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- PHP-Nuke Blocks System
- ======================
-
-
- Since PHP-Nuke 5.1 you can add new blocks by simply copying the blocks
- files into its directory /blocks/.
-
- Please read this doc carefully and remember that this system, as the whole
- PHP-Nuke comes without any warranty and all you do from here is under
- your own responsability and risk. Always remember to backup your
- database and all your files before doing anything.
-
-
- ====================================
- 1.- Introduction to Use Block Files
- ====================================
-
- We start on the "blocks" directory where you can add or delete all the
- blocks' files you want.
-
- The filenames under /blocks/ dir have two rules to work properly:
-
- a) All spaces are filled with "_", so if you have a block called for example
- Quote of the Day, your filename need to be: block-Quote_of_the_Day.php
- Note the "block-" at the begining of the filename and the ".php" extension,
- both are needed in order to properly add a block from the administration.
-
- b) All blocks needs to return a variable with the content called $content,
- you can see the Sample Block included.
-
- All files in this directory that start with "block-" and have the .php extension
- will be included in the selection form in the administration interfase, otherwise
- you will not see anything.
-
- To add the new block, go to administration interfase and select your new block
- from the "Filename" field in the Blocks section.
-
- If you don't write a Title for your block, by default the system will get the
- title from the filename stripping the "_" characters and converting it into spaces.
-
- If you created a block and then you delete the file, the system automaticaly will
- show an error message on your block, also if there isn't any content in the $content
- variable from your file.
-
- When install a new block please be sure that the blank spaces on the filename
- are replaced with "_", for Example: The_Weather. The filename is case sensitive,
- this mean that isn't the same the_weather and The_Weather. The "_" character is
- replaced automaticaly by a blank space when the block appears in your site. So
- "The_Weather" block filename name will be changed to "Web Links". All this is
- valid only if you don't set a title for your block when you add it.
-
- Also, please read the block instructions that will be included by the block author
- for installation purpouses.
-
-
- =====================================
- 2.- Information for Blocks Developers
- =====================================
-
-
- Making a new block with this system is very easy. Developer just need to know
- a few rules:
-
- a) On each addon file please remember to add the following code as the first
- lines:
-
- if (eregi("block-Sample_Block.php",$_SERVER['PHP_SELF'])) {
- Header("Location: index.php");
- die();
- }
-
- This is to avoid direct access to the block file, so users only see it in a
- block on your site.
-
- b) You can make whatever you want into a block like database queries, include
- another file from the block, use HTML code, Forms, PHP code, Java, Javascript,
- Perl, Flash, etc.
-
- c) You have limited width space to show the block content. This limit is set by
- the blocks width defined in your site's theme, note that if you include a big
- image your site will look like something horrible :-P
-
- d) On the Blocks filename do not use blank spaces, instead use the character
- "_". For example if you want to create a block called "The Web Ring", the
- filename will be "The_Web_Ring".
-
- e) Anything you do in the block you need to return a value. This value will be
- stored in a variable named: $content
- You can see the Sample Block to have the idea.
-
-
- Hope that you enjoy this new feature of PHP-Nuke.
-
- =============================================================================
-
- NOTE: To stay under HTML 4.01 Transitional standard is very important that
- you substitute all "&" characters in the URLs with "&" tag. So, for
- example, the URL:
-
- <a href="modules.php?op=modload&name=FAQ&file=index">
-
- need to be written:
-
- <a href="modules.php?op=modload&name=FAQ&file=index">
-
- and do not use FONT or LI tags (for example) let the CSS do this for you,
- without this, your pages will not validate as HTML 4.01 compatible.
-
- =============================================================================
-
- Have fun now!