Getting to Know the Catalog Template

We'll explore the directory structure of FlexiContent templates so we can understand better the layout and customize it to taste.

1. If you haven't done so already, login to the Joomla Administration control panel of your site and access the FlexiContent Component control panel from the components menu.
2. Click the Templates tab
3. Select the Category layout link/icon for the Catalog template we created in Part One/Part Three.
   • 
   • Note the User fields from the Product type in the upper right of the above screen. We dragged those fields to the Table zone in Part Three. Those zones are controlled or defined in the category.xml file of the FlexiContent template. Each template is free to define any zones they need. While the default table list format is fine in many instances it just doesn't fit a Product Catalog. What we'd like to see for our catalog is a two column summary of the item with a small image and links to the details of the product. We'll also learn how to modify the display of sub categories so we can use small graphics instead of the text links. Before we do that though we need to get to know the various files within a template and what aspects of the catalog display they control.
4. This is what the directory structure of our template looks like (components/com_flexicontent/templates/catalog/)
   • 
5. category.php - This file is the top level template used when displaying a FlexiContent category. It handles loading the other parts of the template for categories.

   • <?php
     /**
      * @version 1.5 stable $Id: category.php 171 2010-03-20 00:44:02Z emmanuel.danan $
      * @package Joomla
      * @subpackage FLEXIcontent
      * @copyright (C) 2009 Emmanuel Danan - www.vistamedia.fr
      * @license GNU/GPL v2
      *
      * FLEXIcontent is a derivative work of the excellent QuickFAQ component
      * @copyright (C) 2008 Christoph Lukes
      * see www.schlu.net for more information
      *
      * FLEXIcontent is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
      * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
      * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
      * GNU General Public License for more details.
      */
     defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );
     ?>
     
     
     
       
     
         <?php //echo flexicontent_html::addbutton( $this->params ); ?>
         <?php echo flexicontent_html::printbutton( $this->print_link, $this->params ); ?>
         <?php echo flexicontent_html::mailbutton( 'category', $this->params, $this->category->slug ); ?>
       
     
     
     
       <?php if ($this->params->get( 'show_page_title', 1 ) && $this->params->get('page_title') != $this->category->title) : ?>
         
     
         <?php echo $this->params->get('page_title'); ?>
       
       <?php endif; ?>
     
     
     
       <?php
       if (($this->category->id > 0) && ((!empty($this->category->image) && $this->params->get('show_description_image', 1)) || ($this->params->get('show_description', 1)) || ($this->params->get('show_cat_title', 1)))) :
       echo $this->loadTemplate('category');
       endif;
       ?>
     
     
     
       <?php
       //only show this part if subcategories are available
       if (count($this->categories) && $this->category->id > 0 && $this->params->get('show_subcategories')) :
       echo $this->loadTemplate('subcategories');
       endif;
       ?>
     
     
     
       <?php echo $this->loadTemplate('items'); ?>
     
     
     
       <?php if ($this->params->get('show_pagination', 2) != 0) : ?>
       
     
         <?php echo $this->pageNav->getPagesLinks(); ?>
       
     
       <?php if ($this->params->get('show_pagination_results', 1)) : ?>
       
     
         <?php echo $this->pageNav->getPagesCounter(); ?>
       
       <?php
         endif;
       endif;
       ?>
     
     
             
             

6. category.png - This file is what's displayed in the administration area to give the admin a visual approximation of the layout for a category.
7. category.xml - This file controls the various zones, the parameters for the template, the css files and the javascript files loaded by the template.

   • <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
     
       Emmanuel Danan
       www.flexicontent.org
       emmanuel-at-vistamedia.fr
       GPLv2
       1.1
       25 november 2009
       This layout presents category items in a table. Each field put in the table position will be rendered as a column
       
       
       
         table
         
       
         css/category.css
       
       
         
             
             

8. category_alpha.php - This file controls the alphabetic listing for filtering the display of items based on the title of the item.

