This section applies only if your netfrag.org is installed on a server that is both authenticated and on an intranet.
netfrag.org internally manages two usernames: Login username and TWiki username.
Login username: When you login to the intranet, you use your existing login username, ex: pthoeny. This name is normally passed to netfrag.org by the REMOTE_USER environment variable. netfrag.org uses this name internally to log topic changes. Login usernames are maintained by your system administrator.
TWiki username: This is your name in WikiNotation, ex: PeterThoeny, recorded when you register in TWikiRegistration; doing so also generates your personal home page in the Main web of your TWiki site.
netfrag.org can map the intranet username to the Wiki username automatically, provided that the Login username and Wiki username pair has been entered in the TWikiUsers topic. This happens automatically when you register.
NOTE:To correctly enter a WikiName - your own or someone else's - be sure to specify the Main web in front of the Wiki username: write Main.WikiUsername or %MAINWEB%.WikiUsername. This assures that the name will be linked automatically to the netfrag.org.Main web, where user registration pages are stored, even if the text is entered in a different netfrag.org web.
Definition of the templates used to render all HTML pages displayed in TWiki
Overview
The new modular template system offers flexible, easy control over the layout of all TWiki pages. The master template approach groups parts that are shared by several templates - like headers and footers - in a common file. Special variables allow individual layouts to include parts from a master template - variables are mixed with regular HTML mark-up for template-specific content. Templates are used to define page layout, and also to supplydefault content for new pages.
Major changes from the previous template system
Where the old templates were each complete HTML documents, the new templates are defined using variables to include template parts from a master file. You can now change one instance of a common element to update all occurrences; previously, every affected template had to be updated. This simplifies the conversion of templates into XHTML format, and provides a more versatile solution for templates and for TWikiSkins. The new system:
separates a set of common template parts into a base template that is included by all of the related templates;
defines common variables, like a standard separator (ex: "|"), in the base template;
defines variable text in the individual templates and passes it back to the base template.
Functional Specifications
Special template directives (or preprocessor commands) are embedded in normal templates.
Use of template directives is optional, templates work without them.
All template preprocessing is done in &TWiki::Store::readTemplate() so that the caller simply gets an expanded template file (the same as before).
Directives are of the form %TMPL:<key>% and %TMPL:<key>{"attr"}%.
Directives:
%TMPL:INCLUDE{"file"}%: Includes a template file. The template directory of the current web is searched first, then the templates root (twiki/templates).
%TMPL:DEF{"var"}%: Define a variable. Text between this and the END directive is not returned, but put into a hash for later use.
%TMPL:END%: Ends variable definition.
%TMPL:P{"var"}%: Prints a previously defined variable.
Variables are live in a global name space, there is no parameter passing.
Two-pass processing, so that you can use a variable before declaring it or after.
Templates and TWikiSkins work transparently and interchangeably. For example, you can create a skin that overloads just the twiki.tmpl, like twiki.print.tmpl, that redefines the header and footer.
NOTE: The template directives work only for templates, they do not get processed in topic text.
TWiki Master Template
All common parts are defined in a master template, twiki.tmpl, that all other templates use.
Simple header with reduced links (ex: edit, attach, oops)
%TMPL:DEF{"standardfooter"}%
Footer, excluding revision and copyright parts
%TMPL:DEF{"oops"}%
Skeleton of oops dialog
Types of Template
There are two types of templates:
HTML Page Templates: Defines layout of netfrag.org pages
Template Topics: Defines default text when you create a new topic
HTML Page Templates
netfrag.org uses HTML template files for all actions like topic view, edit, preview and so on. This allows you to change the look and feel of all pages by editing just some template files.
The template files are in the twiki/templates directory. As an example, twiki/templates/view.tmpl is the template file for the twiki/bin/view script. Templates can be overloaded per web. The following search order applies:
twiki/templates/$webName/$scriptName.tmpl
twiki/templates/$scriptName.tmpl
Note:$webName is the name of the web (ex: Main), and $scriptName is the script (ex: view).
Note:TWikiSkins can be defined to overload the standard templates.
Special variables are used in templates, especially in view, to display meta data.
Template Topics
Template topics define the default text for new topics. There are three types of template topics:
All template topics are located in the TWiki web. The WebTopicEditTemplate can be overloaded. The following search order applies when you create a new topic:
The topic name specified by the templatetopic CGI parameter.
