Hello. I am trying to work out a way to nest content without having to create a new div on a webpage. Each page within the site includes main content in the centre with a column on the right containing additional info and downloads. Here is a link to a page as it should appear to users:
Webpage example
The content on the right changes along with the main content, with a unique set choices for each page. As such, the site is structured so that the right hand column is included on the page with the centre column. Generally, all pages follow this formula:
Div – Main content
Div – Right column
Unfortunately when I add a second div of main content (i.e. for nested content), the right column is placed in the same row as the second div (instead of the first). For this example page, the only way I could get it to work was to move the right hand column div above the others (which, is undesirable for reasons of search engine optimisation):
Div – Right column
Div – Main content
Div – Nested content
Is there a way that I can hard code nested content into the Main content div? Or, do you see another way to make this work?
[quote]Hello. I am trying to work out a way to nest content without having to create a new div on a webpage. Each page within the site includes main content in the centre with a column on the right containing additional info and downloads. Here is a link to a page as it should appear to users:
Webpage example
The content on the right changes along with the main content, with a unique set choices for each page. As such, the site is structured so that the right hand column is included on the page with the centre column. Generally, all pages follow this formula:
Div – Main content
Div – Right column
Unfortunately when I add a second div of main content (i.e. for nested content), the right column is placed in the same row as the second div (instead of the first). For this example page, the only way I could get it to work was to move the right hand column div above the others (which, is undesirable for reasons of search engine optimisation):
Div – Right column
Div – Main content
Div – Nested content
Is there a way that I can hard code nested content into the Main content div? Or, do you see another way to make this work?[/quote]
It is only possible to Nest Content in separate DIV cells, not within existing ones. It seems that this issue could be resolved by verifying the styles applied to the “Right column” as this appears to be floating at the bottom of the content (by the description given above).
There is also the possibility that the “Nested content” is using a style definition that may be conflicting with other DIVs on the page, causing the issue described. Browser add-ons such as Firebug can be used to diagnose layout issues.
Thanks for the reply. I have decided to add some extra div’s around the content, and this has worked out well. While this seems to be the standard way of dealing with an additional right-hand section to a website on MSM, it does seem a bit untidy. As such, I wonder about using a paint layout to attach the right hand column as seen here.While a paint layout would allow me to automatically generate unique versions of that column for each page based on criteria such as URL and metadata, I wonder if a paint layout should be used through an entire site. It seems that most examples from the other threads use paint layouts for standardising how asset listing or asset detail pages are displayed, as seen here., not for an entire website.
So, my questions are:
- By applying a paint layout to my entire site, to provide content related to each page (links to relevant news, quotes, documents, contact information, etc), am I going beyond the intention for paint layouts?
- Will a paint layout with a number of criteria slow down server performance as compared to a number of pieces of nested content?
- Would there be any forseeable disadvantages for using a paint layout to generate my right hand column?
Thanks, again for the help!
I wouldn't use a Paint Layout for your entire site unless you've got a really good reason. I'm sure there would be some performance hit, but also it's really not what they're designed for, and it makes it much more difficult for you to use another Paint Layout on your site in the future.
Typically, associated content (ie. the right column in your case) should be generated using a Nested Content design area and one or more Asset Listings. For example, related links can be represented by Redirect Assets that are direct children of the current asset, as can File (PDF, DOC etc.) assets. The Asset Listing just needs to be configured with a dynamic root node, and it can be used across your entire site/system.
Thanks for the suggestion. I am trying a variation of that method. Rather rather than creating a listing with a dynamic node, I have placed all our PDFs, DOCs, etc. in a single place and am nesting a search page to gather a filtered list of these assets according to a metadata field. This way, each page can still have unique content while all my files are still in a single location.
That said, I am having a problem when I try to nest the search page on my main page. I have set up the search page so that it uses a "GET" variable to perform a "Stored query". The nested asset displays correctly when I view it directly via its URL with its variable, and when I enter an absolute value (i.e. "8") for the variable in the "additional GET variable" area of the main page's nested asset dialogue. However, when I use the appropriate keyword replacement (i.e. "nested_asset_metadata_id") in the same field in the Nested Asset dialogue, the nested page shows the "No Results" page. In other words, the keyword replacement is not being passed through to my nested search page. I have verified that the metadata field is defined correctly in the HTML source and in the nested asset's metadata field. Anyone have any ideas on how to get this to work properly?
Just a note that nesting a search page might cause some performance issues: running a search on each page will probably be more intensive than running an Asset Listing. If you do use a nested Search Page, make sure it's as simple possible.
I can see how a complicated search would have that effect. However, I am leery of creating a bunch of linked pages that the straight asset list would require. Do you think that searching through a root node of maybe 20-30 assets for a single criterion would be simple enough to minimise any server performance hit?