[Steven Zahm]

@ Louise

re: The individual photo sections are too big. How do I resize so that I get the most photos on the page.

The image size is adjustable. Making a smaller image would allow more entries per row. The number per row also depends on the theme’s page content width. Here’s the doc page:

http://connections-pro.com/documentation/template-doc/gridder-shortcode-options/

Scroll to the Configuring the Grid : Grid Size section for detailed instructions on changing the image size.

re: The + sign does not open an excerpt page prior to viewing the individual profile page like the website above. When I click on the + sign, nothing happens. I would like that functionality.

This is very likely the cause of javascript failing on your website. This is nearly always being caused by the theme or another plugin. Since you did not share a link to your directory page with me I am not able to give more specific advice than this…

Open the page in Chrome, hit the F12 key and then click the Console tab. All page rendering errors will be listed here as well as javascript errors. The file name may give you insight as to what is causing the error. If it does not, then mouse hover the cursor over the filename, the file path will then be shown. You can nearly always identify the plugin causing the error. After you do, deactivate the offending plugin and then the + sign should functions it should.

re: Where do I choose what will show up in the excerpt?

You do not choose. This is created from the bio field. You can choose the length of the excerpt. Here is a link to the doc page:

http://connections-pro.com/documentation/template-doc/gridder-shortcode-options/

Scroll to the Configuring the Panel : Panel Excerpt section for detailed instructions.

re: The individual pictures are extremely small on my directory page. How do I adjust the size of the actual pictures to fit the individual sections?

This is confusing because your first question said they are too large. Can you please provide more details and share a link to your directory page so I can see what you mean?

re: Also, I would like the number of pages as shown by the website above to show on my display page. How do I get that functionality?

The pagination feature is off by default but can easily be turned on. Here is the link to the doc page:

http://connections-pro.com/documentation/template-doc/gridder-shortcode-options/

Scroll to the Configuring the Optional Features : Pagination section for the instructions on how to enable the pagination.

Hope that helps!

[Steven Zahm]

@ Ze’ev Ionis

Great to hear!

[Steven Zahm]

@ indy1003

This is designed to display only a single number whether it be the “Preferred” number or the first of several. All numbers are shown on the profile page. The only way to change this would be to edit the PHP of template. If this is something you are comfortable doing, I can give you instructions. Let me know.

[Steven Zahm]

@ Angela

Until the release of version 8.4 featuring the Template Customizer there is no way to turn this off. That said, you can use CSS to hide it. Add the following to the theme’s custom CSS area if it has one. If it does not, then I recommend this plugin for custom CSS.

#cn-card span.cn-last-updated {
    display: none !important;
}

If you opt to hide it using CSS, the option Template Customizer will not have any effect until the CSS is removed. It will simply stay hidden no matter the option setting in the Template Customizer.

Hope that helps!

[Steven Zahm]

@ Spencer

You do have the latest version of Connections installed? And you have tried deactivating and activating it again, yes?

[Steven Zahm]

@ Roland

re: We we get a new submission, it should put a bit of info in the email about what was submitted. At the moment it only says something like – You have new directory submission.

This message is configurable. Go to the Connections : Settings admin page and click the Form tab. Scroll down to the Submission Notice Message.

Currently there is not a supported method to include the data that was submitted. If you want to live on the edge, add this to the message area:

Name: [cn_entry part=name format='%last%, %first% %middle%'/]
Title: [cn_entry part=title/]
Department: [cn_entry part=department/]
Organization: [cn_entry part=organization/]
Contact: [cn_entry part=contact/]

[cn_entry part=addresses]
[cn_address]
  %type% Address:
    Line One: %line_1%
    Line Two: %line_2%
    Line Three: %line_3%
    City: %locality%
    State: %region%
    Zip: %postal-code%
    Latitude: %latitude%
    Longitude: %longitude%
[/cn_address]
[/cn_entry]

[cn_entry part=phone_numbers]
[cn_phone]
  %type% Phone:
    Number: %number%
[/cn_phone]
[/cn_entry]