   • <?php
     /**
      * @version 1.5 stable $Id: category_alpha.php 171 2010-03-20 00:44:02Z emmanuel.danan $
      * @package Joomla
      * @subpackage FLEXIcontent
      * @copyright (C) 2009 Emmanuel Danan - www.vistamedia.fr
      * @license GNU/GPL v2
      *
      * FLEXIcontent is a derivative work of the excellent QuickFAQ component
      * @copyright (C) 2008 Christoph Lukes
      * see www.schlu.net for more information
      *
      * FLEXIcontent is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
      * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
      * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
      * GNU General Public License for more details.
      */
     defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );
     ?>
     
     
       
     
         <?php echo JText::_('FLEXI_ALL'); ?>
         <?php
         $letters = array('a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g', 'h', 'i', 'j', 'k', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'o', 'p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w', 'x', 'y', 'z');
         foreach ($letters as $letter) :
           if (in_array($letter, $this->alpha)) :
             echo "".strtoupper($letter)."";
           else :
             echo "".strtoupper($letter)."";
           endif;
         endforeach;
         ?>
       
       
     
         <?php
         $numbers = array('0', '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9');
         foreach ($numbers as $number) :
           if (in_array($number, $this->alpha)) :
             echo "action."&letter=".$number."\" onclick=\"document.getElementById('alpha_index').value='".($number ? $number : 0)."';document.getElementById('adminForm').submit();\">".$number."";
           else :
             echo "".$number."";
           endif;
         endforeach;
         ?>
       
             
             

9. category_category.php - This file controls the display of category specific parameters such as the category title, image and description.

   • <?php
     /**
      * @version 1.5 stable $Id: category_category.php 171 2010-03-20 00:44:02Z emmanuel.danan $
      * @package Joomla
      * @subpackage FLEXIcontent
      * @copyright (C) 2009 Emmanuel Danan - www.vistamedia.fr
      * @license GNU/GPL v2
      *
      * FLEXIcontent is a derivative work of the excellent QuickFAQ component
      * @copyright (C) 2008 Christoph Lukes
      * see www.schlu.net for more information
      *
      * FLEXIcontent is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
      * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
      * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
      * GNU General Public License for more details.
      */
     
     defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );
     ?>
     
     
       <?php if ($this->params->get('show_cat_title', 1)) : ?>
       
     
         <?php echo $this->escape($this->category->title); ?>
       
       <?php endif; ?>
     
       <?php if (!empty($this->category->image) && $this->params->get('show_description_image', 1)) : ?>
       
     
         <?php echo JHTML::_('image.site', $this->category->image, 'images/stories/', NULL, NULL, $this->escape($this->category->title)); ?>
       
       <?php endif; ?>
       
       <?php if ($this->params->get('show_description', 1)) : ?>
       
     
         <?php echo $this->category->description; ?>
       
       <?php endif; ?>
             
             

10. category_items.php - This file controls the display of item specific parameters within the category in a tablular format.

    • <?php
      /**
       * @version 1.5 stable $Id: category_items.php 283 2010-06-12 08:40:34Z emmanuel.danan $
       * @package Joomla
       * @subpackage FLEXIcontent
       * @copyright (C) 2009 Emmanuel Danan - www.vistamedia.fr
       * @license GNU/GPL v2
       *
       * FLEXIcontent is a derivative work of the excellent QuickFAQ component
       * @copyright (C) 2008 Christoph Lukes
       * see www.schlu.net for more information
       *
       * FLEXIcontent is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
       * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
       * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
       * GNU General Public License for more details.
       */
      
      defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );
      // first define the template name
      $tmpl = $this->tmpl;
      ?>
      
      
      <?php if ((($this->params->get('use_filters', 0)) && $this->filters) || ($this->params->get('use_search')) || ($this->params->get('show_alpha', 1))) : ?>
      
      <?php if ((($this->params->get('use_filters', 0)) && $this->filters) || ($this->params->get('use_search'))) : ?>
      
