Article information such as author, hits, article date, article category, and more is displayed when viewing and article and when viewing a list of articles. These details may be turned on or off; most are turned on by default. The control originates in the system configuration (also known as the global setting) which applies to all menu items and articles which can either adopt (inherit) or override the global setting. This tutorial demonstrates how this inheritance works by focusing on how the Author setting is controlled. 

Prerequisites

Administrator access to a non-production Joomla site (version 5 or above). See 1.0 Admin Login.

Your website has a main menu with a home menu item that is a featured item menu type. This is standard with a new Joomla installation.

Setup

Create a New Category

• Navigate to Content > Categories and click on the New button.
• Enter a title (e.g. "Sundial Software")
• Save and Close

Create Two Articles

• Navigate to Content > Articles and click on the New button.
• Enter a title and some body text.
  
  • Example titles: "Sun Daze Companion" and "Olympus Solar Calculator" 
• Set Category to the new category.
• Under Options tab, observe that Author is set to Use Global (Show)
  • The author will appear when viewing the articles.
• Save and close.

Create a Menu Item

The menu item will display our articles in a list. Visitors will then click on one to view an individual article.

Add a Category Blog menu item:

• Click on Menus and then Main Menu.
• Click the New button and configure:
  • Title: enter a meaningful title (e.g. "Sundial Software Blog")
  • Menu Item Type: Category Blog
  • Choose a Category: the category created in the setup.
• Under Options tab, observe that Author is set to Use Global (Show)
  • The author will appear in the list of articles.

Viewing the Site

The exercise frequently directs you to "view the site" and later to "close the tab," make updates in the administrative area, then once again "view the site."  This method ensures the site is refreshed after every change. To view the site, click on the icon (with the site name) in the header.

Steps

The Global Setting

The articles and menu items normally inherit from the global setting. Check this setting.

In the Admin area:

• Click on System and then Global Configuration.
• Click on Articles under Component.
• Look for the Author field and note that it is set to Show.
  • If not, set it to Show now and save).
• Articles and menu items will display the author of each article.

View the site and click on the category blog menu item (in the main menu).

The author appears in the list of articles (under the heading Written by).

View the articles and observe that the author appears here as well.

Close the tab, return to the Admin area and change the global setting to Hide: 

• Click on System and then Global Configuration.
• Click on Articles under Component.
• Change the Author setting to Hide and save. 

View the site and again click on the category blog menu item. 

The author no longer appears in the list of articles.

View the articles and observe that the author appears is hidden.

The menu items and articles are using the global setting to show or hide the author.

Override the Global Setting

Close the tab and edit the category blog menu item:

• Click on Menus and then Main Menu.
• Click on the category-blog menu item.
• Under the Options tab change the Author setting to Show and save.  

View the site and again click on the category blog menu item. Observe that the author is displayed.

The menu item is no longer inheriting from the global configuration.

View the articles and observe the author is shown as well.

The article is inheriting its setting from the menu item.

Override the Menu Setting

Close the tab and edit one of the articles:

• Contents > Articles
• Click on one of the articles to edit.
• Under the Options tab change the Author setting to Hide and save.  

View the site and click on the menu item.

In the article list, the author is shown for both articles (this is the menu setting). View the articles. Observe that one article displays the author while the one just edited does not (it has overridden the menu setting). 

Inherit from the Article

There is one more setting we want to look at, where the menu inherits the setting from the article. 

Close the tab and edit the articles:

• Content > Articles
• Under the Options tab set the Author setting to Show in one article, and Hide in the other, and save.  

Close the tab and edit the menu item:

• Menus > Main Menu
• Edit the category blog menu item.
• Under the Options tab change the Author setting to Use Article Settings and save.  

View the site and click on the menu item. One of the articles in the list displays the author, while it remains hidden in the other. The menu is inheriting from the article setting. 

Concepts

Inheriting settings from a single point in the system configuration establishes a consistent look across the entire website, and a single point to update. 

Overrides provide the means to individualize menus and articles when needed.