WebTopicEditTemplate in the current web.
WebTopicEditTemplate in the TWiki web.
Template Topics in Action
Here is an example for creating new topics based on a specific template topic:
Above form asks for a topic name. A hidden input tag of name "templatetopic" specifies the ExampleTopicTemplate as the template topic. Here is the HTML source of the form:
<form name="new" action="%SCRIPTURLPATH%/edit%SCRIPTSUFFIX%/%WEB%/">
* New example topic:
<input type="text" name="topic" value="ExampleTopic%SERVERTIME{$yearx$mox$day}%" size="23" />
<input type="hidden" name="templatetopic" value="ExampleTopicTemplate" />
<input type="hidden" name="onlywikiname" value="on" />
<input type="submit" value="Create" />
(date format is <nop>YYYYxMMxDD)
</form>
The "onlywikiname" parameter enforces WikiWords for topic names.
Note: Use can use the %WIKIUSERNAME% and %DATE% variables in your topic templates as the signature; those variables are expanded when a new topic is created. The standard topic signature is: -- %WIKIUSERNAME% - %DATE%
Templates by Example
Attached is an example of an oops base template oopsbase.tmpl and a example oops dialog oopstest.tmpl which is based on the base template. NOTE: This isn't the release version, just a quick, simple demo.
Base template oopsbase.tmpl
The first line declares the delimiter variable called "sep", used to separate multiple link items. The variable can be called anywhere by writing %TMPL:P{"sep"}%
Each oops template basically just defines some variables and includes the base template that does the layout work.
%TMPL:DEF{"titleaction"}% (test =titleaction=) %TMPL:END%
%TMPL:DEF{"webaction"}% test =webaction= %TMPL:END%
%TMPL:DEF{"heading"}%
Test heading %TMPL:END%
%TMPL:DEF{"message"}%
Test =message=. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah...
* Some more blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah...
* Param1: %PARAM1%
* Param2: %PARAM2%
* Param3: %PARAM3%
* Param4: %PARAM4%
%TMPL:END%
%TMPL:DEF{"topicaction"}%
Test =topicaction=:
[[%WEB%.%TOPIC%][OK]] %TMPL:P{"sep"}%
[[%TWIKIWEB%.TWikiRegistration][Register]] %TMPL:END%
%TMPL:INCLUDE{"oopsbase"}%
Sample screen shot of oopstest.tmpl
With URL: .../bin/oops/Test/TestTopic2?template=oopstest¶m1=WebHome¶m2=WebNotify
Known Issues
A drawback of referring to a master template is that you can only test a template from within TWiki, where the include variables are resolved. In the previous system, each template is a structurally complete HTML document with a .tmpl filename extension - it contains unresolved %VARIABLES%, but can still be previewed directly in a browser.
Text strings expanded on the fly to display data or system info
Overview
TWikiVariables are text strings - %VARIABLE% - that expand into content whenever a page is opened. Variables are replaced by their actual values: stored data, or system info (like the date, or the current user). There are predefined variables, and Preference variables that you set. You can also define custom variables, with new names and values.
Predefined Variables
Most predefined variables return values that were either defined when TWiki was installed, or taken from server info (like current username, or date and time). Many of the variables let you control how the formatted results appear.
