Customizing SmartInstant page layout

SmartInstant is intended to give the site builder maximum flexibility in designing layouts without the need of extensive SXML knowledge. Visual elements can be added to a page by adding Smartlets to Smartlet zones using the SmartletListInput. Smartlet Presets are included to make finding and configuring elements easier.

Layouts

Each SmartInstant design has a Default layout to render items, which can be overriden for specific content types or even specific items. A layout is a folder of content type Row Contenttype Layout (LCR) that must be a child of the Layouts folder inside the Design folder.

A layout folder contains Grid Row items, which represent a row in the 960 grid. They can be of one of the following (related) contenttypes

• Grid Row (ROW)
• Breadcrumb Row (BRD)
• Footer Row (FOO)
• Header Row (HEA)
• Navigation Row (NAV)

There can be multiple items of type Grid Row within a layout, but only one of the other types. If any of these content type is not represented inside a Row Contenttype Layout, this row is taken from the Default layout (which must contain all types). Most layouts only override the Grid Row items to keep the overall look the same for all pages.

Rows

Each row contains a number of columns, which can be configured using the Gridrow Column Chooser control.

Each column is a Smartlet zone, which can be edited with the SmartletListInput. A maximum of 8 columns can be created, enabling the fields Column 1 through 8. The Column fields use CTSpecificText fields for physical storage.

The Logic field allows extra control over the rendering of the Row, but is only editable by the Administrators group.

The rendering process of SmartInstant pages is described here.