        <?php if ($this->params->get('use_search')) : ?>
        
      
          
          <?php echo JText::_( 'FLEXI_GO' ); ?>
          <?php echo JText::_( 'FLEXI_RESET' ); ?>
        
        <?php endif; ?>
        <?php if ($this->filters) : ?>
        
      
        <?php
        foreach ($this->filters as $filt) :
          echo '';
          echo $filt->html;
          echo '';
        endforeach;
        ?>
        
        <?php endif; ?>
      
      <?php endif; ?>
      <?php
      if ($this->params->get('show_alpha', 1)) :
        echo $this->loadTemplate('alpha');
      endif;
      ?>
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      <?php endif; ?>
      
      <?php
      if ($this->items) :
        // routine to determine all used columns for this table
        $layout = $this->params->get('clayout', 'default');
        $fbypos    = flexicontent_tmpl::getFieldsByPositions($layout, 'category');
        $columns = array();
        foreach ($this->items as $item) :
          if (isset($item->positions['table'])) :
            foreach ($fbypos['table']->fields as $f) :
              if (!in_array($f, $columns)) :
                $columns[$f] = @$item->fields[$f]->label;
              endif;
            endforeach;
          endif;
        endforeach;
      ?>
      
      
              <?php foreach ($columns as $name => $label) : ?>
              
              <?php endforeach; ?>
      
            
        
        <?php foreach ($this->items as $item) : ?>
              
              <?php foreach ($columns as $name => $label) : ?>
              
              <?php endforeach; ?>
              
        <?php endforeach; ?>
            
        
      
        
      
            
      
              
      <?php echo JText::_( 'FLEXI_ITEMS' ); ?>
      <?php echo $label; ?>
        
        
        
      
      
              
                
      
                  <?php if ($this->params->get('link_titles', 0)) : ?>
                  <?php echo $this->escape($item->title); ?>
                  <?php
                  else :
                  echo $this->escape($item->title);
                  endif;
                  ?>
              
              
      
              
      <?php echo isset($item->positions['table']->{$name}->display) ? $item->positions['table']->{$name}->display : ''; ?>
      
              
            
      
      <?php else : ?>
      <?php echo JText::_( 'FLEXI_NO_ITEMS_CAT' ); ?>
      <?php endif; ?>        
              

11. category_subcategories.php - This file controls the display of subcategory specific parameters such as the subcategory title and item count within each subcategory.

    • <?php
      /**
       * @version 1.5 stable $Id: category_subcategories.php 171 2010-03-20 00:44:02Z emmanuel.danan $
       * @package Joomla
       * @subpackage FLEXIcontent
       * @copyright (C) 2009 Emmanuel Danan - www.vistamedia.fr
       * @license GNU/GPL v2
       *
       * FLEXIcontent is a derivative work of the excellent QuickFAQ component
       * @copyright (C) 2008 Christoph Lukes
       * see www.schlu.net for more information
       *
       * FLEXIcontent is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
       * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
       * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
       * GNU General Public License for more details.
       */
      
      defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );
      ?>
      
      <?php
      $n = count($this->categories);
      $i = 0;
      ?>
      
        <?php
        echo JText::_( 'FLEXI_SUBCATEGORIES' ) . ' : ';
        foreach ($this->categories as $sub) :
          $subsubcount = count($sub->subcats);  
        ?>
          <?php echo $this->escape($sub->title); ?>
          <?php
          if ($this->params->get('show_itemcount', 1)) echo ' (' . ($sub->assigneditems != null ? $sub->assigneditems.'/'.$subsubcount : '0/'.$subsubcount) . ')';
          $i++;
          if ($i != $n) :
            echo ', ';
          endif;
        endforeach; ?>
              
              

12. index.html - This file is just a placeholder html file in case your web server displays file listings.
13. item.php - This file is the top level template used when displaying a FlexiContent item. It handles loading the other parts of the template for items.

