Contents Plugin

A content management plugin that enables developers to create and manage websites, news sections, and blogs. This plugin provides a flexible and extensible way to handle different types of content with support for various content sources and user permissions.

Features

  • Multiple content types support:
  • Database content (db)
  • File-based content (file)
  • PHP dynamic pages (php)
  • Plugin-based content (plugin)
  • Built-in search functionality
  • Pagination support
  • Tag management system
  • User role-based access control
  • SEO metadata management
  • Breadcrumb support
  • Template customization
  • Content categorization by sections

Installation

  1. Place the plugin in your project's Plugins/Contents directory
  2. Configure the base path for content files (optional)

Configuration

Default Content Path

By default, the plugin looks for content files in: 

[PROJECT_ROOT]/static/contents/

Custom Content Path

To override the default content path, define the following constant in your application:

define('PLUGIN_CONTENTS_BASE_PATH', '/your/custom/path/to/contents/')

Usage

Content Types

  1. Database Content (db)
  2. Store content directly in the database

  3. Supports HTML content with automatic escaping

  4. File Content (file)

  5. Serve content from static files
  6. Files should be placed in the configured content directory

  7. Supports HTML files

  8. PHP Dynamic Pages (php)

  9. Create dynamic content using PHP
  10. Supports custom templates and logic

  11. Files should be placed in the configured content directory

  12. Plugin Content (plugin)

  13. Integrate with other plugins
  14. Custom plugin methods can be called to generate content

Template Integration

The plugin provides several template blocks for easy integration:

  • fetchLatest() - Display latest content items
  • getTagsByIdents() - Retrieve active tags for specific idents in custom page logic
  • fetchTagsBlock() - Display content tags
  • fetchSearchBlock() - Add search functionality
  • fetchContents() - Display content items
  • fetchPaginationBlock() - Add pagination controls

URL Structure

Content pages are accessible via the following URL pattern: 

/content/{content_identifier}/

Management Interface

The plugin includes a management interface accessible at: 

/manage/contents/

For tag management: 

/manage/contents/tags/

Tag rows support status = active|disabled.

  • active tags are available to public helpers such as getTagsByIdents(), fetchTagsBlock(), fetchTagContentsBlock(), and getTagByIdent().
  • disabled tags remain editable in the admin DGS but are hidden from public tag helpers and tag-filtered frontend listings.

Admin Panel Setup Notes

  • The management DGS for contents and contents_tags depends on the contents_manage permission section from the plugin install SQL.
  • The URLs above also require matching rows in festi_section_actions, festi_sections_user_types_permission, and the admin menu tree.
  • If a project database was initialized from an older or partial dump and those rows are missing, both the admin panel and festi-dgs-exec can fail with a permission error even for an admin token.

CLI Usage

Run festi-dgs-exec from the project root inside Docker and pass an admin access_token.

Replace [YOUR_CONTAINER] with your application container or Docker Compose service name.

List existing tags:

docker compose exec -T [YOUR_CONTAINER] sh -lc '
  cd /var/www/html/src/site &&
  ./vendor/bin/festi-dgs-exec \
    --plugin Contents \
    --dgs contents_tags \
    --action list \
    --path /var/www/html/src/site \
    --access-token <admin-token>
'

Create a tag:

docker compose exec -T [YOUR_CONTAINER] sh -lc '
  cd /var/www/html/src/site &&
  ./vendor/bin/festi-dgs-exec \
    --plugin Contents \
    --dgs contents_tags \
    --action insert \
    --values "{\"caption\":\"Blog\",\"ident\":\"blog\",\"url\":\"blog\",\"status\":\"active\"}" \
    --path /var/www/html/src/site \
    --access-token <admin-token>
'

Create a database article linked to a tag:

docker compose exec -T [YOUR_CONTAINER] sh -lc '
  cd /var/www/html/src/site &&
  ./vendor/bin/festi-dgs-exec \
    --plugin Contents \
    --dgs contents \
    --action insert \
    --values "{\"caption\":\"CLI Test Blog Article 01\",\"url\":\"/cli-test-blog-article-01/\",\"type\":\"db\",\"description\":\"Short excerpt\",\"content\":\"<p>Article body</p>\",\"meta_title\":\"CLI Test Blog Article 01\",\"meta_description\":\"Short excerpt\",\"m2m_contents2contents_tags\":[<tag-id>]}" \
    --path /var/www/html/src/site \
    --access-token <admin-token>
'

Notes:

  • contents_tags now has a required status field. Use active for visible frontend tags or disabled to keep a tag hidden from public helpers.
  • The tag relation does not use the DGS field name tags in the CLI payload. It uses the request key format m2m_<linkTable>, which for this plugin is m2m_contents2contents_tags.
  • For multiple tags, pass a JSON array of tag ids, for example "m2m_contents2contents_tags":[3,4].
  • CLI inserts can set only the fields exposed in tblDefs/contents.xml.

Sitemap URL Management via CLI

List existing sitemap URLs:

docker compose exec -T [YOUR_CONTAINER] sh -lc '
  cd /var/www/html/src/site &&
  ./vendor/bin/festi-dgs-exec \
    --plugin Contents \
    --dgs sitemap_urls \
    --action list \
    --path /var/www/html/src/site \
    --access-token <admin-token>
'

Add a custom URL:

docker compose exec -T [YOUR_CONTAINER] sh -lc '
  cd /var/www/html/src/site &&
  ./vendor/bin/festi-dgs-exec \
    --plugin Contents \
    --dgs sitemap_urls \
    --action insert \
    --values "{\"url\":\"/en/about/\",\"changefreq\":\"monthly\",\"priority\":\"0.8\",\"status\":\"active\"}" \
    --path /var/www/html/src/site \
    --access-token <admin-token>
'

Update an existing URL (replace <id> with the row id from the list output):

docker compose exec -T [YOUR_CONTAINER] sh -lc '
  cd /var/www/html/src/site &&
  ./vendor/bin/festi-dgs-exec \
    --plugin Contents \
    --dgs sitemap_urls \
    --action edit \
    --id <id> \
    --values "{\"changefreq\":\"weekly\",\"priority\":\"0.9\"}" \
    --path /var/www/html/src/site \
    --access-token <admin-token>
'

Remove a URL:

docker compose exec -T [YOUR_CONTAINER] sh -lc '
  cd /var/www/html/src/site &&
  ./vendor/bin/festi-dgs-exec \
    --plugin Contents \
    --dgs sitemap_urls \
    --action remove \
    --id <id> \
    --path /var/www/html/src/site \
    --access-token <admin-token>
'

Notes:

  • changefreq accepted values: always, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, never.
  • priority is a decimal from 0.0 to 1.0 (step 0.1). Default is 0.5.
  • lastmod is optional. Format: YYYY-MM-DD.
  • status must be active or disabled. Only active rows appear in sitemap.xml.
  • The web UI is available at /manage/sitemap/.

Upgrade Existing Installs

Use the new plugin update SQL that matches your database engine:

  • install/update.pgsql.sql
  • install/update.mysql.sql
  • install/update.mssql.sql

These scripts add contents_tags.status, backfill existing rows to active, and keep fresh installs aligned with the updated DGS schema.

Admin Panel Workflow

  1. Open /manage/contents/tags/ and create the tag first.
  2. Open /manage/contents/ and create a new page.
  3. For a blog article, choose Source Type = Database.
  4. Fill Caption, Url, Description, Content, SEO fields, and Tags.
  5. Save the page and verify it opens by its Url.

Security

  • Content is automatically escaped to prevent XSS attacks
  • User role-based access control for content visibility
  • Secure handling of file paths and content