Simple Machine Codes

Guide Created by LaundryLady

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The Portal Page is in three sections:


The Top Section:

(http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/1339/portalsettingskw8.gif)


ENABLE PORTAL

1.  To turn your Portal Page On: Admin CP-Configuration-Portal Settings, put a checkmark in Enable Portal.


2.  Board to display the news: Choose a Board in the dropdown list or make a new one just for this purpose.
        NOTE: The board must be one that is available to Guests.

   
3.  Number of news items to display:  Set this to the number of items you would like it to display in this section.
        NOTE: It will display only the first post in each Topic in the Board you chose above.

4.  The Portal can have 1, 2 or 3 columns to it. First give some thought to what you would like to put on your Portal and where you would like it.

     The columns are currently set up to the following widths. You can change them at any time to your liking.
         NOTE: (of course make sure they total 100)

• Left Block Width 20%:
• Center Block Width 60%:
• Right Block Width 20%:

Click SAVE to save the changes to this section.

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The Center Section:

(http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/1177/portalblocksfl6.gif)

Portal Blocks   
This section shows the blocks you have already set up. It is organized in sections:   Left, Center,  Right

• Block Order:   Change the order of the blocks in each column. 0(zero) will always be at the top
• Block Title:    The title for the block. Type in what you would like it to say here.
• Block Type:   The dropdown shows what type of block this is.(for example html,whosonline)
• Alignment:     Use the dropdown to place the block left, center or right.
• Block status:  Use the dropdown to enable or disable the block
• Options:        Use this if you decide to delete a Block

Remember to click Edit Blocks when finished

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The Bottom Section:

(http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/1985/addblocksbs2.gif)

Add Block
This is where you add blocks to your Portal.   
There are 9 preset blocks:

• html:                  Any HTML, such as chat boxes, affiliate codes, etc. Use your imagination.
• userblock:           Log-In Section. Links for PM's, unread posts, time logged in, etc; after you are logged in.
• boardnews:         This will pick up the posts from that board you made in the top section
• recentposts:        The 10 most recent posts(view changes depending on if member is logged in or out)
• recenttopics:       The 10 most recent topics(view changes depending if member is on logged in or out)
• whosonline:         The same as the "who's online" in the forum section.
• searchbox:           The fast way to search without going all the way into the forum.
• randomimage:      You must have images in your gallery for this to work.
• randomgame:       You must have games in your arcade for this to work.

Remember to click Add Block when finished

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Screenshot example:
(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/1770/screenshotoe3.th.gif) (http://img228.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screenshotoe3.gif)

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Some html guides to help you with the html blocks:

Html Hell (http://gazoo.net/htmhell/):  Very basic HTML for the novice.
Cedge's HTML Cheat Sheet (http://cedesign.net/index.htm)