Widget Tag
++LATEST++
What It Does
The ++LATEST++ widget displays a list of links on article pages, showing the most recent articles from the section or subsection to which the article belongs.
The Markup Results
The ++LATEST++ markup takes one of two forms, depending on the following "Layout and Design Method" and "Page Header" settings in your site's widget settings.
- Strict HTML or XHTML, or the CSS layout option is selected. The
++LATEST++widget is generated as a series of block elements. Each link is in its own<div>tag. - Non-strict HTML or XHTML. With non-strict markup, the
++LATEST++widget is an inline element that is not enclosed by an HTML tag. Each link is separated by two<br>tags.
In both types of layout, if you have thumbnail images enabled for the type of link format used by the ++LATEST++ widget (long-format or short-format, depending on your widget settings), you may encounter an alignment problem for html that follows the ++LATEST++ widget.
The alignment problem occurs when the text of the last link in the list is not long enough to "clear" a right-aligned or left-aligned thumbnail image. As a result, any html following the widget will try to flow around the thumbnail image, creating an effect you may not want. To address this, it is recommended that you follow the ++LATEST++ widget with a <div> block like so:
++LATEST++
<div style="clear:both"> </div>
Templates Using This Widget
You may use this widget only in article page templates.
Customizing This Widget
Users with webmaster or administrator accounts may customize this widget in the site's widget editor. To get there, click the "Widget Settings" link in the left-column menu of the Big Medium control panel. The following settings affect the ++LATEST++ widget:
- Latest articles: Number of articles. This setting is located in the "Article Counts" section of the site's widget settings and determines the number of article links that appear in the the
++LATEST++widget. - Latest article links (LATEST): Use long-format links. Checking this option in the "Link Formats" section tells Big Medium to use long-format links in the
++LATEST++widget. Otherwise, short-format links (just the linked headline) are used. - Long-format links. If you use long-format links for the
++LATEST++widget, adjusting the order and content of long-format links in the "Link Formats" section will adjust the appearance of each article link in the++LATEST++widget. See below for instructions on changing the order and content of long-format links. - Display edit icon/link alongside links to articles. This setting in the "One-Click Editing" panel of the widget settings adds the one-click editing link to all widgets that display links to articles, including
++LATEST++. The format of the link (icon, brief text, or both icon and brief text) can also be set in the "One-Click Editing" panel.
Changing the Order and Style of Long-Format Links
Users with webmaster or administrator settings may customize the appearance of long-format links in the "Link Format" section of the site's widget settings.
Long-format links are built from the elements indicated in the selection of pulldown menus listed under "Long-format links." The first pulldown menu shows the first element of a long-format link, the second pulldown menu shows the second element, and so on. You may choose any of these elements and put them in any order by changing the selections in the pulldown menus.
There are three types of selections available in these pulldown menus:
- Content. The types of content available to include in a long-format link are: headline/link, article description, publish date, byline and section.
- Separators. Separators are elements included to create space or other dividers between the content elements in a long-format link. They include: spaces, colons, periods and line breaks.
- Blanks. The first line of each pulldown menu is blank. Selecting a blank pulldown does not include anything in the link.
You may include thumbnail images as part of long-format links by selecting the "Include thumbnail image with long-format links" option and selecting the left, right or center alignment from the "Alignment of thumbnail image" setting. The height and width attributes of thumbnail images may be set in the "Image Sizes" panel of the site's widget settings.
The date format used in long-format links is selected in the "Date Formats" section of the widget settings.
Styles
The article links in the ++LATEST++ widget are displayed in the "Headline Links" style. If the widget uses the long-format link presentation, the article description is presented in the "Default Body Text" style, the date is presented in the "Promo Dates" style, the byline is presented in the "Promo Bylines" style, and the section is presented in the "Section Links" style.
Need more help?
For further assistance and documentation, visit the website of Global Moxie, the developer behind Big Medium.