Blocks

Blocks are what you see in the sidebar (‘right’ region in default theme) as boxes. They belong to a particular region.

Elements

All blocks are rendered via block.ctp element (found in app/views/elements/block.ctp). You can use your own element too for your blocks by editing 'element' field when adding a block.

Tip: If it is a plugin element, enter 'plugin_name.element_name'.

How to display a THIS and THAT in a block?

You are able to show an element, menu, vocabulary (nested list of terms), or a list of nodes by entering specially formatted text in your block’s body.

Element

For an element with file name my_element.ctp:

[element:my_element] OR [e:my_element]

Passing variables to your element:

[element:my_element myVar="value here" anotherVar="value here"]

For plugin elements:

[element:my_element plugin="my_plugin"]

Menu

For a Menu with alias main:

[menu:main] OR [m:main]

Vocabulary

For a Vocabulary with alias categories:

[vocabulary:categories] OR [v:categories]

Nodes

For example, you want to show a list of 5 most recent blog posts as a block:

[node:recent_posts conditions="Node.type:blog;Node.status:1" order="Node.id DESC" limit="5"]