Accessing Feeds

After creating a feed, the next step is to make sure your user/patrons are able to access the information your are importing.

There are various methods that could be used, the most common is to add a block directly to your homepage or another landing page; however you can also direct people to the feeds page through menu links, header buttons, other Stacks features, or a footer link.

No one method is necessarily the best, ultimately the best method is determined by how you want your users/patrons to find and navigate to content on your site.

Adding a RSS Block or Feed to a Landing Page

Once a feed or RSS block has been created, it can be added to your homepage or any other landing page on your Stacks site. RSS Blocks allow you to add a pre-filtered block that can display items from 1 or more feeds; alternatively, you can add the feeds and then configure the filters in the layout builder to limit the items displayed as needed. The instructions below primarily describe how to add a RSS Block.

1. Navigate to the page you wish to add the form to
2. Click the Layout tab just below the header
3. If needed, add a new section to the landing page, otherwise go to step 4
   1. For instructions on adding new sections, see the article Creating Landing Pages and Adding Content
4. In the desired section, click + Add block
   1. In the window that opens scroll to the RSS Block section; OR enter the block's title in the filter field at the top
   2. Once found, click the block's Title
      1. A window will open displaying the current Heading
         1. By default this will be the Title value entered when the rss block was created, you have 3 options
            1. Leave the heading as is, by default this will be visible to your users/patrons
            2. Change the heading name, click into the field and type in a new heading name
            3. Hide the heading, if you do not wish to show any heading, click the eyeball icon to the right
               1. The field (and helper text field below) will then be "greyed-out" and cannot be edited
         2. Helper Text, if applicable, enter a short description or instructions to provide guidance to the user/patron
            1. This will appear as an 'i' icon to the right of the heading, users/patrons can click or hover over the icon to view the helper text
         3. Subheading, if applicable, enter a value to display as a subheading
            1. Sub-Title URL, if applicable, enter the full URL to the page you wish to direct users/patrons to when they click the displayed subheading
            2. Open in new tab/window, if adding a Sub-Title URL, check this box to open that page in a new browser tab/window
      2. Click Add Block
5. Scroll to the top of the page, then click Save Layout to save your changes

Menu Links

Stacks has 2 menu areas, the top menu and the main menu; either could be used to provide access to your form.

To add a menu link:

1. From the Dashboard, click the Menus tile
2. Click the List Links button to the right of Main Menu
3. Click the +Add link button
   1. Menu link title, enter a title for the menu link, this is the value users/patrons will see in the menu
   2. Link, enter the path to the feeds page, in this case /feeds
      1. Note: as this is an internal Stacks page, the full URL is not required in the link field
   3. Enabled, ensure this box is checked to enable the link to appear in the menu
   4. Description, if required, enter a description for the menu link
   5. Show as expanded, when checked, this will expand the menu link if there are child links added under the main link
   6. Language, select the appropriate language, if applicable
   7. Parent Link, select the appropriate option
      1. <Top menu>, select this option to display the link in the top menu
      2. <Main menu>, select this option to display the link in the main menu
      3. <--link name>, select from other menu links listed to embed this link as a child link under the selected option
   8. Weight, enter a numerical value to determine the order of appearance
      1. Alternatively, after saving, click and drag the 4-way arrow in the list link page to change the order of appearance
   9. Click Save to complete the creation of the menu link

Header Button

Call to Action (CTA) buttons are up to 4 custom buttons that can be enabled in you header and used for navigating to content, other Stacks pages, or external websites. Depending on the header layout, these buttons typically appear beside or just under the main search bar in your header.

1. From the Dashboard, click the System Configuration tile
2. Click the Header tile, then the Header CTA Buttons option from the menu on the left
3. Enable, check the box to enable the CTA button feature
4. Header Button 1 through 4
   1. Title, enter the button name, this will be visible to the user/patron
   2. URL, enter the path (/feeds) so the user/patron will be directed the feeds page when they click the button
5. Click Save configuration when done

Other Stacks Features

Another method to to direct users/patrons to your feeds is through another Stacks feature such as a Callout, Slider, or Custom Block as example. The advantage of using features like these in particular, are the image options that can be used as a way of drawing the attention to the content the user/patron may want to access.

As described in the menu link section above, the key to directing people to the feeds page is by using the path (/feeds) in the appropriate link or URL field. 

For more information on creating or editing features such as Callouts, Sliders, Custom Blocks, etc.. please see the associated user guide articles for the desired feature type. 

Footer Link

The footer of your Stacks site allows for the addition of custom content and links that can be used for navigating throughout your site, including the easyform you created. 

1. From the Dashboard, click the System Configuration tile
2. Click the Footer tile, then click the Custom Link option from the menu on the left
3. Custom Link Title, enter a name for the custom link section, this can be enabled to be displayed in the footer if desired
4. Display Title, check this box to display the Custom Link title in the footer section
5. Custom Link 1 through 4, click the title to expand the section
   1. Custom Link Title, then the name for the link, this will be visible to the user/patron
   2. URL, enter the full URL to your database listing page
      1. Unlike other areas, this requires the full URL (for example: https://yoursitename.com/feeds)
6. Click Save configuration when done