Directory Articles Setup Guide

The Simple Article does not include tabs (which are generated based on the directory products' category topic).

 

But, if you have a Comment And Rating Profile added to the channel, users will be able to add a comment on the directory (via the ‘Add New Comment’ field).

The Advanced Directory has tabs.

 

These are generated based on the directory articles' category topic.

 

The Exterior tab is shown since the article is tagged with that Category Topic.

 

Clicking on that topic tab will list all products within the directory tagged with "Exterior".

In order for your Client to create articles you must first create a Direactory Article channel. This is required in addition to the Directory Channel as it is used to house standard items of Article type. It also has a different listing template (presentation style) when the associated Section is created.

 

Control > Structure > Channels

 

Click in "+Add" then select the Directory Article channel type.

 

After this, fill in the required fields and make sure to select Directory Article as the Presentation Style as well as the Default Presentation Style.

 

If you are using the Advanced Directory and wish to display tabs for filtering the articles, then ensure you select the parent Category Topic here. The Category Topic field is then available when creating the Directory Articles.

 

Note: Category Topics are used as a primary or parent classification of content. They help in organising content into broader categories.

 

Click on "Save" and the channel and subsequent section will have been created.

 

The Directory Article section will have a Directory Article Listing presentation style.

 

Media Library

 

Please remember to set a media library on the Directory Article channel.

 

This is where your suppliers or partners (uploaded) media items will to be stored at. It might be useful to set up a different Media Library than your main library containing your editorial media items.

In order for Clients to be able to tag their articles with topics (via the Live Editor) you will need to assign (if already created) the correct Article Profile to the Directory Article channel.

 

Control > Content > Article Profiles > Add/Edit

 

Note: Article Profiles are associated to Article Attributes (Control > Content > Article Attributes > Add/Edit).

 

If not already created, setup a new Article Attribute.

 

Important fields:

 

• Name: give the Article Attribute a name related to the topics
• Type: choose Tick Box
• Parent Topic: choose the parent topic (the child topics will be the ones shown to the user for selection)

 

Once created, setup an Article Profile.

 

Important fields:

 

• Name: give the Article Profile a name
• Article Attributes: select the Article Attribute(s) related to this profile
• Channel: select the Article Directory that will show the topics selected in the Article Attribute (this will associate the Article Profile to the Article Directory channel)

 

Now, the specified Article Directory will have the Article Profile associated to it.

 

After this, users can select the child topics on the Live Edit screen.

Control > System > Directory Article Profiles> (Add/Edit)

 

Similar to the Directory Profile, the Directory Article Profile allows you to define how many articles a Client can upload and the amount of child topics available to them.

 

Note: It is important that you select this Directory Article Profile within the main Directory Profile in order to connect this with the Client directories so that your Clients are able to create articles.

 

Main

 

• Name: Enter the Name for the profile
• ** Directory Articles Section: Select the Directory Articles Section to store Directory Articles that users adds
• Title Character Limit: Enter a character limit to the Title text
• Teaser Character Limit: Enter a character limit to the Teaser text
• Introduction Character Limit: Enter a character limit to the Introduction text
• Main Body Character Limit: Enter a character limit for the Main Body text
• Hide Teaser: Select to hide the Teaser field from the user's Edit Directory Article screen. A teaser can still b
• added to the listing screen on the Control side
• Hide Introduction: Select to hide the Introduction field from the user's Edit Directory Article screen (an introduction can still be added to the listing screen on the Control side)

 

** Remember to associate the section (the one that was generated when you created the Directory Articles channel) to the profile by means of the Directory Articles Section field.

 

Directory Article Limit

 

Enter the number of Directory Article limits that a Directory creator can add to their entry.

 

Also limit how many topics they can tag their Directory Articles with.

 

Use the Security dropdown to check against the Directory Creator.

 

The name is for internal use, you can use it to name your tier levels.

 

• Name: set the name of the tier
• Directory Article Limit: set the amount of articles that the tier allows for creation
• Topics Limit: set the amount of topics that can be tagged to an article
• Security: set the security clearance associated to the tier

 

Media

 

• Video Upload Size Limit (MB): Enter the Video Upload Size Limit (MB) from 1 to 200 MB (this is only valid for the self-service screen)
• Document Upload Size Limit (MB): Enter the Document Upload Size Limit (MB) from 1 to 200 MB (this is only valid for the self-service screen)
• Image Upload Size Limit (KB): Enter the Image Upload Size Limit (KB) from 1 to 5120 KB (this is only valid for the self-service screen)
• Show Thumbnail Upload: Tick to show the Thumbnail upload option for end-users when using the self-service
• Show Main Image Upload: Tick to show the Main Image upload option for end-users when using the self-service
• Show Generate Thumbnail: Tick to show Generate Thumbnail option for end-users when using the self-service. This will allow the end-user to generate a thumbnail image based on the Main Image (this is only shown If you have selected Show Main Image Upload above)
• Generate Thumbnail Selected By Default: If you have Show Generate Thumbnail selected above, then select this option if you want the Generate Thumbnail option to be checked by default for end-users when using the self-service

The section that was generated when you created the Directory Article channel uses an Directory Articles Listing presentation style.

 

• The listing will show products that are related to Directories
• Users can search and filter by topics and/or company (Directory)
• Users can bookmark/Favourite those products to their My LIbrary
• As an option, you can replace the default Bookmark Icon on the Design Style

 

Just like other sections, the the Search function on the listing uses Scoped Search.

