1 | <!-- $Id: getting-started.html,v 1.8.4.1 2010/03/11 23:54:20 merlinofchaos Exp $ --> |
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2 | Module Developers: |
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3 | The Views' API help pages can be found <a href="topic:views/api">here</a>. |
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5 | New Users: |
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6 | For those new to Views, it can be a complex system that appears totally overwhelming. The good news is that the UI is designed to compartmentalize everything; this means that for the most part, you can ignore the parts you're not interested in. Start small and build your way up. |
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8 | Because of this, the edit UI can seem overwhelming at first, but there are really just a few things you <strong>have</strong> to know. The rest you can find through exploration. The Views Edit UI image, below, gives an overview of what you'll find on the edit UI. |
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10 | <div class="help-box" style="text-align:center"> |
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11 | <a href="path:images/overview-ui-large.png"><img src="path:images/overview-ui-small.png" /></a> |
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12 | <em>The Views Edit UI</em> |
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13 | </div> |
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15 | Notes: |
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16 | 1) Every view has a number of <a href="topic:views/display">displays</a> which represent where output will be placed. If you're familiar with the original Views 1, you could set a view to be a 'page', with a URL (path), or a block that could show up in a sidebar. With Views 2, you can add as many displays as you like. In addition, you have the <em>default</em> display which contains the basic settings, but doesn't actually show up anywhere. |
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18 | 2) When you click on the link for an item, a form will open up. For browsers with smaller resolutions, you may have to scroll down a little to see this form. If a form is open, the item its attached to will be highlighted. |
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20 | 3) <a href="topic:views/overrides">Overrides</a> mean that a particular display is <strong>not</strong> using default settings. When you create a new display, many of its settings will start off using default values. This will be indicated by italics and a lighter color. <strong>If you change these values without first overriding them, you will change the default value for all displays that use them.</strong> |
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22 | 4) Some items, particularly styles, have additional settings. Ordinarily when you <em>update</em> a style, if it has additional settings you will automatically see that form next. Often, you will need to go directly to those settings. |
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24 | 5) You can safely leave a view page to go and do other things. If you come back, the view will still be there, stored in a cache. Keep in mind, however, that while you do this, that view is <em>locked</em>, meaning another user cannot edit this view without breaking the lock. Breaking the lock will discard your changes. |
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26 | It helps to have something particular in mind that you want to accomplish when using Views. Here are a couple of ideas and a brief sketch of how to accomplish what you want. |
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