netfrag.org expands the following variables (enclosed in % percent signs):
Variable:
Expanded to:
%WIKIHOMEURL%
The base script URL of netfrag.org, is the link of the Home icon in the upper left corner, is http://TWiki.org/
%SCRIPTURL%
The script URL of netfrag.org, is https://netfrag.org/twiki/bin
%SCRIPTURLPATH%
The path of the script URL of netfrag.org, is /twiki/bin
%SCRIPTSUFFIX%
The script suffix, ex: .pl, .cgi is
%PUBURL%
The public URL of TWiki, is https://netfrag.org/twiki/pub
%PUBURLPATH%
The path of the public URL of netfrag.org, is /twiki/pub
%ATTACHURL%
The attachment URL of the current topic, is https://netfrag.org/twiki/pub/TWiki/TWikiVariables Example: If you attach a file you can refer to it as %ATTACHURL%/image.gif
%ATTACHURLPATH%
The path of the attachment URL of the current topic, is /twiki/pub/TWiki/TWikiVariables
%URLPARAM{"name"}%
Returns the value of a URL parameter. Ex: %URLPARAM{"skin"}% returns print for a .../view/TWiki/TWikiVariables?skin=print URL. Is
%WIKITOOLNAME%
Name of wiki tool, is netfrag.org
%WIKIVERSION%
Wiki tool version is 04 Sep 2004 $Rev: 1742 $
%USERNAME%
Your login username is guest
%WIKINAME%
Your Wiki username. Same as %USERNAME% if not defined in the TWikiUsers topic. Is TWikiGuest
%WIKIUSERNAME%
Your %WIKINAME% including the Main web name. Usefull for signatures. Is Main.TWikiGuest
%MAINWEB%
The Main web containing TWikiUsers, OfficeLocations? and TWikiGroups?. Is Main
%TWIKIWEB%
The web containing all documentation and configuration of netfrag.org is TWiki
%WEB%
The current web is TWiki
%BASEWEB%
The web name where the includes started, e.g. the web of the first topic of nested includes. Same as %WEB% in case there is no include.
%INCLUDINGWEB%
The web name of the topic that includes the current topic. Same as %WEB% in case there is no include.
The index topic of all registered users. Is TWikiUsers
%WIKIPREFSTOPIC%
The web preferences topic. Is TWikiPreferences
%WEBPREFSTOPIC%
The web preferences topic. Is WebPreferences
%STATISTICSTOPIC%
The web statistics topic. Is WebStatistics
%TOPIC%
The current topic name, is TWikiVariables
%BASETOPIC%
The name of the topic where the includes started, e.g. the first topic of nested includes. Same as %TOPIC% in case there is no include.
%INCLUDINGTOPIC%
The name of the topic that includes the current topic. Same as %TOPIC% in case there is no include.
%SPACEDTOPIC%
The current topic name with added spaces, for regular expression search of Ref-By, is TWiki%20*Variables
%TOPICLIST{"format"}%
Topic index of a web. The "format" defines the format of one topic item. It may include variables: The $name variable gets expanded to the topic name; the $web variable gets expanded to the name of the web.
Parameters are format, separator and web:
Format of one line, may include $name and $web variables
"$name"
format="format"
(Alternative to above)
"$name"
separator=", "
line separator
"\n" (new line)
web="Name"
Name of web
Current web
Examples:
%TOPICLIST{" * $web.$name"}% creates a bullet list of all topics.
%TOPICLIST{separator=", "}% creates a comma separated list of all topics.
%TOPICLIST{" <option>$name</option>"}% creates an option list (for drop down menus).
%WEBLIST{"format"}%
Web index, e.g. list of all webs. Hidden webs are excluded, e.g. webs with a NOSEARCHALL=on preference variable. The "format" defines the format of one web item. The $name variable gets expanded to the name of the web, $qname gets expanded to double quoted name, $marker to marker where web matches selection.
Parameters are format, separator and web:
comma sep list of Web, public expands to all non-hidden
"public"
marker="selected"
Text for $marker where item matches selection, otherwise equals ""
"selected"
selection="%WEB%"
Current value to be selected in list
section="%WEB%"
Examples: %WEBLIST{" * [[$name.Home]]"}% creates a bullet list of all webs.
%WEBLIST{"" webs="Trash,public" selection="TWiki" separator=" "}% Dropdown of all public Webs + Trash Web, current Web highlighted.
Variables can be shortened to 3 characters. Example: %GMTIME{"$day $month, $year - $hour:$min:$sec"}% is 24 Nov, 2024 - 15:46:30
%SERVERTIME%
Server time, is 24 Nov 2024 - 16:46
%SERVERTIME{"format"}%
Formatted server time. Example: %SERVERTIME{"$hou:$min"}% is 16:46
%HTTP_HOST%
HTTP_HOST environment variable, is netfrag.org
%REMOTE_ADDR%
REMOTE_ADDR environment variable, is 3.147.73.85
%REMOTE_PORT%
REMOTE_PORT environment variable, is 13799
%REMOTE_USER%
REMOTE_USER environment variable, is
%INCLUDE{"page" ...}%
Server side include to IncludeTopicsAndWebPages. Parameters are page name, and an optional pattern="(reg-exp)". The page name is:
"SomeTopic"
The name of a topic located in the current web, i.e. %INCLUDE{"WebNotify"}%
"Web.Topic"
A topic in another web, i.e. %INCLUDE{"TWiki.TWikiWebsTable"}%
"http://..."
