{init_articles}

Articles in Saurus CMS are handled by two functions:

  • {init_articles} returns a list of articles with common attributes like "title" and timestamp.
  • {init_article} gives you access to whole set of fields of specific article including article's body and lead text.

Usage

{init_articles [parameter = value ..]}

Returns

Array of objects stored in variable defined by parameter "name".

Parameters

name

Defines the variable which stores the list of article objects returned. Default value is "articlelist".

string  
parent

ID of an object who's child articles are retrieved. Default value is the current object's ID which is usually the ID parameter in site URL. You can also define multiple ID-s by comma separating them.

comma separated integers  
buttons

Defines a list of actions displayed in v-shaped context menu. Default value is "new,edit,hide,move,delete". You can use any combination of those to restrict some of the actions by user.

comma separated string  
position

Position acts as a filter which allows you to group objects on web layout. Default value is 0.

int  
on_create

Enables you to set default values when new article is created.
Examples: on_create="publish" or on_create="publish, allow_comments" or on_create="allow_comments".

comma separated string  
  publish: By default, objects are set to be hidden/unpublished when created by user. You can force publishing by using on_create="publish". Default value is "hide".   4.0.2
 

allow_comments: sets the check box for enabling comments.

  4.5.3
classes

In addition to articles, {init_articles} can also return link objects. Use classes="article, link" to retrieve these as well.

comma separated string  
limit

This lets you limit the number of database rows to return.

int  
start

Results are retrieved starting from first row by default. You can set any other number to achieve paging for example. You must also define parameter "limit" when using "start". Default value is 0.

int  
order

Sort order of returned objects. This defines the "order by" clause in SQL sentence, you can use use any fields from tables obj, obj_obj and obj_artikkel. Example: order="date desc".

string  
profile

Allows to filter out articles by given profile. The value must match exactly the profile name defined in the site's administration area.

string  
where Additional filtering criteria for SQL "where" clause. Example: where="title='My headline'". When including any profile fields in the criteria, be sure to add "profile" parameter for the tag. string  
select additional table fields to return using SELECT SQL syntax. string 4.0.8
rows_on_page When defining rows_on_page, you can achieve paging simply by using using "page" parameter in URL. int 4.0.8

Attributes

Common attributes      
id ID of the object. int  
parent_id ID of the parent object in site hierarchy. int  
href Hyperlink address to the object in format of ?id=123. When aliases are used, returns alias name in public view instead. string  
title Title of the object. string  
buttons

Displays v-shaped context menu for authorized editors.

html  
class Class name of the object. Possible values are: "section, article, link, image, comment, poll, document, article's list, link list, login-box, subject, album, iframe-box, event" string  
comment_count Number of comments.  int 4.0.6
last_commented_time Time of last comment in format dd.mm.yyyy hh:ii. datetime 4.0.6
created_time Time of creation of the object in format of  dd.mm.yyyy hh:ii. datetime 4.0.3
fcreated_time Time of creation of the object in database default format, eg yyyy-mm-dd hh:ii.  datetime 4.0.3
created_user_id ID of the user who initially created the object.  int 4.0.3
created_user_name Name of the user who initially created the object.  string 4.0.3
changed_time

Time of last saving of the object in format dd.mm.yyyy hh:ii.

datetime 4.0.3
fchanged_time Time of last saving of the object in database default format, eg yyyy-mm-dd hh:ii. datetime 4.0.3
changed_user_id ID of the user who saved the object last. int 4.0.3
changed_user_name Name of the user who saved the object last. string 4.0.3
is_selected

Returns 1 when article belongs to the parent branch of current object.

boolean  
Specific attributes      
date

Article's default profile has date/time field which can be freely modified by the user. This attribute returns the date value in format of dd.mm.yyyy.

date  
fdate Same as "date" attribute but in database format of yyyy-mm-dd date  
datetime

Article's default profile has date/time field which can be freely modified by the user. This attribute returns the date and time value in format of dd.mm.yyyy hh:mm.

datetime 4.4.1
fdatetime

Same as "datetime" attribute but in database format of yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.

datetime 4.4.1
author The "author" field in article's default profile which can be freely modified by the user. string  
show_headline Equals 1 when "Show headline" is checked by the user. boolean 4.1.0
forum_allowed Equals 1 when "Allow comments" is checked by the user. boolean 4.1.0
<attribute> Returns value of specific profile field. The value is set only if parameter "profile" is used for {init_articles}.   4.0.8

General tags

<name>_newbutton Outputs action button for creating new object. html  
<name>_count Number of returned objects. When parameter "limit" is set, equals value of "limit". int  
<name>_counttotal Total number of objects found, not affected by "limit" parameter.  int  

Examples

Display list of headings of all available articles in current section.

{init_articles name="article_list"}
<ul>
    {foreach from=$article_list item="article"}
	<li>{$article->title}</li>
    {/foreach}
</ul>

Display list of headings of all available articles in current section. In editor's environment, show v-shaped context menus and button for creating new article when none exist. Make article headings links to article's detail view.

{init_articles name="article_list"}
<ul>
    {foreach from=$article_list item="article"}
	<li>{$article->buttons}<a href="{$article->href}">{$article->title}</a></li>
    {foreachelse}
	<li>{$article_list_newbutton}</li>
    {/foreach}
</ul>

Retrieve last 10 articles from section with ID 123. This technique is widely used to display last news headlines in web homepage.

{init_articles name="article_list" parent="123" limit="10" order="date desc"}

What next

To get access to article's body and lead text, check out function {init_article}.