[cn_entry part=email]
[cn_email]
  %type%:
    Address: %address%
[/cn_email]
[/cn_entry]

[cn_entry part=im]
[cn_im]
  %type%:
    User ID: %id%
[/cn_im]
[/cn_entry]

[cn_entry part=social_networks]
[cn_social_network]
  %type%: %url%
[/cn_social_network]
[/cn_entry]

[cn_entry part=links]
[cn_link]
  <a href="%url%" title="%title%">%title%</>
[/cn_link]
[/cn_entry]

[cn_entry part=dates]
[cn_date]
  %type%: %date%
[/cn_date]
[/cn_entry]

[cn_entry part=bio/]

[cn_entry part=notes/]

Now when you receive the submission notice email, it contain a lot of the details that the user submitted.

re: The input form confuses some people and I get a lot of part submissions (or retries, 2 or sometimes 3 submissions for the same thing)

Not sure how to solve that… the form disappears and they get a message thanking them for their submission. So to get multiple submissions they have go back to the directory and click the submit link again. Only two options I can think of…

1. There is a setting to redirect to a page after the form submission. You could create a page to redirect to thanking them for their submission and change the settings to redirect to that page. Really though, I don’t see how that would be any better than the current removing the for and displaying the thank you message.
2. A more brute force method would be make a user first register to become a user of your site, then setup Form to only take submissions from logged in users. You could further enhance this by using the Link extension so their submission is linked to their user account so they can also maintain their entry. Connections does not do user registrations… they are, many, many other plugins out there that handle that quite well.

re: Logo and Image is confusing, I get a image uploaded but it only displays in part of the theme I am using so I need to save it and then move it over to the right place

I see on your submission form you have the Image showing… since you need the logo what you should do is go to the settings and disable the Image and enable the Logo.

re: I am willing to learn but after 2 years of using it I don’t think it is as easy to set up and use as it should be

Over the course of the last two years I’ve made just about all the settings point and click in the admin. Even the template are getting an interactive point and click settings in the next release… not sure how I can make that easier. Several extension even have no settings at all, just activate.

I do use a lot of plugins most far more complex than Connections. I am constantly looking at what they do to present users with options and it seems I am doing the same things, if not more. So I am always quite lost when I get this feedback.

Please, if you have moment, I would love to hear your thoughts on what would make it easier. Thanks!

[Steven Zahm]

@ Nicola

Sure this is very possible. I do it all the time. The best way forward, refer to the Default Card template as an example.

Here are some related links that will be helpful:

• http://connections-pro.com/2014/05/13/quicktip-tweaking-core-templates/
• http://connections-pro.com/2014/05/04/quicktip-custom-css/
• http://connections-pro.com/2014/06/04/quicktip-custom-template-override-files/

Hope that helps!

[Steven Zahm]

@ Dwight

Sorry, no, that is not possible. Maybe at some point I’ll add it but realistically most people host their websites on shared hosts and “live” search results would not work very well because there are not enough resources at the server to handle the large amount of requests that this would create.

[Steven Zahm]

@ Giannis

This is on my to do list, but, honestly it is really low on the list because it is no requested. Actually, I think this is the first request I had for this feature.

[Steven Zahm]

@ Samuel

Yes, adding custom fields is very possible but does require a dev to do so. If you know PHP you can see these extensions for Connections that add custom fields and use them for reference to add your own:

• Education Level
• Business Hours
• Income Level
• Languages

As additional reference, there is this blog post that walks thru adding them:

http://connections-pro.com/2015/06/23/quicktip-custom-field-adding-a-text-field/

And lastly there is this demo plugin that show all the supported field types that can be added:

https://github.com/Connections-Business-Directory/Custom-Metaboxes-And-Fields

If you do not know PHP or have your own developer, I do provide custom development services. If you would like a quote, please contact me using the Contact link at the bottom of the page.

Hope that helps!

[Author]

Posts