    • <?php
      /**
       * @version 1.5 stable $Id: item.php 250 2010-06-09 08:01:27Z emmanuel.danan $
       * @package Joomla
       * @subpackage FLEXIcontent
       * @copyright (C) 2009 Emmanuel Danan - www.vistamedia.fr
       * @license GNU/GPL v2
       *
       * FLEXIcontent is a derivative work of the excellent QuickFAQ component
       * @copyright (C) 2008 Christoph Lukes
       * see www.schlu.net for more information
       *
       * FLEXIcontent is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
       * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
       * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
       * GNU General Public License for more details.
       */
      
      defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );
      // first define the template name
      $tmpl = $this->tmpl;
      ?>
      
      
      
      
      
        <?php echo flexicontent_html::pdfbutton( $this->item, $this->params ); ?>
        <?php echo flexicontent_html::mailbutton( 'items', $this->params, null , $this->item->slug ); ?>
        <?php echo flexicontent_html::printbutton( $this->print_link, $this->params ); ?>
        <?php echo flexicontent_html::editbutton( $this->item, $this->params ); ?>
      
      
      
      
      <?php if ($this->params->get( 'show_page_title', 1 ) && $this->params->get('page_title') != $this->item->title) : ?>
      
        <?php echo $this->params->get('page_title'); ?>
      
      <?php endif; ?>
      
      
      
      <?php if ($this->params->get('show_title', 1)) : ?>
      
        <?php echo $this->escape($this->item->title); ?>
      
      <?php endif; ?>
      
      
      
      <?php if (isset($this->item->positions['subtitle1'])) : ?>
      
        <?php foreach ($this->item->positions['subtitle1'] as $field) : ?>
        
          <?php if ($field->label) : ?>
          <?php echo $field->label; ?>
          <?php endif; ?>
          <?php echo $field->display; ?>
        
        <?php endforeach; ?>
      
      <?php endif; ?>
      
      
      
      <?php if (isset($this->item->positions['subtitle2'])) : ?>
      
        <?php foreach ($this->item->positions['subtitle2'] as $field) : ?>
        
          <?php if ($field->label) : ?>
          <?php echo $field->label; ?>
          <?php endif; ?>
          <?php echo $field->display; ?>
        
        <?php endforeach; ?>
      
      <?php endif; ?>
      
      
      
      <?php if (isset($this->item->positions['subtitle3'])) : ?>
      
        <?php foreach ($this->item->positions['subtitle3'] as $field) : ?>
        
          <?php if ($field->label) : ?>
          <?php echo $field->label; ?>
          <?php endif; ?>
          <?php echo $field->display; ?>
        
        <?php endforeach; ?>
      
      <?php endif; ?>
      
      
      
      <?php if ((isset($this->item->positions['image'])) || (isset($this->item->positions['top']))) : ?>
      
      
        <?php if (isset($this->item->positions['image'])) : ?>
          <?php foreach ($this->item->positions['image'] as $field) : ?>
        
      
          <?php echo $field->display; ?>
          
      
        
          <?php endforeach; ?>
        <?php endif; ?>
      
      
        <?php if (isset($this->item->positions['top'])) : ?>
      
        
      
          
      
            <?php foreach ($this->item->positions['top'] as $field) : ?>
            
      
              
      
                <?php if ($field->label) : ?>
                
      <?php echo $field->label; ?>
                <?php endif; ?>
                
      <?php echo $field->display; ?>
              
            
            <?php endforeach; ?>
          
        
      
        <?php endif; ?>
      
      <?php endif; ?>
      
        
      
      
        <?php if (isset($this->item->positions['description'])) : ?>
      
        
      
          <?php foreach ($this->item->positions['description'] as $field) : ?>
            <?php if ($field->label) : ?>
          
      <?php echo $field->label; ?>
            <?php endif; ?>
          
      <?php echo $field->display; ?>
          <?php endforeach; ?>
        
      
        <?php endif; ?>
      
        
      
      
        <?php if (isset($this->item->positions['bottom'])) : ?>
      
        
      
