Modular content in XperienCentral makes it possible for you to create new custom content item types as well as create content item templates containing default fields. This makes it possible to reuse content types that already contain the content you want.

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Modular Content Templates

Modular content templates have two different functions:

• When coupled with a modular content type, the modular template's properties become custom properties on the "Basic" tab of the Properties Widget for that content type.
• They can be added to a content item using the Modular Content Element. This makes it possible to reuse the set of properties defined for a template throughout your web site instead of having to create it over and over.

The Modular Content Templates tab shows a list of the existing templates. The following information is shown for each template:

Creating a Modular Content Template

Follow these steps:

1. Click [Add Template].
2. In the Name field, enter a string that will be used within XperienCentral to identify the template.
3. Enter a string for the identifier. The identifier must be unique.

Adding Properties to a Modular Content Template

To add a property to a modular content template, follow these steps:

1. Click [Add Property]. A new entry is added to the list of properties.
2. Enter a string in the Name field to identify the property.

3. Enter a string in the Identifier field that will be used to uniquely identify the property within XperienCentral.
   
   

   Once you have entered a string and saved the template, the identifier can no longer be modified, therefore be sure to plan out carefully beforehand what your scheme is for template identifiers.

   
   

4. Select the property type from the drop-down list. The options are:
   
   

   Type	Description
   String	A field that accepts any string of characters. The input field can be either a single line or a multiple line field. Which kind is determined by the Subtype field defined in the next step.
   Boolean	A checkbox that can either be selected or cleared.
   Integer	A single line field that accepts a positive or negative integer (no decimal points).
   Date	A date picker which can be used to select a date. The Subtype field defined in the next step determines whether the field selects a date or a combination of date and time.
   Image	A Browse button which you can use to select an image.

    
   
   
   

5. Select the subtype of the property from the drop-down list. The options are:
   
   

   Property Type	Subtypes
   String	StringSingleLine - A single line field. StringMultiLine - A field that accepts multiple lines of strings.
   Boolean	BooleanCheckbox - A checkbox that can be either selected or cleared.
   Integer	IntegerInputField - A field that accepts any positive or negative integer (no decimal points).
   Date	DateDateOnly - A date picker that you can use to select a day, month and year. DateDateTime - A date picker that you can use to select a day, month and year and a field that accepts any valid time (24 hour notation).
   Image	ImageUploadOrSelect - a [Browse] button that you can use to select an image file from disk.

   
   
   
   

6. Enter one or more CSS class(es) in the Context Classes field in a whitespace separated list.

Reordering Properties in a Template

To reorder the properties in a template, simply point your mouse to the left of the name of the property, click and hold the left mouse button and then drag the property up or down.

Deleting Modular Templates

To delete a modular template, follow the steps below. A Modular Template can only be deleted if it is not being used by a Modular Content Type or a Modular Content element.

1. Hover the mouse over the "Actions" column next to the Modular Template until the delete icon appears. For example:
   
   
   
   
2. Left-click the delete icon.
3. Click [OK] to confirm.

Modular Content Types

Modular content types are custom content items that XperienCentral uses to deliver content. They are based on a modular content template that determines how the content is structured. When in an active state, you can create content based on the different types using the Create Content Widget. 

To create a new modular content type, follow these steps:

1. Click the "Modular Content Types" tab to select it.
2. Click [Add Content Type].

3. Define the following properties for the new modular content type:
   
   

   Property	Description
   Name en_US	The string that identifies the modular content type in the English user interface of XperienCentral.
   Name nl_NL	The string that identifies the modular content type in the Dutch user interface of XperienCentral.
   Identifier	A single word identifier used by Java to identify the modular content type.
   Used template	The modular content template to use for this modular content type. The properties defined in the template will by default in the content type on the website frontend.
   Description en_US	An alphanumeric string of at least 3 characters to use for the description of the modular content type in the English user interface of XperienCentral.
   Description nl_NL	An alphanumeric string of at least 3 characters to use for the description of the modular content type in the Dutch user interface of XperienCentral.
   Icon set (small)	Click [Browse] to select the file containing the set of small icons for the modular content type. The icon appears in the Create Content Widget.
   Icon set (large)	Click [Browse] to select the file containing the set of large icons for the modular content type. The icon appears in Advanced Search.
   State	Specifies the current state of the modular content type (active or inactive). You select the state of the modular content type in the "State" column of the list of modular content types.

    
   
   

4. Click [Save].
5. Click [Close]. The modular content type is created and appears in the list.

Changing the State of a Modular Content Type

To change the state of a modular content type, follow these steps:

1. Click "Modular Content Types" to display the list of available modular content types.
2. Move the slider to the left or right to change the state of the modular content item. For example:
   
   

Deleting a Modular Content Type

To delete a modular content type, follow the steps below. A modular content type can only be deleted if it is in the inactive state and there exist no content items based on it.

1. Click "Modular Content Types" to display a list of the types.
2. In the Actions column to the right of the modular template type, click the Delete icon. For example:
   
   
   
   
   
3. Click [OK] to confirm the action.

Modular Content Type Properties

The properties of the template that is linked to a modular content type appear for that content type in the "Basic" tab of the Properties Widget. For each instance of the modular content type you can fill in the template properties to further identify/describe it. For example: