Joomla! Documentation™

Under Construction

Description

This screen is used for editing a new or existing Article, usually using a Wysiwyg editor. The default editor is TinyMCE but if other editors are installed the default editor may be set to something else for the site as a whole or for individual users.

Most parameters have suitable defaults but you might wish to set a specific Category or provide article-specific Metadata.

How to Access

To add a new article, starting from the Administrator menu:

• Select Home Dashboard → Site panel → Articles + button. Or...
• Select Content → Articles + button. Or...
• Select Content → Articles. Then...
  • Select the New button in the Toolbar.

To edit an existing article, starting from the Articles list:

• Select an article Title in the list of Articles.

Screenshot

• The Articles: New and Articles: Edit screens have similar toolbar buttons.
• The Articles: New does not have the Save as Copy or Versions toolbar buttons.

Form Fields

• Title. The Title for this article.
• Alias. The internal name of this article. Normally, you can leave this blank and Joomla will fill in a default value Title in lower case and with dashes instead of spaces. Learn more.

Content Tab

• Article Text. This is where you enter the contents of the article. Joomla includes 3 editors, the default Editor - TinyMCE is shown here.

The CMS Content dropdown list provides for access to link to an Article, Contact, Field, Media, Menu, or Module. Learn more.

• Toggle Editor. A Toggle Editor button show below the edit window. This button allows you to toggle between TinyMCE and Editor - None.
• Status. The published status of this article.
  • Published: Article is visible in the Frontend of the site.
  • Unpublished: Article is will not be visible to guests in the Frontend of the site. It may be visible to logged in users who have edit state permission for the article.
  • Archived: Article will no longer show on menu items Category Blog or Category List.
  • Trashed: Article is deleted from the site but still in the database. Learn more.
• Category. Select the Category for this article.
• Featured. Select Yes if article will be shown in the Featured menu item.
• Access. Select the viewing access level for this article. The access levels depend on what has been set up in Users: Access Levels.
• Language. Select the language for this article. Keep the default of 'All' if you are not using the multi-language feature.
• Tags. Assign tags to this article. You may select a tag from a pre-defined list or enter a new tag by typing the name in the field and pressing enter.
• Note. This is normally for the administrator's use (for example, to document information about this article) and does not show in the Frontend.
• Version Note. Optional field to identify the version of this article in the article's Version History.

Images and Links Tab

Note: This can be hidden by a user with Admin permissions in the Article: Options.
This section lets you display images and links in your articles using standardized layouts.

Intro Image

• Intro Image. Click the Select button to select an image to be displayed in a fixed location in the Intro Text of an article. This will open a window that allows you to select an image from your images folder. Learn more.
• Image Description (Alt Text). Set the alt attribute for this image. A few descriptive words for screen readers.
• No Description. Check in the rare instance of a purely decorative image. Note that if the Image Description is empty and the No Description checkbox is unchecked then the image will fail to meet accessibility criteria. If an image description is present this checkbox has no effect.
• Image Class. Set if you wish to apply your own custom class to this image. Learn more.
• Caption. Create a caption for this image.

Full Article Image

• Full Article Image. Click the Select button to select an image to be displayed in a fixed location in the Full Text of an article. This will open a window that allows you to select an image from your images folder. Learn more.
• Image Description (Alt Text). Set the alt attribute for this image. A few descriptive words for screen readers.
• No Description. Check in the rare instance of a purely decorative image. Note that if the Image Description is empty and the No Description checkbox is unchecked then the image will fail to meet accessibility criteria. If an image description is present this checkbox has no effect.
• Image Class. Set if you wish to apply your own custom class to this image. Learn more.
• Caption. Enter an optional caption for this image.

Link A

• Link A. The URL for the first link to be displayed in a fixed location in the article text. This must be a full URL, not relative. For example, it normally would start with 'https://'.
• Link A Text. The text used for Link A. If blank, the URL will be displayed.
• URL Target Window. Sets the default value for the target for the first Link in the article. Choices are:
  • Open in parent window: Opens the in the main browser window, replacing the current Joomla article.
  • Open in new window: Opens the link in a new browser window.
  • Open in popup: Opens the link in a pop-up browser window (without full navigation controls).
  • Modal: Opens the link in a modal pop-up window.

Link B, Link C: Same options as Link A.

Options Tab

Note: This can be hidden by a user with Admin permissions in the Article: Options.
This is a set of options you can use to control how this article will show in the Frontend.

