Contao 2.11.0 News list / News Reader on same page

[ernestmcd]

Okay, one of the new features in Contao 2.11.0 is the ability to put the Newslist on the same page as the Newsreader. I've got a test page setup and its working okay.

The announcement indicates that there is a way control the visibility of the Newslist on the page and it is supposed to turn "visibility off" if desired so that only the actual content of the News item itself is "visible". I found a cryptic note about "items" on the forum and another about using the "auto_item" parameter in the settings area.

I tried checking the "auto_item" parameter but that didn't change anything. No luck getting the newslist to become "invisible". If I can't turn it "off", I'm better off with the dedicated reader page to keep the page from being cluttered.

Anybody have any suggestions on how to implement this in Contao 2.11.0?

Ernest McDermon
Snellville, GA

[ernestmcd]

Okay, I think I've got it figured out. I had to install a fresh copy of the demo 2.11.0 Contao site "Music Academy" on a development domain to see if I could learn anything.

It looks like you create an event list module, and insert it on the events page (or in the page layout). Next create a "module" in the Themes area that is the "event reader", but don't insert this into a page (or the layout). Don't forget to attach the calendar archive to the reader module, and the event list module.

There appear to be two steps to activate the reader:

1. In the Contao 2.11.0 calendar archive, point the page redirect instead of to the traditional "reader page", point it to the event list page that that holds the event list. (basically back to itself).
2. On the event list module that you've created in 2.11.0, open it up and in the section "Module Configuration", there is a drop down now titled "Event reader module" that you select the name of the event reader module that you just created and now want the event to trigger. Save and close the module page.

I just tested it on a live site and it seems to work as described, although I'm not really sure "how" it works. I guess it is being attached to the page and changing the visibility of the list if the reader module is attached.

I' assume that the News and FAQ readers behave the same way. If I'm missing anything here, or if you have any suggestions to improve these instructions, please contribute to this thread.

Ernest McDermon
Snellville, GA

[ramjet]

No idea (I never use News), but the German forum often has more discussion on the latest changes. There is a tips and tricks thread on the homepage regarding Contao 2.11
The trouble is (annoyingly) its cut and paste to read it, as Google translate can't handle redirects to https.

Also demo.contao.org possibly saves you installing a fresh copy of the demo 2.11.0 Contao site "Music Academy" on a development domain.

[ernestmcd]

Agreed, but I've run into another issue with the v2.11.0 that I'm seeing that might involve a conflict with an installed extension, so I went ahead with a demo install locally.

Thanks for the insight on the instructions might be in another venue in German, that figures. I like the Contao platform but I spend a fair amount of time trying to figure stuff out since documentation in English is spotty. Your advice and input on the forum is always always appreciated.

Ernest McDermon
Snellville, GA