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4I8eA8LpIR5
Topic Author
Posts: 15
Joined: 15 Apr 2019, 12:08

X3 concepts

16 Apr 2019, 16:51

New licensee here.

I'm having trouble grocking the X3 component structure. Not its software but its conceptual foundation. The only documentation I see is the pop-up stuff in the Panel's pieces. Kudos for that much but they don't draw a big picture.

I suppose there's one index for the whole installation. Cool. Why an index and a galleries collection? They would seem to be equivalent. If I only intend to have galleries, can I put them under index with no other children (of index)? I'm afraid to start deleting things like examples and contact and custom if I'll not be able to get them back!

Why both folders and galleries?
 
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mjau-mjau
X3 Wizard
Posts: 13993
Joined: 30 Sep 2006, 03:37

Re: X3 concepts

16 Apr 2019, 23:00

You are right about lacking documentation.
4I8eA8LpIR5 wrote:Why both folders and galleries?
Assuming you mean when you see settings "galleries" and "folders" in a page's settings? All IMAGES you upload into a page are a page's GALLERY, while all FOLDERS you add to a page are a page's FOLDERS (child-folders that is, sometimes referred to as "albums"). They are two entirely different concepts of course, since a gallery represents the layout of a page's OWN images, while folders represents the layout of child-folders (albums) of the page, which when clicked will then navigate away from the page to the child folder. Examples:

Page with child folders (albums):
https://demo.photo.gallery/galleries/

Page with gallery (it's own images):
https://demo.photo.gallery/galleries/nature/

Two different concepts, which generally require separate layout options. Although one might have mixed "folders" and "gallery" on a page, that is not recommended, because it seems non-intuitive for the visitor to have both images and folders inside the same page.
4I8eA8LpIR5 wrote:I suppose there's one index for the whole installation.
I am not 100% sure what you are referring to "index", but I assume you mean the initial folder called "index" in the menu? The folder named "index", emphasized in color with a "home" icon, is a placeholder page for your website's HOME PAGE. Unlike all other pages in your structure that have a name and path, your home page does not have a path, so we must include a placeholder page for it. You would not place child folders inside the index page, because it is just a placeholder for your "home" page element. For example:

yourwebsite.com/galleries/birds/ => /galleries/birds/
yourwebsite.com/galleries/ => /galleries/
yourwebsite.com/ => ???(empty) => Represented by /index/
4I8eA8LpIR5 wrote:Why an index and a galleries collection?
For reference, since you have installed the version including X3 SAMPLE CONTENT, the "galleries" collection you are referring to is just a sample. You could/should create your own pages in any structure you like ... You can add galleries directly on root-level like this:
/birds/
/insects/
/mammals/

But considering this might make the root menu structure untidy, it is often a good idea to include your galleries inside a container (often referred to as "album"). For example:
/animals/birds/
/animals/insects/
/animals/mammals/

In the case of the X3 sample content, we called the folder "galleries", which contains a few galleries. Depending on your content, you might even need a deeper structure, like we have in the sample "examples" folder. For example:
/galleries/animals/birds/
/galleries/animals/insects/
/galleries/animals/mammals/
/galleries/cars/bmw/
/galleries/cars/volkswagen/
/galleries/cars/audi/

The structure is entirely up to you. The "galleries" and "examples" folders can be deleted. After deleting them, you can not get them back (they are eternally deleted). If you don't want to delete them, but keep them for settings reference, you can HIDE them instead. The "index" page is your home page and has nothing to do with the choice of "galleries" or page structure, and should NOT be deleted.
4I8eA8LpIR5 wrote:If I only intend to have galleries, can I put them under index with no other children (of index)?
Don't put ANYTHING under the folder called "index". You can put anything else in the content root in however structure you require.
4I8eA8LpIR5 wrote:I'm afraid to start deleting things like examples and contact and custom if I'll not be able to get them back!
Don't delete special folders in blue "home" and "custom". All other folders can be deleted as desired. The page structure you create relative to the content root will represent your website page/menu structure.

Thanks! Good to get any idea of how many new users perceive our X3.