Help with understanding custom pages

[dut]

Hello!

So Ive recently discovered Custom pages and I got an awful lot of ideas I want to try out. They all basicly resolve around the idea of using the elements (the ones where you can insert widgets), as an iframe - but I cant seem to work out, how to make it so?

Ive tried using the HTML widget, but I dont know: a) how to make it link to another custom page. b) how to make the content of the other custom page, as a plain site of text and images.

Can anyone help me out?

[Kami]

Apr 3, 2023 5:29:36 GMT -8 dut said:

Hello!

So Ive recently discovered Custom pages and I got an awful lot of ideas I want to try out. They all basicly resolve around the idea of using the elements (the ones where you can insert widgets), as an iframe - but I cant seem to work out, how to make it so?

Ive tried using the HTML widget, but I dont know: a) how to make it link to another custom page. b) how to make the content of the other custom page, as a plain site of text and images.

Can anyone help me out?

You cannot put any PB pages inside an iframe; PB is designed to break out of them.

Why do you want to have a custom page that has an iframe for another custom page?

[dut]

I do not want to put the iframe inside the elements, I wanted the elements to work as one. It is currently the only thing I can think of, that perhaps could allow me to fill in the elements with a custom second menu or the display of an image for an example.

[Kami]

Apr 3, 2023 5:39:33 GMT -8 dut said:

I do not want to put the iframe inside the elements, I wanted the elements to work as one. It is currently the only thing I can think of, that perhaps could allow me to fill in the elements with a custom second menu or the display of an image for an example.

I see. Without knowing specifically what you're trying to accomplish, I don't really know exactly what you're doing incorrectly. It would be helpful if you could link me to one of the custom pages, and outline step-by-step what you're trying to accomplish and what isn't working for you.

Ultimately, custom pages are just "blank" pages attached to your forum and you can put just about anything on them, so this is a pretty open ended question so far.

[dut]

[dut]

I plan on using it as the 'homepage'. I think I can manage to create the buttons, but its the linking from zone 1 into zone 3, that is a problem for me.

[Kami]

A few questions:
- when you say "button", do you mean an image with text on it that links to whatever, or do you want an HTML-only button that links to whatever?

- if the top box has links to content in the side box, what is the expected behaviour if a user clicks on the top link? If the top area links to the third box content but the content it links to is just another link, it seems redundant? But I could be misunderstanding your goal here

- what content do you expect to go in the side bar?

[dut]

I think I lack words, on how to explain myself. The core issue, is that I want to know how to make a button (yes, an image with text on it) in zone 1, display its contents in zone 3. Just like the concept of an iframe, where you have a link in box 1 (for an example, a menu bar), which displays its contents in box 2.

I plan on using zone 2 (the sidebar) as a place to put bits of information. Once ive figured out how to make a link display its content into a "box", then I imagine I can use the same coding if i someday need to place a link in the sidebar as well.

[Kami]

Apr 3, 2023 6:31:13 GMT -8 dut said:

I think I lack words, on how to explain myself. The core issue, is that I want to know how to make a button (yes, an image with text on it) in zone 1, display its contents in zone 3. Just like the concept of an iframe, where you have a link in box 1 (for an example, a menu bar), which displays its contents in box 2.

I plan on using zone 2 (the sidebar) as a place to put bits of information. Once ive figured out how to make a link display its content into a "box", then I imagine I can use the same coding if i someday need to place a link in the sidebar as well.

So (sorry just for clarification) this is the user flow you're looking for?

1. User visits the custom page
2. The top bar has buttons that are linked to content later in the page.
3. User clicks one of these buttons
4. Another zone is then populated with the appropriate content

If this is correct, just one follow up question: what is the content that appears in zone 3 when the button is clicked? In other words, where is the revealed content coming from?

[dut]

Yes thats exactly what I mean!

It can be a another custom page with bits of info, but mainly it will be boards and categories that will then be listed there.

[Kami]

Apr 3, 2023 8:03:32 GMT -8 dut said:

Yes thats exactly what I mean!

It can be a another custom page with bits of info, but mainly it will be boards and categories that will then be listed there.

So this will probably require some custom javascript to be written as opposed to just widgets & HTML, which I unfortunately can't assist with as my knowledge of javascript is juvenile at best. I am not 100% confident you can put boards in those areas, so there's a chance this might not be possible, at least for this particular usage.

Gonna tag a couple folks that may be able to give a better insight on what would/would not be possible here: Lynx  ,  Chris

[Chris]

If the code hits the server more than once to load more than one page (or partial pages) at a time, it abuses resources and is forbidden.

The widgets are a low-resource way to display other forum areas without initiating another roundtrip to the server since it is all sent in the initial trip. An iframe or AJAX request generally entails loading the initial page and then heading back to the server to load another page for another part of the forum, which is a no-no (that's double the resource).

If the buttons created in zone 1 correspond to showing one widget at a time (and hiding others) in zone 3, that could be accomplished. But loading one part of the forum while viewing a completely different part of the forum without the aid of widgets would make it inconceivable to remain within the guidelines.

[Source]

The following types of codes are prohibited:

• Codes that make requests to ProBoards' servers except through methods explicitly allowed for by ProBoards (such as plugin set() functions). Examples of prohibited codes include using <iframe> tags to access forum content, or making AJAX requests to ProBoards forums.
• Codes that affect the placement of advertisements on any ProBoards forum, except those specifically authorized by ProBoards.
• Codes which cause automatic redirects on page load to a new URL.
• Codes which rely on external code to work properly. Note that using external data is acceptable, so long as that data is loaded asynchronously.
• Codes which use plugin keys to store unrelated data, e.g., sharing a single plugin key between multiple unrelated plugins.

[dut]

I understand. It is the latter scenario I was going for - so when a button is clicked in zone 1, content appear in zone 3 - but the content doesn't "build" in zone 3 just because I click another button in zone 1.

The content that I wanted shown, was specific boards. But I cant seem to find a widget amongst the options that allow me to do that - therefore I thought of just using links, but when I link the button to zone 3 f.eks. via an iframe inserted (in zone 3), the page shown, would consist of the whole page - meaning including banner, menubar, navtree, etc. I dont want that. I just want the specific board to be shown, so that the user only have to scroll through the categories belonging to that specific board.

[dut]

I found a way to solve it, without the use of custom pages.



Thank you very much for your help and patience with me :-)