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This article applies to: ML8

Manage Topics

From Content Menu, click Manage Topics

Topics are free form content blocks that can be displayed on your site, either embedded within other pages, or on a page of their own. These are often used for 'FAQ' pages, policy pages, special instructions, etc.

Topics can contain HTML and scripting, though a working knowledge of those technologies is necessary. Content is entered through the 3rd-party 'RAD Editor' control created by Telerik.

Topics can be used several ways:

At a direct URL, with the format: http://www.yoursite.com/t-topicname.aspx
Embedding in a .aspx page in this format: <aspdnsf:Topic ID="IDName" runat="server" TopicName="TopicName" />
In a skin template.ascx file, in this format: (!Topic Name="topicname"!)

The Topics page is broken into several sections, explained below:

Topic List

This part of the page lists the existing topics. Clicking on one of the names or the 'Add new' button will display topic detail fields to the right of the topic list (see below). The 'Show for Skin' dropdown allows you to display topics that are restricted to specific skins (see below). The 'Show Locale Setting' displays topics created for specific locales (see here for information on locales).

Topic Details

This area is where the topic's attributes and contents are set. The fields are:

Field NameDescription
Topic NameThis is the name of the topic. This will not be visible to customers unless linking to the topic in a URL, in which case the name will be part of the URL.
Topic TitleThe is the topic's formal title. If nothing is present in the 'Search Engine Page Title' field explained below, this value will be used for the page title displayed in the browser.
Applies Only to SkinThis field can restrict the topic to a specific skin. Only customers viewing the site in that skin will be able to see the topic's contents. See here for more information on varying the skin customers see.
Display OrderThis value determines the order that the topics will appear in on the sitemap. Leaving this set to 1 for all topics will cause them to be displayed alphabetically.
DescriptionThis is the content of the topic. The Telerik RAD editor can accept HTML, if you click the <> button at the lower left. Note that the HTML needs to be properly formatted, or you can affect the rendering of the entire page this topic is displaying on.
Search Engine Page TitleThis is the title that will display in the browser. This value will also be used to generate a title meta tag for the page, which an help with indexing by outside search engines.
Search Engine Page KeywordsA comma-separate list of words to be turned into a keyword meta tag. Populating this field will help increase indexing by search engines.
Search Engine Page DescriptionA page description which will be turned into a description meta tag. Populating this field will help increase indexing by search engines.
PasswordEntering a value here will password-protect the topic, so only customers who know that password can access the page. Leaving the field blank allows all customers to view the page.
Requires SubscriptionIf this is set to yes, only customers with a current subscription will be able to view the topic. For more information on subscriptions, see here.
HTML OKThis field is no longer used.
Requires DisclaimerSetting this to yes will require customers to agree to a disclaimer before viewing the topic page. See here for more information on disclaimers.
Publish in Site MapIf this field is set to yes, the topic will appear in your sitemap.
Page BG ColorThis field is not currently used.
Contents BG ColorThis field is not currently used.
Skin Graphics ColorThis field is not currently used.