A full qualified URL, i.e. %INCLUDE{"http://twiki.org/"}%
%STARTINCLUDE%
If present in included topic, start to include text from this location up to the end, or up to the location of the %STOPINCLUDE% variable. A normal view of the topic shows everyting exept the %STARTINCLUDE% variable itself.
%STOPINCLUDE%
If present in included topic, stop to include text at this location and ignore the remaining text. A normal view of the topic shows everyting exept the %STOPINCLUDE% variable itself.
%TOC%
Table of Contents of current topic.
%TOC{"SomeTopic" ...}%
Table of Contents. Shows a TOC that is generated automatically based on headings of a topic. Headings in WikiSyntax ("---++ text") and HTML ("<h2>text<h2>") are taken into account. (But not "<H2>text</H2>", which can be used to exclude a heading from the TOC.) Parameters are topic name, web and depth:
What sort of search is required? "topicmoved" if search for a topic that may have been moved "parent" if searcing for topics that have a specific parent i.e. its children
required
web="%WEB%"
Wiki web to search: A web, a list of webs separated by whitespace, or all webs.
required
topic="%TOPIC%"
The topic the search relates to
required
title="Title"
Text the is pre-pended to any search results
required
Example: %METASEARCH{type="topicmoved" web="%WEB%" topic="%TOPIC%" title="This topic used to exist and was moved to: "}%, you may want to use this in WebTopicViewTemplate and WebTopicNonWikiTemplate %METASEARCH{type="parent" web="%WEB%" topic="%TOPIC%" title="Children: "}%
%VAR{"NAME" web="Web"}%
Get a preference value from a web other then the current one. Example: To get %WEBBGCOLOR% of the Main web write %VAR{"WEBBGCOLOR" web="Main"}%, is #444444
[1] Note: The search form uses identical names for input fields.
[2] Note: A web can be excluded from a web="all" search if you define a NOSEARCHALL=on variable in its WebPreferences.
Preferences Variables
Additional variables are defined in the preferences ( site-level ( SL ) in TWikiPreferences, web-level ( WL ) in WebPreferences of each web, and user level ( UL ) preferences in individual user topics):
Variable:
Level:
What:
%WIKIWEBMASTER%
SL
Webmaster email address (sender of email notifications) , is webmaster@netfrag.org
%WIKIWEBLIST%
SL
List of netfrag.org webs (in upper right corner of topics)
%WEBTOPICLIST%
WL
Common links of web (second line of topics)
%WEBCOPYRIGHT%
SL , WL
Copyright notice (bottom right corner of topics)
%WEBBGCOLOR%
WL
Background color of web
%NOSEARCHALL%
WL
Exclude web from a web="all" search (set variable to on for hidden webs)
%NEWTOPICBGCOLOR%
SL , UL
Background color of non existing topic. ( UL needs authentication for topic views )
%NEWTOPICFONTCOLOR%
SL , UL
Font color of non existing topic. ( UL needs authentication for topic views )
%EDITBOXWIDTH%
SL , UL
Horizontal size of edit box, is 100
%EDITBOXHEIGHT%
SL , UL
Vertical size of edit box, is 20
%RELEASEEDITLOCKCHECKBOX%
SL , UL
Default state of the "Release edit lock" (UnlockTopic) check box in preview. Checkbox is initially checked if Set RELEASEEDITLOCKCHECKBOX = checked="checked", or unchecked if empty. If checked, make sure to click on Edit to do more changes; do not go back in your browser to the edit page, or you risk that someone else will edit the topic at the same time! Value is: checked
%DONTNOTIFYCHECKBOX%
SL , UL
Default state of the "Minor Changes, Don't Notify" (DontNotify) check box in preview. Check box is initially checked if Set DONTNOTIFYCHECKBOX = checked="checked", or unchecked if empty. Value is: checked
%ATTACHLINKBOX%
SL , UL
Default state of the link check box in the attach file page. Check box is initially checked if value is set to CHECKED , unchecked if empty. If checked, a link is created to the attached file at the end of the topic. Value is:
%HTTP_EQUIV_ON_VIEW%
SL
http-equiv meta tags for view, rdiff, attach, search* scripts.