          
      
            <?php foreach ($this->item->positions['bottom'] as $field) : ?>
            
      
              
      
                <?php if ($field->label) : ?>
                
      <?php echo $field->label; ?>
                <?php endif; ?>
                
      <?php echo $field->display; ?>
              
            
            <?php endforeach; ?>
          
        
      
        <?php endif; ?>
      
        <?php if ($this->params->get('comments')) : ?>
      
        
      
          <?php
          if ($this->params->get('comments') == 1) :
            if (file_exists(JPATH_SITE.DS.'components'.DS.'com_jcomments'.DS.'jcomments.php')) :
              require_once(JPATH_SITE.DS.'components'.DS.'com_jcomments'.DS.'jcomments.php');
              echo JComments::showComments($this->item->id, 'com_flexicontent', $this->escape($this->item->title));
            endif;
          endif;
        
          if ($this->params->get('comments') == 2) :
            if (file_exists(JPATH_SITE.DS.'plugins'.DS.'content'.DS.'jom_comment_bot.php')) :
                require_once(JPATH_SITE.DS.'plugins'.DS.'content'.DS.'jom_comment_bot.php');
                echo jomcomment($this->item->id, 'com_flexicontent');
              endif;
            endif;
          ?>
        
      
        <?php endif; ?>
      
              
              

14. item.png - This file is what's displayed in the administration area to give the admin a visual approximation of the layout for an item.
15. item.xml - This file controls the various zones, parameters for the item, the css files and the javascript files loaded by the template.

    • <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
      
        Emmanuel Danan
        www.flexicontent.org
        emmanuel-at-vistamedia.fr
        GPLv2
        1.1
        25 november 2009
        Modular item layout suitable for faq, file manager, or directory
        
          
            Use Global
            FLEXI_1_COL
            FLEXI_2_COLS
          
          
            Use Global
            FLEXI_1_COL
            FLEXI_2_COLS
          
        
        
          subtitle1
          subtitle2
          subtitle3
          image
          top
          description
          bottom
          
        
          css/item.css
        
        
          
              
              

16. css/category.css - This is the basic style sheet for a category. (this file is actually blank by default)
17. css/item.css - This is the basic style sheet for an item.

    • /* Default Theme : item template CSS file */
      div.subtitle1 {
        display: block;
        margin: 0 0 0.5em;
        overflow: hidden;
      }
      div.lineinfo {
        display: block;
        margin: 0 0 0.5em;
        overflow: hidden;
      }
      div.subtitle1 {
      }
      div.subtitle2 {
      }
      div.subtitle3 {
      }
      div.subtitle1 .element {
      }
      div.subtitle2 .element {
        float: left;
        margin-right: 10px;
      }
      div.subtitle3 .element {
      }
      div.topblock {
        overflow: hidden;
        width: 100%;
        margin-bottom: 10px;
      }
      
      div.topblock .image {
        border: 1px solid silver;
        float: left;
        margin-right: 10px;
        line-height: 0px;
      }
      div.topblock .image a {
        outline: none;
      }
      div.topblock .image img {
        border: 1px solid white;
      }
      div.topblock .infoblock {
        overflow: hidden;
      }
      
      div.infoblock {
        border: 1px solid silver;
        margin: 0 0 10px;
        padding: 10px;
      }
      #flexicontent div.infoblock ul {
        margin: 0;
        padding: 0;
      }
      #flexicontent div.infoblock ul li {
        padding: 0;
        background: none;
        min-height: 10px;
        display: -moz-inline-stack;
        display: inline-block;
        vertical-align: top;
        margin: 2px;
        zoom: 1;
        *display: inline;
        _height: 10px;
      }
      div.label {
        float: left;
        border-bottom: 1px solid silver;
        color: #777;
        font-size: 90%;
      }
      div.value {
        float: left;
      }
      
      div.onecols ul li {
        width: 100%;
      }
      div.onecols div.label {
        width: 20%;
        margin-right: 2%;
      }
      div.onecols div.value {
        width: 76%;
      }
      
      div.twocols ul li {
        width: 48%;
      }
      div.twocols div.label {
        width: 34%;
        margin-right: 2%;
      }
      div.twocols div.value {
        width: 60%;
      }
              
              

18. css/index.html - This file is just a placeholder html file in case your web server displays file listings.
19. administrator/language/en-GB/en-GB.com_flexicontent.ini – This holds the language specific strings for the administration of the component.
20. language/en-GB/en-GB.com_flexicontent.ini – This holds the language specific strings for the front-end of the component.

