Adding A New Variable

All the user-definable settings within Actinic are controlled by variables.

Actinic allows you to create any number of variables, and then control where and how the settings for these variables appear. By editing variables you can:

·      Give the setting the prompt you want

·      Decide where you want the values for the setting to be entered (e.g. within products, within sections etc.)

·      Enter an optional default value for the setting

You can also restrict user-definable settings to certain 'content categories'. For example you might have a setting for 'ISBN Number' that you only want to appear for the books in the store, but you don't want it to appear for the magazines or CDs.

Editing an Existing Variable

This is discussed in Editing Existing Variables In Actinic.

Adding a New Variable

There are two ways you can add a new variable. One is from the 'Code View' of a layout, while you are making design changes. You can also create a new variable from the library.

From The Code View:

1.  Right click in the code view and select 'Insert Variable'. Alternatively, click the 'Insert Variable' button on the toolbar.

2.  In the window that is presented click 'New'.

From the Library:

1.  Go to 'Design | Library' and go to the 'Variables' tab.

2.  Decide which of the 'Variable Groups' you want your variable to be under. You can always change this later.

3.  Once you have decided the variable group, right-click on the 'Variable Group' name and select 'New Variable'.

The settings for adding a variable are discussed in the following sections:

·      For details about the 'Basic Definition' tab, go to Variable Configuration.

·      For details about the 'Values' tab, go to Creating a List of Values to Select From.

·      For details about the 'Advanced Place of Setting' tab, go to Content Categories.

Adding A New Text Field to Actinic

To create a new basic text field do the following:

1.  Add a new variable, as described above.

2.  Give the variable a name in the 'Name' field. This is what you use to insert the variable into your design, so make sure it is a decent name.

3.  Give the variable a brief description.

4.  Enter a prompt for the setting in the 'Prompt' field. This is the text that appears in the grid, and tells people what to enter into the setting.

5.  Select where you want people to enter values for this setting. If it is just a new setting for products, then select 'Product' under 'Place of Setting'. If you want to be able to set a value at site level or section level then select the appropriate boxes.

6.  In the 'Tab Name' field, which now appears, you can decide which tab the new setting will appear within.

7.  Now you can decide exactly how you want the setting to be grouped within the tab by selecting a group within the 'Group' field. This also affects where the variable appears in the 'Variables' tab of the library.

8.  The only other thing you might want to do is enter an 'Initial Value' which will appear in the setting when it first appears.

By default, all new variables are set up to 'inherit' down the content tree (for more details see Understanding Variable Inheritance). If you don't want this to happen with your variable, then do the following additional steps:

9.  De-select 'Allow <Use Parent> as an Option'

10. Choose  an appropriate starting 'top-level' value into the 'Top Level Value' field, or leave it blank.

Your new variable is now ready to go. Click 'OK'.

If you are doing this from 'Code View', you can now click 'Insert' to add your new variable into the design.