Which Textpattern plugin is essential?

A rock-solid contact form with plenty of flexibility for other uses

May
07

Zem Contact Reborn

If you have a website you need a contact form. Your most important visitor might be looking at your site from a friend's laptop, an internet cafe or a public library which might not allow email so to provide a contact form is pretty much a minimum requirement nowadays. (Like other Textpattern plugins, installation of the contact form is a simple copy, paste and activate process that takes a few seconds.)

Zem Contact Reborn

The original zem_contact feedback form is still in use but has not been updated for a long time. Instead, a new version has been adapted and improved by various members of the Textpattern community into its present incarnation as the zem_contact_reborn plugin and is currently maintained by TXP developer, Ruud.

I simply put <txp:zem_contact to="peter@txpq.com" /> into this article and it produced the form below. It has produced an id for each field making styling easy if I wanted. I've left it as is - a simple, accessible form which will validate the visitor's email address and send their message to me.

Flexible Extendable Contact Form

You can move things around:
<txp:zem_contact to="peter@txpq.com">
<txp:zem_contact_textarea label="Your Message" />
<txp:zem_contact_text label="Your Name" />
<txp:zem_contact_email label="Your Email" />
<txp:zem_contact_submit label="Send" />
</txp:zem_contact>
This retains the correct tab order as can be seen on the TXPQ contact form.

Apr
30

Textpattern First Steps

Some say Textpattern is a steep learning curve. Textpattern users often say they came to a point where something clicked and after that Textpattern became clear and simple. I hope the 10 tasks below will take you to the point where it clicks - and beyond.

The tasks are designed for learning by doing. With practical experience of various parts of Textpattern, further instructions or theory should fall more easily into place. Please start from the beginning and work right through to the end step by step. If you miss a step, some future steps may not make sense. So take your time, be conscious of how an action causes an effect, and all will become clear.

Before You Begin

You have downloaded and installed Textpattern, logged in and checked Diagnostics. Open your website in a separate tab so you have both your website and the Textpattern admin open and can easily switch between them.

While you are viewing your website notice the defaults. You have First Post with date, some text, your name and a few other things.

By default, when you login, you are in Content > Write

Task 1 - Write An Article

1. In the Title field at the top, write Second Post
2. In the Body field below it, write Body Body
3. In the Excerpt field, write Excerpt Excerpt
4. In Category 1 on the right, select Hope for the Future
5. In Category 2 on the right, select Reciprocal Affection
6. Click PUBLISH. (Textpattern saves it to the database)
7. Refresh your home page and notice that Second Post title, the date, the body, your name and the categories are displayed, along with the other things that were there before.

You now know how to publish an article. You will learn how to use other Write options later on.