Now you have an idea of the basic files involved in the display of an item in FlexiContent. Now let's customize our own look. The first thing we'll need to modify is the category.xml file and define the new zones.

Create New Zones for the Catalog Template

Open the category.xml file in your favorite text/programming editor. As mentioned previously in Part III a different look is needed for our catalog. Specifically the table format just doesn't fit in with the rest of the website. Here's what we're looking to create in case you missed it in Part III:

1. Change the section under fieldgroups to look like the following:

   •   
         topblock
         image
         detailblock
         bottomblock
                 
             

   • If you want to jump ahead here's all the modifications to the xml file.

     <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
     
       John Wicks
       www.greatlittlebook.com
       johnw-at-greatlittlebook.com
       GPLv2
       0.99.0
       March 2010
       Catalog layout with featured products and multiple theme variations
       
         
         FLEXI_THEME_VARIATION_TYPE_LIGHT
         FLEXI_THEME_VARIATION_TYPE_DARK
         
         
         
         
         FLEXI_1_COL
         FLEXI_2_COLS
         FLEXI_3_COLS
         FLEXI_4_COLS
         
         
         
         
         FLEXI_YES
         FLEXI_NO
         
         
         FLEXI_1_COL
         FLEXI_2_COLS    
         FLEXI_3_COLS
         FLEXI_4_COLS
         
         
         
         
         FLEXI_1_COL    
         FLEXI_2_COLS
         FLEXI_3_COLS
         FLEXI_4_COLS
             
         
         FLEXI_1_COL
         FLEXI_2_COLS
         
         
         FLEXI_1_COL
         FLEXI_2_COLS
             
         
         FLEXI_1_COL
         FLEXI_2_COLS
         
       
       
         topblock
         image
         detailblock
         bottomblock
         
       
         css/category.css
       
       
         
             
             

   These groups or Zones will be used to drag and drop fields where we want them in the design of our catalog. The names can be anything you like but you should try to give them a name that describes their usage.
2. If you save the xml file now and open the category template in the administration area you'll notice that our fields have reverted back to their default position on the lower left in the User fields group. Also if you look at the front-end of the site you'll only see the title of our item. This is the default look and since we've gotten rid of the table zone, no user fields are displayed.
   • 
   • 
3. From the FlexiContent Category Template administration area do the following:
4. Drag the Title field from the Core fields to the TopBlock Zone on the right.
5. Drag the Image field from the Core fields to the Image Zone on the right.
6. Drag the Price field from the User fields to the DetailBlock Zone on the right.
7. Drag the Bundled With field from the User fields to the DetailBlock Zone on the right.
8. Drag the Cart Link field from the User fields to the DetailBlock Zone on the right.
9. Drag the Teaser Items field from the User fields to the BottomBlock Zone on the right.
   • 
   You might have noticed the new graphic on the left that displays the new Zones. This is controlled by the category.png file and you can create it with your favorite graphics editor. I used a 325x284 pixels image and placed the various zones as 50% greyed selections with Text layers over the top.
   • 
10. Click the Apply button. Here's what it looks like on the front-end now.
    • 
    You might be saying, Looks the same as before, that's because our code is still using the old Table zone layout and hasn't accounted for the new zones, so the fields aren't displayed. Only the default title field is displayed.

Now you have the basic zones for the category layout as well as the fields we want to display in them. Now it's time to modify the code so we can display them.

