I am sorry for my unclear post! I'll try to be clearer now.
Most CMS'es I've used has custom titles, images and intro texts for use on the front page as a standard feature. The front page intro links directly to the promoted content, which may have a different main photo, headline or intro text.
That is what I'd like: the ability to post an "external link" (TP article, with title, intro text and image) that links directly to any URL.
The current system seems to use "external" articles to do an
include on a file stored on the same server, and the link has to be relative to the location of the forum installation. That is great for one particular use (but I still can't get it to work), but I think that the name is rather misleading (I'd consider this an internal link). But even if the "External" article type worked, it would not really do the job, as I just want to link directly (not include content on a new page).
So - what I would like to do, is to make an article that contains:
Title
Intro text
URL
+ an image if possible.
When the article is clicked on the front page, the link destination is opened in the same window (although a target="_blank" could be an option).
This could be used to just open any link from the front page.
I would mostly use this to link to threads on the forum.
It could also be used to link to a particlar post, or to the last post in a thread.
Sometimes front page links to other resouces, such as a competition or a new feature, can be nice.
Why I would like to do this:This would allow a much more "Newspapery" front page, with
- Custom intro texts, written by moderators, which can describe the promoted thread (or other content) better than just the first part of the first post, which rarely reflect the full discussion following the first post. Introductions to threads on the front page would not be cut short in the mi[ddle of a sentence]. It would give more control over the front page.
- Custom titles, same as above.
- Selected images, cropped and 'shopped to work well on the front page - if desired.
- Control over the sequence of articles on the front page, rather than having the promoted threads be sorted by the publication date of the first post. Some times old threads become very interesting after a while, and it would be good to sort them the same way articles can be sorted - by position, author or other parameters.
I hope I am able to describe this clearly - English is not my first language, sorry for any mistakes or lack of nuances.
I would really like this functionality, and I am prepared to try to cobble something together (it would be a new article type I guess). But not being very good at PHP (understatement!) I'd appreciate any pointers!
Or maybe this is already possibly through the use of some clever settings that I don't know about?
Please have a look at the front page for the forum I manage to get a better impression of what I am trying to do:
byggebolig dot noMy front page is getting there, but I don't like having to edit the first post in promoted threads in order to get an image on the front page, and I don't really like the way texts are arbitrarily cut short, or the fact that many good threads start with a poor first post, full of bad spelling and "Hi, I am new to this forum, and I was wondering how (etc etc). The first post is not necessarily front page material even if the rest of the thread is.
I'd appreciate any help or input!