[Wende]

Hi, I’m considering purchasing CMap and the CSV import extension for a school directory. I installed the free version to test out the basics of the setup. I have a couple questions:
1. In my Connections Admin Panel>Settings there’s a dropdown to specify the home page where the directory is located. The dropdown only gives me options for published Pages within my website. But I placed the directory in a Post, not on a Page, and I don’t want it to be on Page. How can I select my directory Post as the Connections home page? If this isn’t possible, then what functionality do I lose by not specifying the Home page in the settings dropdown?
2. For the CSV upload, will I be able to idenfy public, private, or unlisted for each field within the csv file that I feed in?
3. If I have family and individual listings, I see that links to an individuals “Relations” show up on the individual listings. Is there a way to suppress this?
4. Is there a way to move some of the details around in the listing (for example, move the student’s name to above rather than below the photo)

thanks!

[Steven Zahm]

@ Wende

Thanks for your interest in Connections. I’ll try to answer you questions as best I can…

1. You will have to select a Directory Home page, especially if you’re going to use Connections on a post. The reason is that all links Connections creates are based on and resolve to that directory home page. Using Connections on a page is different because all links within the entries will be based on the current page and resolve to the current page. This is actually to support multiple directories; split based on categories for example. The one notable exception to this rule is that the Widget Pack links will always be based on and resolve to the directory home page.

2. Yes, you would add a visibility column to the CSV and then define each row as public, private, or unlisted.

3. The relation links only show when the entry is a Family, there really is not a way to hide this because that is part of the template. Options would include hiding it with CSS or manually editing the template’s PHP file to remove it.

4. The only option here is to manually edit the template’s PHP file. Which template are you currently using where the name is below the photo? I’m tired at the moment but I’m pretty certain one doesn’t exist with that layout. Or, maybe I don’t understand, sorry.

I hope that answers the questions thoroughly!

[Wende]

Hi, thanks so much for your prompt reply!! I have a followup question on #1.

So I understand that it’s important to select a home page in the connections admin>settings dropdown. The trouble is that the Post where I’ve placed the directory is not showing up on the dropdown list. The only options on the dropdown list are the published PAGES on my website (there are just 5 PAGES on my site). So how can I identify the POST where my directory is located as the home page?

I’m currently testing it out with the free bio-card template, in case that impacts your answer. We are considering purchasing one of the premium templates in order to have the category functionality (possibly CMap).

[Steven Zahm]

@ Wende

Yes, you should select a home page and it has to be a page; it can not be a post.

If you’re concerned about it being a easily accessible page, do not put it in your site’s menu. That way the only way to a page when someone clicks on a directory entry link.

[Author]

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