Modify the Category Template Code

Then next file we'll be modifying is the category display file, category.php. We want to change some sections around and actually add a file called category_form.php which will contain the form code displayed at the top of the page. Here the complete directory structure and files:

<?php
/**
 * @version 1.5 beta 5 $Id: default.php 85 2009-10-10 13:48:04Z vistamedia $
 * @package Joomla
 * @subpackage FLEXIcontent
 * @copyright (C) 2009 Emmanuel Danan - www.vistamedia.fr
 * @license GNU/GPL v2
 *
 * FLEXIcontent is a derivative work of the excellent QuickFAQ component
 * @copyright (C) 2008 Christoph Lukes
 * see www.schlu.net for more information
 *
 * FLEXIcontent is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 * GNU General Public License for more details.
 */
defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );
?>



  

    <?php //echo flexicontent_html::addbutton( $this->params ); ?>
    <?php echo flexicontent_html::printbutton( $this->print_link, $this->params ); ?>
    <?php echo flexicontent_html::mailbutton( 'category', $this->params, $this->category->slug ); ?>
  



  <?php if ($this->params->get( 'show_page_title', 1 ) && $this->params->get('page_title') != $this->category->title) : ?>
    

    <?php echo $this->params->get('page_title'); ?>
  
  <?php endif; ?>



<?php if ((($this->params->get('use_filters', 0)) && $this->filters) || ($this->params->get('use_search')) || ($this->params->get('show_alpha', 1))) :
  echo $this->loadTemplate('form');
endif;
?>



  <?php
  if (($this->category->id > 0) && ((!empty($this->category->image) && $this->params->get('show_description_image', 1)) || ($this->params->get('show_description', 1)) || ($this->params->get('show_cat_title', 1)))) :
    echo $this->loadTemplate('category');
  endif;
  ?>



  <?php
  //only show this part if subcategories are available
  if (count($this->categories) && $this->category->id > 0 && $this->params->get('show_subcategories')) :
    echo $this->loadTemplate('subcategories');
  endif;
  ?>



  <?php echo $this->loadTemplate('items'); ?>



  <?php if ($this->params->get('show_pagination', 2) != 0) : ?>
    

      <?php echo $this->pageNav->getPagesLinks(); ?>
    
  
    <?php if ($this->params->get('show_pagination_results', 1)) : ?>
    

      <?php echo $this->pageNav->getPagesCounter(); ?>
    
    <?php
    endif;
  endif;
  ?>

You be able to tell we've rearranged the order in which the other templates are loaded and added the loadTemplate('form'). This is mainly cause I prefer to see the search and alpha list near the top of the page rather than near the middle of it. Your needs/preferences may differ and that's one of the strengths of FlexiContent is you can decide what you want to change.

The next file in the list is the new form code template, category_form.php:

<?php
/**
 * @version 1.5 beta 5 $Id: default_items.php 85 2009-10-10 13:48:04Z vistamedia $
 * @package Joomla
 * @subpackage FLEXIcontent
 * @copyright (C) 2009 Emmanuel Danan - www.vistamedia.fr
 * @license GNU/GPL v2
 *
 * FLEXIcontent is a derivative work of the excellent QuickFAQ component
 * @copyright (C) 2008 Christoph Lukes
 * see www.schlu.net for more information
 *
 * FLEXIcontent is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 * GNU General Public License for more details.
 */

defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );
?>



<?php
if ($this->params->get('show_alpha', 1)) :
  echo $this->loadTemplate('alpha');
endif;

if ((($this->params->get('use_filters', 0)) && $this->filters) || ($this->params->get('use_search'))) : ?>

  <?php if ($this->params->get('use_search')) : ?>
  

    
    <?php echo JText::_( 'FLEXI_GO' ); ?>
    <?php echo JText::_( 'FLEXI_RESET' ); ?>
  
  <?php endif; ?>
  <?php if ($this->filters) : ?>
  

  <?php
  foreach ($this->filters as $filt) :
    echo '';
    echo $filt->html;
    echo '';
  endforeach;
  ?>
  
  <?php endif; ?>

<?php endif; ?>

The next file is the category_alpha.php file. Not much has changed in this file except I've consolidated the numerals into the catch-all * item. It has become clear that this code isn't very international and I'll leave that modification for another tutorial.

