Smart Folders

A Smart Folder is not really a folder because it does not contain any content. A smart folder is a predefined search that is initiated by clicking on a link. The results of the search are then returned in the main content area. A Smart Folder can reside anywhere on the Web site. It can be used to collect and display related content items that are stored in multiple locations. Plone describes a Smart Folder as "an automatically updated stored search that can be used to display items matching criteria you specify."

The News tab on the site is a Smart Folder. As you learned earlier the news items are stored in many different folders (the Archive folder contains a folder for 2007, which contains a folder for each month). So no matter where the news items are stored the News Smart Folder collects and displays all the news items.

This exercise examines the News Smart Folder

1. Click on the News tab
2. Click on the Edit tab
3. Definitions of the options:
   
• Shortname, Title, Description - these all pertain to the Smart Folder
• Inherit Criteria - Use this to narrow the search results from the parent Smart Folder(s) by using the criteria from this Smart Folder
• Limit Search Results - If selected, only the 'Number of Items' indicated below will be displayed
• Number of Items - For example, if this is set to 3, only 3 items from the search result will be displayed
• Display as Table - An alternate way to display the search results. Columns in the table are controlled by 'Table Columns' below
  
• Table Columns - Select which fields to display when 'Display as Table' is checked
  
4. Click on the Properties tab
• This information, also referred to as metadata is the collection of information that is used to categorize an object, assign effective dates and expiration dates, languages, and keywords. For further explanation on these fields see How to Add a Folder
  
5. Click on the Criteria tab
6. Definitions of the options:
   
   • Add New Search Criteria - Field Name - choose from the list of available fields. Criteria type -  choose from the list of available values
   • Set Sort Order - Field Name- choose from the list of available fields to display first - Reverse- check the box to display the results in reverse order
   • Operator name - When two or more criteria are selected from the same field, or when two or more fields are used as criteria, an option is available to join the criteria together using  AND or OR. The default is AND.