D Design Mode

This section covers the following topics:

D.1 About Design Mode

Design mode is a subset of some of the functions available in Site Studio Designer that are made accessible through Site Studio Contributor. While in Designer, you can set which role or roles can access design mode, and those roles can remotely make changes to the placeholders and site asset relationships.

Design mode does not allow changes to the site assets themselves; you cannot change a data file the way you can in contribution mode. However, you can change the data file, definitions, or templates used, as well as work with the replaceable region on secondary pages.

D.2 Making Design Mode Available

The user roles that have access to design mode are set in the properties pane for the Web site or section of a Web site in Designer.

It is important to note that the role is set, not a specific user.

Figure D-1 The Design Mode Role in the Properties Pane

Properties Pane in Designer

When the design mode role is set, it is applied site-wide. You cannot limit design mode access to certain sections.

D.3 Using Design Mode

Design mode is useful for those who need to work with Designer but do not have access to the Site Studio Designer application. A typical instance of this is when a user is using the Site Studio extension for JDeveloper.

It is important to remember that when you have entered design mode, that you cannot edit an individual site asset. You can only change the relationship of the assets, such as using a different region template, or placeholder definition, or defining the placeholder section properties for the section including related site assets. If you want to edit the content in a data file, you must be in contribution mode. If you want to change the properties of the templates or definitions themselves, then you must do so in Site Studio Designer.

This section covers the following topics:

D.3.1 Entering Design Mode

You enter design mode by clicking the design mode icon (Figure D-2) after entering contribution mode.

Design mode is entered after you have already entered contribution mode.

Figure D-2 Design Mode Icon

Design mode icon

The design mode icon is located in the contribution mode toolbar. It will appear only if your role has been specified in Designer.

When you enter design mode, the toolbar will change to show three icons (Figure D-3).

Figure D-3 Primary Page Design Mode Toolbar

Primary Page Design Mode Toolbar

The left-most icon is the contribution mode icon, and it returns you to contribution mode.

The middle icon is the Show Placeholder Section Properties icon. This is used to open the Placeholder Section Properties dialog, where you can add, edit, or delete placeholders on the page. For more information on the Placeholder Section Properties dialog, see "Using the Placeholder Section Properties Dialog".

The last icon takes you to the secondary page for the section. If the section does not have a secondary page, the icon will not be present. When you go to the secondary page, the toolbar will change slightly (Figure D-4).

Figure D-4 Secondary Page Design Mode Toolbar

Secondary Page Design Mode Toolbar

The toolbar for the secondary page has the same contribution mode and Placeholder Section Properties dialog.

You can use the difference in icons to help you keep track of whether you are on a primary or secondary page. In the toolbar on the primary page, there is a "2" in the right-most icon. This signifies taking you to the secondary page. In the secondary page toolbar, there is a "1", which signifies taking you to the primary page.

D.3.2 Working with Primary Pages

When you first enter design mode from contribution mode, the bar at the top of the page will change from Contribution Mode to Design Mode, and the Primary Page toolbar will appear.

The menu for the contribution graphics will be slightly different. There will be up to four options, depending on the settings for reports:

  • Switch Content

  • Switch Region Template

  • Apply to All Sections

  • View Web Site Usage Report

The Switch Content, Switch Region Template, and View Web Site Usage Report (when made available) menu options are the same as they would be in contribution mode.

The Apply to All Sections menu option is used to apply the settings of the current section's placeholder section properties to all other sections that use the page template.

D.3.3 Working with Secondary Pages

Design mode allows you to view the secondary page, which is not possible in contribution mode without using explicit links.

The replaceable regions on the secondary page will have a contribution graphic showing that they are replaceable (Figure D-5).

Figure D-5 Contribution Graphic Showing Replaceable Region

Contribution Graphic Showing Replaceable Region
  • Switch Content

  • Switch Region Template

  • Set Replaceable

  • Clear Replaceable

  • View Web Site Usage Report

The Switch Content, Switch Region Template, and View Web Site Usage Report (when made available) menu options are the same as they would be in contribution mode.

The Set Replaceable menu option is used to set the selected placeholder as a replaceable region. Similarly, the Clear Replaceable menu option is used to clear the replaceable region settings from the placeholder.

D.4 Using the Placeholder Section Properties Dialog

The Placeholder Section Properties dialog is used primarily to edit the name of a placeholder, or change the region template, subtemplate, data file, or placeholder definition used in a placeholder.

Since this dialog only changes the placeholder section properties, a new placeholder can be named and have a region template, placeholder definition, and data file associated, but this information will only be stored in the placeholder section properties. It will not actually change the page template to create a new placeholder.

The dialog can also be used to delete placeholder section properties, if desired.

To modify the placeholder section properties, follow these steps:

  1. On either a primary or secondary page, click the Show Placeholder Section Properties icon. It is located in the center of the toolbar.

    The Placeholder Section Properties dialog is displayed.

  2. If you want to remove a placeholder section property, select the row of the placeholder you want to delete, and click the Delete Row icon. (Figure D-6)

    Figure D-6 Delete Icon

    Delete Icon

    If you want to add a placeholder section property, click the Add Row icon. (Figure D-7)

    Figure D-7 Add Row Icon

    Add icon

    If you want to modify a placeholder section property, you can select the property and click the Edit Row icon (Figure D-8), or you can double-click the property.

    Figure D-8 Edit Row Icon

    Edit icon

    When you edit, the Placeholder Section Mappings dialog opens.

  3. In the Placeholder Section Mappings dialog, you can edit any of the values. Press Select to open a window displaying the results of a content server search, or simply enter the value you want.

  4. Click OK to save the values on the Placeholder Section Mappings dialog and close the dialog.

  5. Click OK to save the values on the Placeholder Section Properties dialog and close the dialog.