Layout

• Layout. Use a layout from the supplied article view or overrides in the templates.
• Title. Whether or not to show the Article's Title.
• Linked Titles. If the Article's Title is shown, whether to show it as a link to the article.
• Tags. Enter tags for this article. Select existing tags by entering in the first few letters or create new tags by entering them here. Learn more.
• Intro Text. If set to Show, the Intro Text of the article will show when you drill down to the article. If set to Hide, only the part of the article after the 'Read More' break will show.
• Position of Article Info.
  • Above: Puts the article information block above the text.
  • Below: Puts the article information block below the text.
  • Split: Splits the article information block into 2 separate blocks. One block is above and the other is below the text.
• Article Info Title. Displays 'Details' on top of the article information block.

Category

• Category. Whether or not to show the Article's Category.
• Link Category. If the Article's Category is shown, whether to show it as a link to that Category.
• Parent Category. Whether or not to show the Article's Parent Category.
• Link Parent Category. If the Article's Parent Category is shown, whether to show it as a link to that Category.

Associations

• Associations. Show the associated flags or Language Code. Multilingual only.

Author

• Author. Show the author of the Article.
• Link to Author's Contact Page. If the Article's author is shown, whether to show it as a link to a Contact layout for that author. Note that the author must be set up as a Contact.

Date

• Create Date. Show the Article's create date.
• Modify Date. Show the Article's modify date.
• Publish Date. Show the Article's start publishing date.

Options

• Navigation. Show a navigation link 'Prev' or 'Next' when you drill down to the article.
• Hits. Show the number of times the article has been displayed by a user.
• Unauthorised Links. If Yes, the Intro Text for restricted articles will show. Clicking on the 'Read more' link will require users to log in to view the full article content.
• Positioning of the Links.
  • Above: Links are shown above the content.
  • Below: Links are shown below the content.
• Read More Text. Optional field that allows you to customize the text that shows for a 'Read more' link. The default wording is "Read more".
• Browser Page Title. Optional text for the 'Browser page title' element to be used when the article is viewed with a non-article menu item. If blank, the article's title is used instead.

Fields Tab

This section shows the custom fields which are defined for this article. Learn more.

Publishing Tab

Note: This can be hidden by a user with Admin permissions in the Article: Options.
This section allows you to enter parameters and Metadata for this Article.

Publishing

• Start Publishing. Date and time to start publishing. Use this field if you want to enter content ahead of time and then have it published automatically at a future time.
• Finish Publishing. Date and time to finish publishing. Use this field if you want to have content automatically changed to Unpublished state at a future time (for example, when it is no longer applicable).
• Start Featured. Date and time to start featured state. Use this field if you want to enter content ahead of time and then have it featured automatically at a future time.
• Finish Featured. Date and time to finish featured state. Use this field if you want to have content automatically changed to Unfeatured state at a future time
• Created Date. This field defaults to the current time when the Article was created. You can enter in a different date and time or click on the calendar icon to find the desired date.
• Created By. Name of the Joomla User who created this Article. This will default to the currently logged-in user. If you want to change this to a different user, click the Select User button to select a different user.
• Created by Alias. This optional field allows you to enter in an alias for the Author for this Article. This allows you to display a different Author name for this Article.
• Modified Date. Date of last modification.
• Modified By. Username who performed the last modification.
• Revision. Number of revisions to this Article.
• Hits. The number of times this Article has been viewed.
• ID. This is a unique identification number for this Article assigned automatically by Joomla. It is used to identify the Article internally, and you cannot change this number. When creating a new Article, this field displays "0" until you save the new entry, at which point a new ID is assigned to it.

Metadata

• Meta Description. An optional paragraph to be used as the description of the page. Learn more.
• Keywords. Optional entry for keywords. Learn more.
• Robots. The instructions for web 'robots' that browse to this page. Set 'Use Global' in Global Configuration.
• Author. Optional entry for an Author name within the metadata.
• Content Rights. Describe what rights others have to use this content.

Associations Tab

Note: This can be hidden by a user with Admin permissions in the Article: Options.
Tab is shown on Multilingual Sites only.

Configure Edit Screen Tab

Note: This can be hidden by a user with Admin permissions in the Article: Options.