%HTTP_EQUIV_ON_EDIT%
SL , UL
http-equiv meta tags for edit script.
%HTTP_EQUIV_ON_PREVIEW%
SL , UL
http-equiv meta tags for preview script.
%DENYWEBCHANGE%
WL
List of users and groups who are not allowed to change topics in the netfrag.org web. (More in TWikiAccessControl)
%ALLOWWEBCHANGE%
WL
List of users and groups who are allowed to change topics in the netfrag.org web. (More in TWikiAccessControl)
%DENYTOPICCHANGE%
(any topic)
List of users and groups who are not allowed to change the current topic. (More in TWikiAccessControl)
%ALLOWTOPICCHANGE%
(any topic)
List of users and groups who are allowed to change the current topic. (More in TWikiAccessControl)
%DENYWEBRENAME%
WL
List of users and groups who are not allowed to rename topics in the netfrag.org web. (More in TWikiAccessControl)
%ALLOWWEBRENAME%
WL
List of users and groups who are allowed to rename topics in the netfrag.org web. (More in TWikiAccessControl)
%DENYTOPICRENAME%
(any topic)
List of users and groups who are not allowed to rename the current topic. (More in TWikiAccessControl)
%ALLOWTOPICRENAME%
(any topic)
List of users and groups who are allowed to rename the current topic. (More in TWikiAccessControl)
%FINALPREFERENCES%
SL , WL
List of preferences that are not allowed to be overridden by next level preferences
Setting Preferences
The syntax for Preferences variables is the same anywhere in TWiki. In Edit mode, from the start of a new line: [6 spaces] * [space] Set [space] VARIABLENAME [space] = [value] Example:
Set VARIABLENAME = value
Creating Custom Variables
You can add your own preference variables for an entire site, a single web, or a single topic, using the standard syntax. Whatever you include in your variable will be expanded on display, and treated exactly as if it had been written out. So you can place formatted text, page links, image paths.
Example: Create a custom logo variable
To place a logo anywhere in a web by typing %MYLOGO%, simply define the variable on the web's WebPreferences page. You also have to upload logo.gif - this can be done by attaching a file to LogoTopic (any topic name you choose):
Set MYLOGO = %PUBURL%/%MAINWEB%/LogoTopic/logo.gif
Server and client system requirements for TWiki 01-Sep-2001
Overview
Maintaining minimum client and server requirements is necessary to keep TWiki deployment as broad as possible.
Server Requirements
TWiki is written in Perl 5, uses a number of shell commands, and requires RCS (Revision Control System), a GNU Free Software package. TWiki is developed in a basic Linux/Apache environment. It also works with Microsoft Windows, and should have no problem on any other platform that meets the requirements:
Required Server Environment
Resource
Unix
Windows
Perl
5.005_03 or higher
Non standard Perl modules
Net::SMTP (or sendmail)
Net::SMTP, MIME::Base64, Digest::SHA1
RCS
5.7 or higher
Other external programs
ls, fgrep, egrep
Web server
Apache; others (with support for CGI, authentication, extended path) *
Current documentation covers Linux only. A TWikiOnWindows installation guide is next.
generates XHTML 1.0 pages that are compatible with HTML 3.2
minimal use of JavaScript in the user interface (degrades gracefully)
no cookies
no CSS
You can easily add capabilities, through customizing the templates, for one, while tailoring the browser requirements to your situation.
Known Issues
The new TWikiPlugins feature currently does not have compatibility guidelines for developers. Plugins can require just about anything: browser-specific functions, stylesheets (CSS), DHTML, Java applets, cookies.
In case you are on an Intranet: Copy topic TWikiRegistration to Main.TWikiRegistration. Customize if needed.
In case you are on a public server: Copy topic TWikiRegistrationPub to Main.TWikiRegistration. Customize if needed.
Copy the Main. TWikiWebsTable topic (and *,v file) into your Main web and customize it. Reason: The new release does not use the *.inc include files anymore.
Optionally: Search for %INCLUDE%'s in all your webs and change them to the new %INCLUDE{"file.ext"}% syntax. Note: Your old %INCLUDE:"file.ext"% syntax still works (the legacy rule is defined in wikicfg.pm .)
