Manager Roles

This document describes the workings of Silva from the point of view of a (Silva) Site Manager role. This role has the same rights as a Zope manager.

Assumptions
The reader is assumed to have an up-to-date browser (Mozilla / Netscape 6+ or Internet Explorer 5+ or similar), and be conversant with Zope. For the purposes of locating objects, the Silva installation is assumed to be ‘default’, where Silva is installed at the root level of a Zope instance, and named Silva. All paths in this document begin with /silva.

Nomenclature
ZMI refers to the Zope Management Interface. SMI refers to the Silva Management Interface (where Authors and Editors work). A ZPT is a Zope Page Template. To limit confusion, we rarely use the word ‘user’. Silva has several built in roles (Author, Editor, Chief Editor, Manager). These are always spelled with a capital letter. When we refer to the person or organization which has installed Silva, we use the word ‘customer’. A person viewing public pages (anonymously) is a Visitor.

General

 Let's start with a few tips which are good to know.

• If you're logged in as a Manager, the breadcrumb trail contains an extra link: /manage... that takes you directly to the Zope manage_main in that location. The access key alt-. initiates the action immediately.
• In the ZMI, the second tab is called “Silva /edit...” and that takes you to the SMI at the current level.
• In the ZMI of the Silva root, “Silva /edit...” becomes the third tab. In between comes the “Services” tab, which contains Silva application logic, further detailed below.
• A few key aspects are defined in the Zope properties tab of the Silva root.  See the Properties section below (e.g. to change the help location).

Objects in the Silva root

What follows is a quick listing, with links to more information. Some of these items actually reside on the file system.

In the ZMI, at /silva/manage or /silva/manage_main, you'll see a number of Zope and Silva objects. Silva objects are publications, folders, documents, etc. 

Note that if Silva objects are present in the root publication, those items will be mingled in the contents listing as well.

Members
Folder containing information about Silva members, i.e. Zope users which have been assigned a Silva specific role. Normally this folder should be left alone; the Member objects are created implicitly on demand. Removing a Member object does not revoke the roles from the corresponding user; it only removes the additional information available via the “user settings” page of the SMI.
content.html
ZPT that helps render public pages. See the TemplateDesign doc.
frontend.css
Cascading Style Sheet that determines the typographical styles in the Preview screen and public pages. See the TemplateDesign doc.
globals
This folder (silva/globals) resides on the file system. It contains Silva user interface elements, and will be overwritten in an upgrade.
index
A Silva index document in the Silva root (or Silva ‘top’, as it's called in the documentation for AuthorEditorChief).
index_html
A Python script that handles web requests. See theTemplateDesign doc.
layout_macro.html
ZPT macro that renders public pages. See the TemplateDesign doc.
preview_html
A Python script that handles Silva previews. Will be covered in the SilvaDeveloper docs.
rename-to-override.html
ZPT that can be used to create custom pages. See the TemplateDesign doc.
standard_error_message
ZPT which displays an error message in Silva style (as opposed to Zope style).
standard_unauthorized_message
ZPT which displays an unauthorized message in Silva style (as opposed to Zope style).

Silva Services

Silva Services are found in the Silva root in the ZMI. From there click on the Services tab.

Some services have settings that can be modified. Configurable services have a title following the id, e.g.:

      service_messages (Silva Message Service)

Other services have no adjustable settings; these don't have a title. If you click the id you'll get a screen with a description of the service.

service_extensions
Configuration for Silva core and Extension Products. SilvaNews is an example of an extension – it’s not part of the Silva core – that must be installed separately. Your own and third party extensions can be installed and deinstalled here. See below for installing layout templates.
service_files
Controls storage of Silva File objects
service_members
Controls membership / subscription issues.
service_messages
Set up email address for workflow support.

Managing Silva layout templates

The default Silva layout templates can be reinstalled – e.g. after an upgrade – with the install default layout button. It may be that you have modified some of the existing layout templates, such as the stylesheet frontend.css. Existing templates won't be overwritten. Instead the prefix default_ will be prepended to the new id, preserving your work yet allowing you to examine any differences. How to:

1. On the Zope level, go to the Silva root
2. Remove or rename existing layout templates, such as:
   • frontend.css
   • layout_macro.html
   • content.html or custom.html
   • standard_error_message
   • Note that there are other items, but if they’ve changed, you'll be notified.
3. Go to the Services tab of the Silva root.
4. Click on service_extensions (Silva Product and Extension Configuration).
5. In the Silva Core box, click the install default layout button. Wait for the result screen.
6. Click the name of your Silva root in the breadcrumb trail. This returns you to the Contents tab of the root, where you will see the newly installed templates. If old ones exist, the prefix ‘default_’ will be prepended to the id.

When you upgrade, often the stylesheet ‘frontend.css’ has been adjusted. If this is the case, it will be noted in UPGRADE.txt (we know everybody reads it :-) and we recommend – especially if you haven't changed the stylesheet – that you delete/rename the old one and install default layout. If you see red text in the SMI or preview this is a signal that your frontend.css should be updated, since you're missing key selectors for content display.

If you are upgrading Silva between major versions it's a good idea to look in the new template layout_macro.html. Often there are improvements – such as related link references (<link rel="...) for accessibility – and optimizations in the tal code. Don't forget to backup your site before you upgrade to a new version of Silva - just in case.

Silva root properties

Several key aspects are defined in the properties tab of the Silva root.

• title: standard Zope title
• help_url: defines the URL of the ‘alt-?’ link in the
  Silva management area. This may need adjustment, if
  the id of the Silva root is not silva, or if you want to provide
  a customized help page.
• comment: a placeholder. In the Silva management area, comments can be entered in the properties screen.
  This metadata is not acquired by underlying items.
• access_restriction: this feature to restricts access to the Silva
  site to specified IP ranges. This is also edited via the Access Screen in the Silva management area.

Managing users

Managing users via Zope is currently a Manager role issue, and occurs in the ZMI, not the SMI. The recommended way of managing users is to hook up Zope to LDAP using LDAPUserFolder (see the INSTALL.txt which comes with Silva for more information). Alternatively you can manage users manually, as described here.

We recommend creating users in the Silva root (or even above it). This locates all users in one place, and provides an overview of all people involved. You can assign local roles for users in any place you want in Silva. The important point is don't give roles to the users in the root folder, but assign roles via the Access screen.

Steps to create a user

• Go to the location where users will be created in the ZMI. (You can use the /manage link in the breadcrumb trail).
• If this is the first user to be created, you need to add a special Zope object called User Folder. In the “Add” select list menu choose “User Folder”. This adds a User Folder with the id acl_users. One cannot add more than one User Folder.
• Enter the User Folder, and click the Add button.
• In the upcoming form, choose a name for the user and a password. Don't bother with the “Domains” field (unless you're using them), and don't assign a role. Click Add.

  You (probably) shouldn't assign roles to users in the “Roles” select box, because this creates a global role for the whole site, overriding settings in the SMI. Note that the name can not be changed afterwards.

To modify a user click on the name in the user list.

Delete users by checking the corresponding checkbox to the left of the name, and click Delete. You will not be asked to confirm your actions. If necessary you can use the “Undo” tab to correct errors.