• Publishing Options. If Hide, the Publishing Options tab will not show. This means that Backend users will not be able to edit the fields in this tab. These fields will always be set to their default values.
• Article Options. If Hide, the Article Options tab will not show. This means that Backend users will not be able to edit the fields in this tab. These fields will always be set to their default values.
• Administrator Images and Links. If Yes, the Images and Links tab will show.
• Frontend Images and Links. If Yes, the Images and Links tab will show in the Frontend article editor screen.

Permissions Tab

Note: This can be hidden by a user with Admin permissions in the Article: Options.
This is where you can enter permissions for this article. Learn more.

To change the permissions for this article, do the following.

1. Select the Group by clicking its title.
2. Find the desired Action. Possible Actions are:
   • Delete. Users can delete this article.
   • Edit. Users can edit this article.
   • Edit State. User can change the published state and related information for this article.
3. Select the desired permission for the action you wish to change. Possible settings are:
   • Inherited: Inherited for users in this Group from the Global Configuration, Articles Options, or Articles Category.
   • Allowed: Allowed for users in this Group. Note that, if this action is Denied at one of the higher levels, the Allowed permission here will not take effect. A Denied setting cannot be overridden.
   • Denied: Denied for users in this Group.
4. Click Save. When the screen refreshes, the Calculated Setting column will show the effective permission for this Group and Action.

Toolbar

At the top of the page you will see the toolbar shown in the Screenshot above. The functions are:

• Save. Saves the article and stays in the current screen.
• Save & Close. Saves the article and closes the current screen.

• Save & New. Saves the article and keeps the editing screen open and ready to create another article.
• Save to Menu. Saves the article to a menu item and opens the menu item screen.
• Save as Copy. Saves your changes to a copy of the current article. Does not affect the current article.

• Close. Closes the current screen and returns to the previous screen without saving any modifications you may have made. This icon is not shown if you are creating a new article.
• Cancel. Closes the current screen and returns to the previous screen without saving any modifications you may have made.
• Versions. Opens the Article Version History window to show any prior versions of this article. This allows you to view older versions of this article and, if desired, restore from an older version. Learn more.
• Preview. Opens a modal dialog showing a site view of this article. Requires shared sessions or being logged in into the Frontend.
• Accessibility Check. Opens a window showing accessibility check results of the article.
• Associations. With a specific language set for an article, allows side by side editing in another language. This icon is shown on Multilingual Sites only.
• Help. Opens this help screen.

Quick Tips

• There are 2 methods to insert an image into article using the TinyMCE editor.
  1. The CMS Content dropdown list provides access to the Media screen that lets you browse image files and upload images.
  2. The 'Insert' dropdown list is a simple form for which you need to know the image url. It is used for external images.
• Read more breaks allow you to save space on the Front Page or on any blog layout page by showing just the first portion of an Article. Page break allow you to provide multi-page navigation for long Articles. You can use both on one Article, if desired.
  For example, you could put a Read more break after the first paragraph of a multi-page article, and have Page breaks after each page. No page navigation would display on the Front Page until the User selects the Read more link. At that time, the Article's table of contents would display showing links to every page.

Related Information

• This Portal brings together information related specifically to Joomla 4.

Related Help Screens	Description
Articles: Options	Used to set global defaults for menu items that display articles. These default values will be used when 'Use Global' is selected for an option in an Articles menu item.
Articles	The Article list is used to find, mark featured, add and edit articles.
Articles: Edit	This is where you can add and edit Articles. You can also select the Category for an Article and indicate whether or not it is Published and if it is selected to appear on the Front Page.
Articles: Featured	Used to control which 'Featured Articles' are displayed on the Front Page and in what order they are displayed.
Articles: Categories	The Articles Categories list is used to find, add, and edit articles categories.
Menus: Archived Articles	Shows a customised list of articles ordered by date or title. Archived articles are no longer published but are still stored on the site.
Menus: Category Blog	Used to show articles belonging to a specific Category in a blog layout. Controls the Leading Articles, Intro Articles and additional links to more Articles.
Menus: Category List	Used to show articles belonging to a specific Category in a list layout.
Menus: Create Article	Allows users to submit an article. Normally this is available only to users who have logged in to the Frontend of the site. Users must have permission to create articles.
Menus: Featured Articles	Used to show all Articles that have been tagged as Featured. Articles are shown in a Blog Layout.
Menus: List All Categories in an Article Category Tree	Used to show a hierarchical list of Categories. Depending on the selected options for this layout, you can click on a category Title to show the articles in that category.
Menus: Single Article	Used to show one article.