Subsections


A..6 Site Controls

The Site Controls Admin Tool is where you change the multitude of Scoop configuration options. This is where many features are turned on or off, or are configured. To use this Admin Tool, you must have the edit_vars perm (A.12.20) active for your group.

There are two ways of editing variables; in the single variable screen, one variable at a time is fetched and displayed, edited, then saved. In the category screen, all variables in a category are fetched and displayed, any number of them are edited, then saved all at once.

The single variable screen can be reached by either clicking the ``Add New'' link at the top of the category list or by clicking a variable name from the category screen. The category screen can be reached by clicking the name of the category in the category list from any of the screens in the Site Controls Admin Tool.

A..6.1 The Single Variable Screen

When you first load the Site Controls Admin Tool, or when you are editing a single variable within the Site Controls, this is the form you will see. The single variable form allows you to edit any part of a variable, including its type and name.

Just below the category list are two form buttons, Save and Get. These buttons are duplicated at the bottom of the single variable form.

Directly underneath the top Save and Get buttons is a checkbox marked ``delete''. If a variable has been selected from the ``Select Variable'' list, checking this box then saving the variable will delete it from the database. It doesn't have to have been loaded first.

The fields are:

Type
This determines what kind of sanity checking Scoop will do when saving the value.
Select Variable
Contains a list of every variable contained in the Site Controls. To load a variable, you would select its name here, then press the Get button above to fetch the variable's data. When adding a new variable, this must be set to ``Add New Variable''; when saving an existing variable, this must match the variable name in the ``Name'' field, below.
Select Categories
Contains a list of all existing categories. When a variable has been loaded, that variable's categories are hilighted. When saving a variable, at least one of the categories should be selected (or a new category named in the ``New Category'' field below). If a variable has no selected category, it will only be visible in a list of all variables, making it rather hard to find later.
Name
Contains the name of the variable, as it is used in the code. Changing the name of an existing variable is discouraged, as many variables are called by name from the code. New variables may be named anything as long as it doesn't conflict with any other variable names.
New Category
Used only when a new variable doesn't fit in any of the existing categories, or you want to add an existing variable to a newly created category. A category only exists when a variable is filed in it; by filing a variable in a new category, that category is automatically created. (Likewise, when the last variable in a category is removed, the category automatically disappears.)
Value
Contains the value of the variable. It can be anything, subject to the limitations imposed by the ``Type'' field, above. This is the field most often changed, and is also the only field that can be changed when in the category screen.
Description
Contains the documentation for that particular variable. If you create a new variable, please describe it well, using the conventions described in section A.6.3 as much as possible.

A..6.2 The Category Screen

When you click on one of the category links (except for the ``Add New'' link) in the category list, this is the screen you will see. The category form allows you to edit the value only of any number of variables at the same time.

At the top and bottom of the list of the category form are the Save and Get buttons. In this case, the Get button acts as a reset button, undoing any changes you had made (as long as you didn't save them). The save button saves the variables that you have changed, and leaves the other ones alone.

The category form itself is a series of repeating rows, one for each variable. The first column contains the name of the variable, in the form of a link to the single variable edit form described above. The second column contains a control for the variable's value; the exact nature of the control will depend on the variable's type. The third column contains the description of the variable.

The variables are sorted first by type, then alphabetically by name. Boolean variables are displayed first; their value is represented as a checkbox. Number variables are displayed second; their value is displayed in a short text input. Text variables are displayed third; their value is displayed in a default length text input. Textarea variables are displayed last; their value is displayed in a (roughly) 60*20 textarea control.

Any number of variables in the category form may be changed at once, and saved in one operation. The categories also make variables much easier to find, especially when you can't remember the exact variable name.

Variables cannot be created or deleted from the category screen.


A..6.3 Site Control Description Format

The purpose of the site control descriptions is to inform the admin as to what a particular variable is for, what possible values it will accept, what a good default value is, what effect it will have on his site, and warn about any pitfalls involved in changing the variable's value.

The descriptions then all follow the same format, to ensure no important details are forgotten. If you create a new variable, please use the same format for the description to help other Scoop admins use it effectively.

The description should address the following points in order and as completely as possible.


janra
2004-03-26