ave-cms/help/en/content/public-site.md

Public site: how a page is assembled

← Back to “How AVE.cms builds a website”

The Public site section is a read-only overview. It shows which components assemble the site, where they are used, and which editor owns each setting. It does not publish or change content automatically.

Base components

Component	Responsibility
Site template	The outer HTML document, header, footer, and main content slot.
Category	A content type, its fields, URL rules, and single-document template.
Document	Values entered into the fields of one category.
Request	Selects, sorts, paginates, and renders several documents.
Block	A reusable content or logic fragment.
Navigation	A link tree and markup rules for its levels.
Catalog	Organizes documents into sections and adds filters.
Module	Adds an installable feature, routes, tags, and administration UI.

A normal page is assembled in this order:

page URL
  → document
  → category and field values
  → category template
  → site template
  → embedded blocks, requests, navigation, and modules
  → final HTML

The Public site section visualizes this chain. Content is still edited in the regular component editors.

Structure

Each row represents one category. It shows its site template, document and field counts, related requests and catalogs, and clear structural problems. The diagnostics are informative and never repair data automatically.

Presentations

A presentation is an optional visual layer for already prepared data. It can render the same result as cards, a compact list, a slider, search results, or related content.

Base component	Presentation
Defines data, relationships, or behavior.	Defines how prepared data looks.
A request selects documents.	A presentation renders the request result.
A category defines document fields.	A presentation reads their values.
A module performs a feature.	A presentation may render its output.

A presentation does not replace a request, category, block, navigation, or module. Existing AVE.cms templates remain fully supported.

Safe workflow:

1. Create a presentation.
2. Edit its item, wrapper, empty state, and optional CSS.
3. Preview it with a real document.
4. Save and publish the reviewed version.
5. Create an assignment by selecting a real rubric, request, catalog section, or installed module by name.
6. Enable New presentation only for the required target.

Before switching, open Diagnostics. It validates Twig, missing assignment targets, and a preview with a real document. The check does not publish or change the public site.

A draft never changes the public site by itself. See Presentations for the complete editor guide.

Placements

A placement is a component tag found in saved markup, for example:

[tag:sysblock:footer]
[tag:request:12]
[tag:navigation:main]
[mod_search]

Placements shows every occurrence. Used by groups equal components and shows their usage count.

The map also reads [tag:fld:*] and [tag:rfld:*]. In a category-specific template it verifies that the field exists. In a generic block the field is marked as contextual because the actual document supplies the category.

Dependencies groups required fields, blocks, requests, navigation, and modules by source. Unused lists saved templates and components without a native assignment or reference. It is a review queue and never deletes data.

The first action opens the exact source containing the tag. The second action opens the exact block, request, navigation, or owning module. If a module cannot be resolved, AVE.cms opens the general module registry.

The placement map does not execute public pages and does not modify saved markup. Rebuild map only rereads saved templates.

Diagnostics

Diagnostics answers two practical questions:

1. which saved data and components assemble a specific public page;
2. why a document is included in or excluded from a request result.

The inspection is read-only. It does not execute the public page, save a document, rebuild caches, or modify templates.

To inspect a page:

1. Open Public site → Diagnostics.
2. Enter a public path such as /news/example, or a document ID.
3. Select Inspect page.

The result contains the document and its status, the category schema and field values, active templates, related requests and presentations, referenced blocks/navigation/modules, cache keys, and actionable findings. Template source is represented by its length and hash rather than copied into the report. Passwords, tokens, and other sensitive values are redacted before rendering.

To explain a request, enter its ID and a document ID. Parameters used by dynamic conditions can be entered as a query string:

catalog=beds&color=white

or as a JSON object:

{"catalog":"beds","color":"white"}

AVE.cms displays the base restrictions, the normalized AND/OR tree, actual and expected values, and the final inclusion result. Parameters exist only for the inspection call and do not leak into the current panel request.

Each result also contains a collapsed structured JSON payload for developers and future integrations.

What this section does not do

• move tags between templates;
• repair references automatically;
• enable presentations without an explicit assignment;
• replace the regular component editors;
• change public rendering while the map is being viewed.

This keeps ownership clear: the map finds a relationship, and the component editor changes the data that actually owns it.

Page templates

The Public site → Page templates tab exposes file-based Twig components that previously required browsing the active theme directory. It includes the fallback content-list view and general components owned by the active theme, such as the page shell, breadcrumbs, account navigation, and type-specific page views.

This does not replace site, rubric, or request templates. Saving validates Twig syntax, records a theme revision, and clears the public cache. A component with a system fallback can be returned to that fallback. Theme-only components are edited here and deleted only from the full Themes file manager.

Where each template is edited

What you need to change	Control-panel section
Main site HTML shell	Content → Templates
Document, teaser, Open Graph, and field output	Content → Rubrics and fields → Rubric templates
Material list and one result card	Content → Requests → Templates
Reusable page fragment	Content → Blocks
Menu wrappers and levels	Content → Navigation → Templates
Page shell, breadcrumbs, and active-theme components	Content → Public site → Page templates
Catalog, product card, and product page	Store → Products → Page templates
Cart, checkout, order account, and store email	Store → Settings → Templates
Login, registration, profile, and connected login methods	System → Site users → Account pages
Search, polls, galleries, reviews, and other module features	The Templates tab or Page template action in the owning module

Themes remains the complete file manager for developers and rare assets. For normal editing, start in the owning section: it explains the component, lists its available variables, and preserves the system fallback.