 

The topics selected as Scoped Topic Filters will appear as search options.

 

Product Listing Search Fields:

 

• Text / Predictive Text (search term)
• Special Offer checkbox: this will filter out all directory products that are on Special Offers
• Vendors: auto-populated field, it lists all of the Directories that have at least 1 related Directory Product
• Topic Filter: up to 3 Topics (taken from the sections Scoped Search settings)

Once you have selected the Directory Article Profile on the main Directory Profile, clients can manage their products and articles via the Manage > Articles option at the top of the directory.

 

Clicking on Articles will take the user to the Manage Articles screen.

 

From the, users can either Add, Search or View the existing articles.

 

When a Client Adds an article, the following options are available:

 

• Title
• Thumbnail
• Main Image
• Main Details
• Category Topic
• Child Topics
• Document
• Video Link
• Video
• Live

 

Note: only Directory Owners can add Directory Articles

 

The Live and Save buttons will appear or not, depending on the user's role and if there's a Workflow Profile associated to the channel.

 

1.- With a Workflow Profile

 

Creators/Contributors will only see the "Save As Draft" and "Submit" buttons. The "Live" checkbox will be absent.

 

Editors (those who review and publish the article ) will see the "Save & Publish" button. Clicking on that button will automatically make the article Live. The "Live" checkbox is hidden.

 

2.- Without a Workflow Profile

 

Only the "Save" button will be displayed. The user needs to manually check the "Live" checkbox to make the article live.

 

This logic ensures that the publication process is streamlined based on the presence of a Workflow Profile and the user's role in the content creation and approval process.

 

Copying an Article

 

Duplicate an article in Affino using the built‑in Copy action. There are two standard places you can do this:

 

• From inside the article (detail view) Open the article in Control (the article edit/detail screen). In the action bar for the article there is a Copy option. When you click it, Affino creates a new article based on the original, usually with a name like “Copy of [Original Title]”. Open that new article, adjust the title, screen name, URL / link, and any other fields you need, then Save
• From the Articles listing Go to the main Articles listing in Control (under Publish). Locate the article you want to duplicate and use the Copy action/icon in the listing row. This also creates a new article record you can then open, edit, and save as your own version

 

When you copy an article, Affino will normally bring across the article content and settings (including topics and keywords, which are now copied correctly). Some elements are intentionally not duplicated for safety and editorial reasons-for example, Article Questions for Affino 9 sites are cleared so that each article can have its own unique questions. After copying, always review:

 

• Title, Screen Name, and Article Link / URL (to avoid “post may already exist” clashes if the link is duplicated)
• Any article‑specific questions, which you’ll need to re‑enter for the new article

The Image Cropping Tool is used on the live editor screen for Directories and Directory Steps.

 

This is for end-users to crop their images.

 

The tool will need the minimum width and height values defined, as well as the aspect ratio.

 

Both of these settings are found in the Media Image Profile:

 

Control > System > Media Image Profiles> (Edit)

 

Fields:

 

• Minimum Width: Enter the minimum image width (this setting controls the image's dimension, in concert with the Disable Aspect Ratio setting below)
• Minimum Height: Enter the minimum image height. This setting controls the image's dimension, in concert with the Disable Aspect Ratio setting below)
• Image Cropping Panel > Aspect Ratio: Enter the aspect ratio for the image crop tool. e.g. 4:3, 3:2 or 1:1 (this will ensure your users can crop to the correct image aspect ratio before uploading)

 

Note: the Media Library set on the Directory Article Channel will need a Media Upload Profile.

 

Control > System > Media Upload Profiles> (Add/Edit)

 

This is so the Thumbnail and Main Image will know which Aspect Ratio to use and the Min/Max image size.

 

Note: the Image Cropping tool will only be activated if the Media Image Profile has a valid Aspect Ratio.

 

This applies to Thumbnail and Main Image uploads.

The directory infrastructure received two operational improvements that don't change how you set up or use a directory but do affect day-to-day reliability:

 

• Temporary directory cleanup - staging files generated during directory operations are now removed automatically when the operation completes, preventing the slow accretion of orphan files that previously needed manual cleanup.
• Smart directory download spacing - concurrent directory downloads are now spaced to avoid overlapping I/O, which improves consistency for sites with high directory-download volume.

 

Neither change requires reconfiguration. Existing directory setups continue to work unchanged. The improvements apply automatically to all directory-type guides including those linked under the Source links below.

Lock the field schema at design time. Profiles that grow new fields mid-life produce listings with incomplete data, and existing listings need backfill to match.

 

Use Tracking Link settings on the directory article profile if you want click-through analytics. The default link configuration doesn't capture click counts.

 

For directories with 200+ entries, configure Scoped Search with at least 3 filter dimensions (category, location, attribute). Single-axis filtering becomes unusable past that scale.

 

Surface the most-frequently-filtered attribute as a card overlay on the listing element. Readers shouldn't have to click into a listing to see its key qualifying attribute.

Listings stay Live even when the parent directory is unpublished. Operators expecting unpublishing the directory to hide listings will be surprised - the listings are independent records with their own Live flags.

 

Topic targeting on directory articles doesn't always pick up Category Topics. If filtering by topic returns empty results, verify topics are tagged on the article level, not the directory category.

 

Scoped Search with multiple filters can return zero results unexpectedly when filters AND together. Test common filter combinations before launch; the platform doesn't auto-warn on impossible combinations.