for more information on pnRender.

Polls

The Polls module adds simple radio button surveys to PostNuke. Although not entirely scientific, the polls might provide some insight into your users and often can be a form of entertaining content. See Chapter 6 for more information on Polls.

Quotes

Quotes blocks added to your site display a random quote and its author from those you have added to the database. The selection is only random; to create an assigned daily quote, try the Ephemerids module.

Ratings

Ratings are available for modules throughout your PostNuke installation. You must enter the configuration screens under the Modules Management page to enable the Activate Ratings for This Module check box.

Ratings can be recorded with a variety of different styles, such as percentage, number out of ten, number out of five, stars out of ten, or the default stars out of five. You can also set security levels ranging from multiple votes allowed from a user to only one vote ever.

Recommend Us

The Recommend Us module allows users to email someone they know about your PostNuke site. This feature is common on many websites and is often called "Send to a Friend." The resulting email simply directs its recipient to visit the source site. See Chapter 13 for more information on Recommend Us.

Referers

A page's "referer" is the link on whichever other page a user followed to get to your site. The misspelling of the term is intentional and part of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) standard. PostNuke counts all HTTP referers, the URL or bookmark where the link originated, and shows the percentage of hits from a given referer.

Reviews

The Review module allows users to submit their opinions about products or places to your site. Ratings, a related web link, and an image can also be included with the review. User-submitted reviews sit in a queue until they are approved for the site. See Chapter 6 for more information on Reviews.

Search

The Search module enables a comprehensive keyword search of all content in your site's database. Returns are grouped by respective content area, such as articles together and reviews together.

Sections

Sections are designed to handle lengthy articles set up by the site administrator. They are intended to be more permanent fixtures to your site, unlike news articles that "get old." You can create multiple sections that act like categories to group your articles. Each section has its own header with an image. See Chapter 5 for more information on Sections.

Settings

The Settings module manages the global PostNuke site settings as described in Chapter 3.

Stats

The PostNuke Stats module provides visitor traffic information similar to most website log systems. The following categories are tracked:

• Browsers

• Operating Systems

• Visitors by Hour

• Visitors by Day of the Week

• Visitors by Month

• Miscellaneous Stats

The final category includes general totaled information, such as total members, stories published, topics, and comments. See Chapter 14 for more information on Stats.

Submit News

Submit News allows administrators to post articles without passing them to the approval queue first, and articles awaiting approval can be reviewed from the Submit News module as well. See Chapter 5 for more information on Submit News.

Template

The Template module is not a real module and only exists as a guide for other developers who want to build their own module. It's not used by PostNuke in an active way. This directory can and should be removed from your live PostNuke site as part of postinstall cleanup.

Top Lists

Similar to the Stats module, Top Lists displays the most popular items for a given set of categories. The default categories listed are as follows:

• Most Read Stories

• Most Commented Stories

• Most Voted On Polls

• Most Active Authors

• Most Read Reviews

The Top Lists module is initially set to show the top ten items for each category, but this number is variable and can be set to anything.

Topics

Topics are categories used to group articles. Each topic is identified by an icon graphic that is displayed with its article. You can create as many different topics for articles as you want. See Chapter 5 for more information on Topics.

TypeTool

TypeTool is a universal WYSIWYG Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) editor for PostNuke. WYSIWYG is an acronym for What You See Is What You Get, and when you enable the TypeTool module in PostNuke, every time you click on a text area form box in the pages of other modules, you have the option to enter a Visual Mode. Choosing "No" keeps the field as standard HTML. Selecting "Yes" converts the text area into a simple WYSIWYG editor where you can click buttons for HTML instead of typing the tags manually.

The editor is handy in environments in which users who don't know HTML are expected to add site content with HTML formatting. It is also compatible with current browsers, including Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Users

The Users module allows you to add new users and edit existing accounts. Through this module, you can also change the way accounts work, such as altering the requirements for registration and adding additional fields to capture more user information. See Chapter 9 for more information on Users.

Web Links

The Web Links module is very similar to the Downloads module. You can enter links to other sites with a title and description for each entry. The Configuration page provides a large variety of other options, such as how many links to display per page, voting and Top Links setup, and whether links can be posted anonymously. The Web Links module also has support for multiple category levels to group links. The upcoming PostNuke 0.8 will also include a sitewide category system that will be available for the Web Links module as well as its cousin, the Downloads module. See Chapter 6 for more information on Web Links.

Wiki

WikiWiki is Hawaiian for "quick." The original WikiWikiWeb system was an online database in which any visitor could make and edit web page content using only a browser. Now shortened to just Wiki, the open website concept is now very widespread.

The open and editable page feature is already built in to PostNuke (by relaxing user permissions), so PostNuke supports Wiki by allowing Wiki formatting characters in content submission forms using a hook that can be enabled for the individual modules that support it. Wiki code can then be used as an alternative to HTML, and for those already familiar with Wiki, it can be much easier to enter content. Wiki formatting is translated and stored as regular HTML.

More information on Wiki and how to use it can be found on the original WikiWiki website at http://c2.com/cgi/wiki/. The PhpWiki formatting rules are hosted on the SourceForge website at http://phpwiki.sourceforge.net/phpwiki/TextFormattingRules.

Xanthia

Xanthia is the core theme module for PostNuke and part of the XTE package. It uses the pnRender module to create a system for managing the appearance of your PostNuke website. Themes created to work with the Xanthia module are specifically labeled Xanthia Themes. PostNuke provides one static theme and six Xanthia themes by default. See Chapter 10 for more information on Xanthia.

XML-RPC

This is the XML-RPC specification for PostNuke. It facilitates the creation of XML-encoded Remote Procedure Calls between PostNuke and other external web services, such as w.Blogger. At this time, the XML-RPC module only works with PostNuke news articles.

Your Account

The Your Account module is another backend system integrated with the user modules. The My Account link on the Main Menu accesses the features of the Your Account module and allows users to change their personal information, including password and email, set their home page, manage comments, or simply log out.