Adding a link to the conference information block

[RickMath]

I would like to add a link to the conference information block that takes users to instructions for submitting final formatted papers. This would be something to add to in the items that are displayed such as CFP, Registration, Accommodation, etc.

The link would lead to a page that is already on our server so all I need is a way to have a link name like Submitting Final Papers and then a url for the page I want to take them to.

Is this something that may be doable without some major recoding.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Rick

[jmacgreg]

Hi Rick,

If you've already created the page, all you should need to do is add the link to the template file(s) that generates the conference information listing. That would be plugins/blocks/navigation/block.tpl, as well as templates/schedConf/index.tpl if you want to modify the listing on the scheduled conference's index page. Another option to just add the link to the sidebar would be to create a custom block using the Custom Block plugin; add a link to the block; and then position it where you want. It won't be integrated visually with your conference information listing, however,

Cheers,
James

[RickMath]

Thanks James

I found the two tpl files. Do I need to add a variable (Hope that's the right term) similar to those in the last lines such as $schedConfPostTrackPolicies? Where would this be defined?

As always I appreciate your help!

Rick

[RickMath]

James

I answered my own last question. I just pasted the URL into the two template files with the <li>&#187; in front and now both lists are working exactly as I wanted.

Hopefully other will benefit from this post.

Thanks so much!

Rick

[RickMath]

James

It turns out that inserting the URLs results in these being listed for all of the three conferences 2010, 2011 and 2012 that I have in the database. Is there a way to restrict these to single conference like the way you select items to be displayed in the setup for each conference.

Guess I need to backtrack and refine my solution in the last post.

Thanks and I look forward to a refined solution.

Rick

[jmacgreg]

Hi Rick,

What you can do is add a smarty if statement that only displays the code if something about the current scheduled conference (say, the title) checks out. For example, you can do something like the following:

Code: Select all

{if $schedConf->getFullTitle() == 'My scheduled conference title'}
<li>&#187; <a href="example.com">link</a></li>
 {/if}

In the above example, the link would only display when the title for the currently-viewed scheduled conference is "My scheduled conference title". Note that the matching text in that if statement must match exactly -- case, spaces, and everything.

If you have any questions about this, just let us know!

Cheers,
James

[RickMath]

Thanks James

That work but cause a problem when clicking on About. I sent a PM to you with the error and the code.

Rick

[jmacgreg]

Hi Rick,

Sorry, I didn't see your PMs until now -- I actually don't check those unless I've specifically solicited one, and we do prefer that errors etc. are talked about publicly where possible (eg. where it doesn't compromise site security) so that others can learn from the problems' resolutions.

Regarding your error -- I'd suggest clearing your template and data caches and see if the problem persists.

Cheers,
James

[RickMath]

James

Sorry about the PM but I did not want send the exact code with the links.

Anyway the error on clicking on About was resolved by clearing the date and template caches.

The items still show up in the current conference where I inserted the title of it. They also show up in the archived conferences that do not have the title to the current conference.

Rick