[Zope] New to Zope help needed

[Brian K. Holdsworth]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: zope-admin@zope.org [mailto:zope-admin@zope.org]On Behalf Of Lee
> Catlett
> Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2000 1:46 PM
> To: zope@zope.org
> Subject: [Zope] New to Zope help needed
>
>
> Hi to all those who have been there and done that,
>     First of all, I haven't and would like to ask a few questions to
> those who are out there in stellar lands if I could.  I've basically
> read the docs and played with the demo somewhat although not exactly
> clear and have some really basic questions. Like::
>     1. Does the first folder you make, represent your main page??  Told
> you these were simplistic!!

Zope recognizes the DTML Document or Method called "index_html" as the main
page within a folder.  Therefore, if you browse to
"www.my_zope_site.org/Home" you will normally end up viewing the default
document named "index_html" in the "Home" folder.

>     2. If that is the case, then all folders under the main must be
> subpages of the site, Right?

Don't think of it as pages and sub-pages.  There are a couple better
analogies:
a) A directory hierarchy of folders and documents -or, even better-
b) An object tree with inheritance of objects down the tree.  This is the
concept of "Acquisition" that you will see in the Zope documentation.

>     4.  How to you link the  different folders(pages) together?
> Hysterical by now I bet!!

Lots of ways.  If you are just starting out, use the typical HTML anchor
("<A>" tag) and set the HREF attribute to point to the Zope URL.  If you are
using Apache and running Zope via CGI, your Zope pages will be referenced
like this:

www.my_zope_site.org/cgi-bin/Zope.cgi/Home/index_html

Of course, you can improve on this lengthy URL scheme using Rewrite rules in
your httpd.conf file for Apache.  Alternatively, you can bypass Apache and
use ZServer.  Then, all references to your site are via Zope and you can get
the above with:

"www.my_zope_site.org/Home/index_html", or, just plain old
"www.my_zope_site.org/Home".

For internal links on your site, you can even just link to "Home".  It
doesn't matter where on your site you do this from because all the documents
in the object tree will acquire the "Home" object.  For example, a link to
"Home" from a document in "Folder/SubFolder" will attempt to open
"www.my_zope_site.org/Folder/SubFolder/Home".  This will work just fine even
if your Zope object tree look like this:

+ Home
- Folder
  + SubFolder

That's because the "SubFolder" object acquires "Home".  It's confusing at
first but makes perfect sense when you get used to it.

>
>     Wouldn't believe I do this in the NT world with ease would you!
> This is just such a different twist for me it's a little confusing
> (really a lot).  Anyway if I could get a response from anyone I'd
> probably be elated after this episode, and thanks
> Regards,
> Lee
>

Stick with it and you will find it's worth the effort.  Zope rocks!  By the
way, it runs under NT too (not that I'd recommend that course of action).

Best Regards,
Brian Holdsworth