The jsmallist Joomla! plugin allows you to include into a normal Joomla! article a simple list of items. An obvious application is for a to-do list. A list can be viewed and, depending on user- and/or group-based access rights, modified. Items can be divided into hot, warm and normal ones, which are displayed in different colors (these can be assigneg using the relevant backend parameters).

Command structure

In order for the plugin to achieve its functionality an article must contain a text command in the format:

{jsmallist [list name]}

where

• jsmallist
  is the command: it has to be written exactly like this (though it may contain capital letters), and should immediately follow the opening curly bracket (no blank space is allowed here).
  
  
• [list name]
  is the required parameter indicating the name of the list (it must be included in square brackets). If the list does not already exist, a new one with this name will be created.

With regard to permissions, default settings are configurable within the plugin's backend parameters, for both visiting and registered users. To implement access rights for specific users, or for entire Joomla! contact categories, these settings can optionally be overridden by adding appropriate arguments after the list name parameter in the command, using this format:

{jsmallist [list name] [id1:permission1] ... [idN:permissionN]}

where

• [id:permission]
  associates a user ID with a specific access right. In particular, permission values, in increasing order of abilities, are:
  
  
  0 -> no access to the list
  1 -> viewing access (may only view existing items)
  2 -> ability to create, modify, 'tick' and delete items

The id parameter is intended as a user ID; you can get these values in the Joomla! User Manager area (notice that using ID 0 refers to all non-registered users). If the user ID is prefixed with G (or g) it is taken as a Joomla! contact category ID (you can get the relevant values in the Joomla! Contact Categories list)

Command usage example:

{jsmallist [Things to remember] [63:2] [65:1] [g6:2] desc(Steps to a proper spaghetti sauce!)}

in this case, assuming that the default permission is 0 (no access), users with user ID 63 and 65, as well as all users belonging to contact category ID 6 will be able to see the items of the list named 'Things to remember'. User ID 63 will be able to add, modify, 'tick' and delete items, user ID 65 will only be able to view them, while all users of contact category ID 6 will have access rights 2 (same as user ID 63).

You may also set a description for the list, by placing it in the format

desc(this is a description)

within the curly brackets. This will be included below the title and before the files/folders display (in the above example it's the Steps to a proper spaghetti sauce! sentence).

Notice that, although the curly brackets and the square ones around the list name are required, the id:permission pairs may have a looser format. Thus, the command above may have been written as:

{jsmallist [Things to remember] 63:2, 65:1 g6:2 desc(Steps to a proper spaghetti sauce!)}

The command syntax also allows to override the plugin parameters 'Hot levels' and 'Warm levels', by adding them to the command argument. This is performed with value pairs in the form [hot:levels] and [warm:levels], where levels is the number of levels that are considered hot and/or warm respectively.

Lists usage

Once the list is defined in the command within the article text, a list of items will be displayed when viewing that article. A new item can be inserted by typing it in the form at the bottom of the list (this will only appear depending on access rights).

Each item is associated with a number, called level, which can be thought of as a priority, or an indication of importance/relevance. A new item is by default entered at the bottom of the list (highest level). To enter a new item with a predetermined level, you just type the required level in front of the new item text (i.e. 3 this is a new item at third level).

To edit an item you can click the relevant icon at its right side. This will set the edit mode for that item. In edit mode you can change name and level of an item, but you may also set an item to become a sublist. This is a lists of items in its own right, which inherits the name from its parent item, while permissions and other parameters are those of the parent list.