<?php
/**
 * @version 1.5 beta 5 $Id: blog_alpha.php 85 2009-10-10 13:48:04Z vistamedia $
 * @package Joomla
 * @subpackage FLEXIcontent
 * @copyright (C) 2009 Emmanuel Danan - www.vistamedia.fr
 * @license GNU/GPL v2
 *
 * FLEXIcontent is a derivative work of the excellent QuickFAQ component
 * @copyright (C) 2008 Christoph Lukes
 * see www.schlu.net for more information
 *
 * FLEXIcontent is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 * GNU General Public License for more details.
 */
defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );
?>

  

    
Alphabetic Index
    
*
    <?php
    $letters = array('a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g', 'h', 'i', 'j', 'k', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'o', 'p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w', 'x', 'y', 'z');
    foreach ($letters as $letter) :
      if (in_array($letter, $this->alpha)) :
        echo "
".strtoupper($letter)."
";
      else :
        echo "
".strtoupper($letter)."
";
      endif;
    endforeach;
    ?>
    
0-9
  

The next file is the category_category file.

<?php
/**
 * @version 1.5 beta 5 $Id: default_category.php 85 2009-10-10 13:48:04Z vistamedia $
 * @package Joomla
 * @subpackage FLEXIcontent
 * @copyright (C) 2009 Emmanuel Danan - www.vistamedia.fr
 * @license GNU/GPL v2
 *
 * FLEXIcontent is a derivative work of the excellent QuickFAQ component
 * @copyright (C) 2008 Christoph Lukes
 * see www.schlu.net for more information
 *
 * FLEXIcontent is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 * GNU General Public License for more details.
 */

defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );
?>


  <?php if ($this->params->get('show_cat_title', 1)) : ?>
  

    <?php echo $this->escape($this->category->title); ?>
  
  <?php endif; ?>

  <?php if (!empty($this->category->image) && $this->params->get('show_description_image', 1)) : ?>
  

    <?php echo JHTML::_('image.site', $this->category->image, 'images/stories/', NULL, NULL, $this->escape($this->category->title)); ?>
  
  <?php endif; ?>
  
  <?php if ($this->params->get('show_description', 1) && !empty($this->category->description)) : ?>
  

    <?php echo $this->category->description; ?>
  
  <?php endif; ?>

Next we modify the category_subcategories.php file:

<?php
/**
 * @version 1.5 beta 5 $Id: default_subcategories.php 127 2009-10-14 15:28:59Z vistamedia $
 * @package Joomla
 * @subpackage FLEXIcontent
 * @copyright (C) 2009 Emmanuel Danan - www.vistamedia.fr
 * @license GNU/GPL v2
 *
 * FLEXIcontent is a derivative work of the excellent QuickFAQ component
 * @copyright (C) 2008 Christoph Lukes
 * see www.schlu.net for more information
 *
 * FLEXIcontent is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 * GNU General Public License for more details.
 */

defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );
?>

<?php
$n = count($this->categories);
$cols = $this->params->get('subcategory_columns',4);
$i = 0;
?>

  <?php
  echo JText::_( 'FLEXI_SUBCATEGORIES' ) . ' : ';
  foreach ($this->categories as $sub) :
    $subsubcount = count($sub->subcats);  
  ?>
    <?php echo $this->escape($sub->title); ?>
    <?php
    if ($this->params->get('show_itemcount', 1)) echo ' (' . ($sub->assigneditems != null ? $sub->assigneditems.'/'.$subsubcount : '0/'.$subsubcount) . ')';
    $i++;
    if ($i != $n) :
      echo ', ';
    endif;
  endforeach; ?>