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Use Auto mode to populate a widget

What's inside this article:


Basic information

This article explains how you can use Auto mode to add content to a widget. Auto mode is available for the following widget types in Pangea CMS:

  • Content widget
  • FactCheck widget
  • Multimedia widget
  • Poll widget
  • Slide-in widget



How does Auto mode work?

When Auto mode is enabled, the widget promotes the latest items that meet the defined criteria in the widget builder. For example, a widget might be set up to always promote the 5 most recent Videos from a particular Category. When a new item is published that meets the defined criteria, the widget updates automatically.

The items on the widget are listed in order of publication, with the most recently published item listed first. When a new item is added to the top of the widget, one item is removed from the bottom of the widget to make space.

TIP: Auto mode saves time, as it is not necessary to manually update the widget with the latest content.



Enable Auto mode

To enable Auto mode, hit Auto in the Content section of the widget builder.

To learn how to build a new widget from the beginning, see the relevant article below:



Define criteria

After you select Auto, define the criteria to control which content is promoted on the widget. The following settings might be available (depending on the type of widget you are editing):


Max items

Enter the maximum number of items that will be promoted on the widget. The highest number you can enter is 20.

For example, if you enter 5, the widget promotes 5 items (if 5 items are available that meet your defined criteria). If 5 valid items are not available, the widget promotes fewer items.

NOTE: The Max items setting is only available for widget types that can promote more than one item (Content and FactCheck widgets).


Publication date limit

Enter a time period in days. The widget only promotes items that were published during the specified period. The highest number you can enter is 360.

For example, if you enter 10, the widget only promotes items published during the last 10 days.


Exclude content

Optionally enter a number of valid items to exclude (not promote on the widget).

For example, if you select Exclude first 2 items, the two most recently published items that meet your defined criteria are not promoted on the widget. This option is helpful if the most recently published items are already promoted elsewhere.


Categories

Optionally select one or more Categories. Only content pages from the selected Categories are promoted on the widget. If you do not select a Category, the widget might promote content pages from any Category.


Primary category only

If you enable Primary category only, the widget only promotes content pages that use one of your selected Categories as the Primary Category.


Content type

Optionally select one or more content types. Only the selected content types are promoted on the widget. If you do not select a content type, the widget might promote any supported content type.

Different widget types support different content types:

  • Content widget: Supports all content types
  • FactCheck widget: Only supports FactCheck
  • Multimedia widget: Supports Audio clip, Audio feature, Broadcast program, and Video
  • Poll widget: Only supports Poll
  • Slide-in widget: Supports all content types


Tags

Optionally select one or more Tags. The widget only promotes content pages that are connected to the selected Tags. If you do not select a Tag, the widget might promote any content, regardless of the connected Tags.



Check items

Hit Update to check which items currently meet the defined criteria.

If needed, adjust the criteria. Hit Update again to check the results.



Pin item

You can enable Pin for an individual item. While Pin is enabled:

  • You can manually set the position of the item.
  • The item does not move down the widget as new items are added.
  • The item is not removed from the widget.

To pin an item:

  1. Enable the Pin slider in the relevant item box.
  2. Use the drop-down menu to set your preferred position for the item.

NOTE: The Pin option is only available for widget types that can promote more than one item (Content and FactCheck widgets).



Hide item

You can enable Hide for an individual item. When you enable Hide, the item is hidden and is not promoted on the widget. The next valid item is added to the widget to replace the hidden item.



Update Website teaser settings

On the published widget, a simple teaser is displayed for each promoted content page.

The individual elements in the teaser (such as the title and image) are generated as follows (if 1 is not filled, the data is taken from 2):

  1. The Website teaser settings for the item
  2. The General settings for the item

You can check the current Website teaser settings for each item on the right side of the item box.

While Auto mode is enabled, you cannot update the Website teaser settings directly from the widget builder. If necessary, you can customize the default website teaser from the separate edit screen for the content page. For details, see the following article: