A “block” is a section within a zone that contains a particular type of content. The content in blocks may be manually specified by a site editor (a “manual block”), may be automatically selected from a specific area in the eZ Publish content tree (a “dynamic block”) or may contain special content such as a tag cloud or banner ads (a “special block”).

The configuration file for managing blocks is called block.ini. The default configuration file is located in the eZ Flow extension ( extension/ezflow/settings). When creating custom blocks, you should make an appropriate override, either globally or for a specific siteaccess. (Refer to the eZ Publish documentation for information about overrides.)

Creating manual blocks

To create a manual block, enter information about the block in a new section in the block.ini file. The definition of a manual block consists of the following elements.

Below is a configuration example for a three-column news block.

[Manual3Items]
Name=3 Column News
NumberOfValidItems=3
NumberOfArchivedItems=5
ManualAddingOfItems=enabled
ViewList[]=3_items1
ViewName[3_items1]=3 articles in one column

After the block is defined, it is displayed to editors in the Block type drop-down list in the eZ Flow interface.

Template for manual blocks

To create a new block, you must also create an override template. If no override exists, the default template is used:

templates/block/view/view.tpl

The templates for manual blocks are located here:

design/<custom_design>/override/templates/block

Every block override can use two override keys:

Match[type]=
 
Match[view]=

Match[type]= takes the unique block identifier defined in the block.ini file as a parameter. Match[type]= takes the view’s unique identifier defined in the block definition in block.ini as a parameter.

An example

[block_3_items1]
Source=block/view/view.tpl
MatchFile=block/3_items1.tpl
Subdir=templates
Match[type]=Manual3Items
Match[view]=3_items1

In every block template a $block variable is available that has following attributes:

The template code for displaying three items in a column using div-based layout might look like the example below:

<div class="attribute-header">
         <h2>{$block.name}</h2>
</div>
 
{foreach $block.valid_nodes as $valid_node}
         {node_view_gui view=line content_node=$valid_node}
{/foreach}

 The result of the manual block

After the block is defined editors can add items to the block (as explained in the chapter Usage). For example, a block with three items might in the eZ Flow interface look like the screenshot below:

And the final result on the website might look like this:

This block is manual, meaning that the editor selects the items to display. There is no automatic fetching of items.

Defining dynamic blocks

While the content in manual blocks is specified by an editor, dynamic blocks are a combination of automatic fetching rules (implemented via a plugin system) and editorially controlled parameters.

The dynamic block settings have more options than the manual block. The following settings need to be configured for each dynamic block.

The following example shows a configured dynamic block:

[Dynamic3Items]
Name=3 items (dynamic)
NumberOfValidItems=3
NumberOfArchivedItems=5
ManualAddingOfItems=disabled
FetchClass=ezmLatestObjects
FetchFixedParameters[]
FetchFixedParameters[Class]=article
FetchParameters[]
FetchParameters[Source]=nodeID
 
# Single / Multiple
FetchParametersSelectionType[Source]=single
 
 
FetchParametersIsRequired[]
# True / False
FetchParametersIsRequired[Source]=true
 
 
ViewList[]=3d_items
ViewName[3d_items]=3 dynamically fetched items

 Template for dynamic blocks

To create a new block, you must also create an override template. If no override exists, the default template is used:

templates/block/view/view.tpl

The templates for dynamic blocks are located in

design/<custom_design>/override/templates/block.

Every block override can use two override keys:

Match[type]=
 
Match[view]=

Match[type]= takes the unique block identifier defined in the block.ini file as a parameter. Match[type]= takes the view’s unique identifier defined in the block definition in block.ini as a parameter.

An example

[block_3d_items]
Source=block/view/view.tpl
MatchFile=block/3d_items.tpl
Subdir=templates
Match[type]=Dynamic3Items
Match[view]=3d_items

The template code for displaying the dynamic block using div-based layout might look like this example:

{foreach $block.valid_nodes as $valid_node}
         {node_view_gui view=line content_node=$valid_node}
{/foreach}

 The result of the dynamic block

The following screenshot shows how an dynamic block appears to an editor working in the eZ Flow interface. Notice that after choosing the source(s), the name(s) are displayed to the right of the  Choose source button.

The display of the dynamic block described above on the website is shown below. From the site visitor’s perspective, is looks the same as a manual block. The difference is that when something new is published in the specified block source it is automatically displayed and does not require an editor to make the content “live”.

Defining special blocks

In addition to manual and dynamic blocks, eZ Flow also allows for special blocks. Special blocks do not have a pre-defined list of content. A special block can be used to publish content entities like tag clouds or banner ads.

The following settings need to be configured for each special block.

The following example shows the settings for a special block that displays a tag cloud

[TagCloud]
Name=Tag cloud
ManualAddingOfItems=disabled
CustomAttributes[]=subtree_node_id
UseBrowseMode[subtree_node_id]=true
ViewList[]=tag_cloud
ViewName[tag_cloud]=Tag cloud

Template for special blocks

To create a new block, you must also create an override template. If no override exists, the default template is used:

templates/block/view/view.tpl is used

The templates for special blocks are located here

design/<custom_design>/override/templates/block.

Every block override can use two override keys:

Match[type]=
 
Match[view]=

Match[type]= takes the unique block identifier defined in the block.ini file as a parameter. Match[type]= takes the view’s unique identifier defined in the block definition in block.ini as a parameter.

An example

[block_tag_cloud]
Source=block/view/view.tpl
MatchFile=block/tag_cloud.tpl
Subdir=templates
Match[type]=TagCloud
Match[view]=tag_cloud

The template for a tag cloud is show below:

<div class="attribute-header">
<h2>{$block.name}</h2>
</div>
<div class=”attribute-tags”>
{eztagcloud( hash( 'parent_node_id', $block.custom_attributes.subtree_node_id ))}
</div>

The result of a special block

The tag cloud is displayed in the eZ Flow interface like this:

A site visitor sees the tag cloud like this: