The scoop site controls (aka 'vars' or 'controls') are small values used everywhere on the site. Some are switches for turning features on and off; configuration information, such as the number of stories to show on the front page; or short bits of text that are inserted into the HTML when the page is generated.
Each individual control comes with a short description of what it does on the site controls page.
Site Controls are accessed from the admin tools box.
There are two ways of editing the site controls: by category or individually.
To edit controls by category, select the category you wish to edit. They are listed in the top portion of the page content area. When
editing controls by category, all controls associated with that category are shown in a three-column list. The name of the control is in the first column, and is also a link that allows you to edit that control individually. The second column is the value of the control; any or all of the controls can have their values changed. The third column is a description of the control, explaining where and how the control is used. The "Save" button at the top and bottom of the list saves all of the values, and the "Reload" button changes them back to the values they had the last time they were saved.
You can edit a control individually by selecting its name from the "Select Variable" drop-down box and clicking the "Get" button, or by clicking its name in one of the category lists. Editing a single control allows you to change all aspects of it. Clicking the "Save" button saves any changes you have made to the control, while clicking the "Get" button fetches the information for the control named in the "Select Variable" box. If changes have been made to the control and it has not been saved, fetching another control (or the same one) with the "Get" button discards the changes.
The "Delete" checkbox, if checked, will delete the control when you save it.
The "Type" drop-down box allows you to choose between "Text", "Number", or "Boolean", depending on what type of information is stored in the control. "Text" type controls generally have their values inserted into the page where their name appears surrounded by vertical pipes. (eg, in a block, |title_font| would be replaced by the value of the control title_font - which happens to be a complete opening font tag) "Number" type controls are usually used when determining things such as the number of stories to display on the front page. "Boolean" type controls are usually on/off switches for various features that scoop supports.
The "Select Categories" box allows you to change which category this control is listed under, or add it to another existing category. A control can be listed in multiple categories.
The "Name" text box contains the name by which the control is referred to in boxes, blocks, and code.
The "New Category" text box allows you to create a new category for filing controls. When you save the control with something in this text box, it creates the category and adds the control you were editing to that category. If you remove all controls from a category (via the "Select Categories" box), the category disappears. Multiple categories can be added together, separated by commas.
The "Value" text box contains the value of the control. (for boolean types: 1 for on, 0 for off)
The "Description" text box contains a description of what the control is for and where it is used.
For pre-existing controls, you probably don't want to change the name of the control because then the site won't be able to find the values it needs. For all controls, use only letters, numbers, or underscores in the name.
None (or all, depending on how you think about it ;)
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