Dynamic Slide - Basics

How do generators work?

Generators dynamically create slides for the selected sources, like WordPress posts, Joomla articles, WooCommerce products, etc.. Generators are working from cache, which means their content is updated after the cache time expires.

Here are some examples of what is possible and what isn't:

Possible

• Select a WordPress post category -> generate 5 slides from 5 latest posts within that category.
• Select "all" as the Joomla articles category -> generate 10 slides to show 10 of your latest articles.
• Select a WooCommerce product tag -> generate 12 slides from 12 cheapest products having that tag.

Not possible

• Base your content on the page you are viewing.

  (You cannot display one content on one page, another on a different page. All your pages can only display your slider with the same contents.)

• Select one WordPress post -> generate multiple slides from an ACF gallery's images.

  (The idea of our dynamic slides is that 1 post's contents go to 1 slide. Because of this, we do not support galleries of posts, as there you would want each image to go to a separate slide. And you would possibly want the previous "not possible" point too.)

Generator settings

Slides

This is how many slides will be created with your generator.

Cache Expiration

The generator works from cache, and this is how often it will query the new data. It works this way, because if the cache expiration time is 24 hours, and let's say you will get 100 visitors a day, who will check 5 of your pages (which show this slider), then our slider will only go through the database and the longer PHP codes once in a day. However, if you set it to 0 to make your data appear immediately, then it will go all 500 times through them. 

If you want the slider to update its content sooner, write a smaller number instead of the default 24. A slider isn't the main content, it's just to advertise them, so you shouldn't care about not having your contents there right when you create them. But if you don't mind sacrificing your pages' speed, then change the Cache expiration time to 0.

You can also manually clear the slider's cache to make it show new data immediately.

Start Index Pro

This number will define from which result should your variables start.

For example, you can use the Start Index feature to create a post slider from your latest 5 posts, where the latest post has different layout than the other 4. For such case, you'll need to create one dynamic slide generator that will display the latest slide (set Slides to 1). Then create another generator, which displays 4 slides (set Slides to 4) starting from the 2nd (set Start Index to 2).

Group Result Pro

You can have multiple result variables on one slide, so you don't need to have for example one post/article on one slide, but you could have two, three or more posts/articles on one slide. Then the next two, three, more posts and articles would get into the next slide, and so on.

For example, you can create Magazine Slider using the Group Result feature.

You can select variables from different result groups at the Insert variable popup, under Select group

The 2nd group is selected, so the second post data will be added.

View Records

You can check what contents are inside your variables. Basically this option is only for knowing more about your generator, but it doesn't change anything inside your slides. So feel free to check this anytime, as it can't mess up anything.

You can check the available variables anytime using View Records

How to work with variables?

Variables provide a way to pull data from the dynamic source (like from a WordPress Post) to your slide. Using variables you can pull the post title, description or URL to your slides.

When you create a new dynamic slide, you'll see a default layout in the Slide Editor. You can remove this layout, or change it anyway you want to.

To work with variables, simply add a layer and find the Data button above the input fields, which appear when you hover over the fields.

Clicking on the Data button will open the Insert variable popup where you can find the list of available variables and the result they'll display.

Insert Variable popup

In this video you can learn how to change the basic layout to a two column one, and put a link back to the source to a Heading layer.

Insert Variable popup

1

Variables

This is where you can find all variables pulled by the dynamic slide generator.

2

Advanced Generator Functions

This is where you can filter or split the result, or look for images in it. Check the detailed guide to learn more about Advanced Generator Functions.

3

Result

This is where you can see the result the variable will display in the slide. Useful for finding the content you want to display before inserting the variable.

4

Insert

You can insert the variable with the selected functions to the layer.

Fallback for variables

You can have fallbacks for your variables, in case they wouldn't contain anything inside them. This is the code you can use:

{fallback(image/1,"http://xy.com/image.jpg")}

so choose the variable you want to give a fallback to, like in this case:

{image/1}

and copy the middle part out, then write it manually into this codesample, and separate the fallback with a comma.

You could have more fallbacks too, just put one inside another:

{fallback(fallback(image/1,thumbnail/1),"http://xy.com/image.jpg")}

This means, that if your {image/1} variable doesn't have any data inside it, the {thumbnail/1} will be used, but if the {thumbnail/1} doesn't have anything either, the http://xy.com/image.jpg will be used in the input you wrote this.

Static Save

If you click on the Static Save button:

it will create real slides from your dynamic slides, and the slides won't be connected to the generators anymore. For instance, if you are using a dynamic post generator, and you add a new post, it won't show up.

The original generator will not be deleted, but it will be unpublished if you hit Static Save.

Accidental static save

If you clicked on Static Save by accident, and you actually want to have a dynamic slide (so a slide, which has a connection to the source), then you should just follow the steps below to use the dynamic slide again.

1

Identify the dynamic slide

It should be grayed out, and this is the only slide, that has a text on it similar to: Source [5/5]

2

Select the non-dynamic slides

Select the non-dynamic slides using Bulk Actions then delete them.

3

Publish the dynamic slide

Click on the little X icon at the dynamic slide to publish it.

Now you are done, and you have a dynamic slide again!

Common Questions

How to hide a layer if the variable is empty?

When you're at the dynamic slide, go to the layer window's Style tab and use the Hide when variable empty field to select a variable.

When the selected variable is empty, the layer will not show up.

How to randomize dynamic generator slides? Pro

You can't really have a random slider, but you could make your dynamic slide to look like it's random. You should go to your generator settings, and give a big number to the Slides option:

This way your slider would have in this case 100 slides, which aren't random yet. Then go to your slider's settings, to the Slides → Max count option, and give the number of slides you really want, like 10:

Then turn on the Randomize and Randomize first options:

Now since we are working from cache, that is why your slider can't be truly random. So for the cache we have the "variations" option, which means, that this many random sliders will be created, and those will change each other, but the random order, that each slider has will be always the same random order. So you could write a bigger variations number, like 30:

and this way what will happen is, that every time your generator's cache expiration time ends, your generator will ask down datas for 100 slides, then the randomization option will create 30 sliders containing random 100 slides, and the maximum slide count option will only make your slider to show the first 10 slides.

Why aren't the date/time options work correctly?

At some event generators there are options to show events based on whether or not they have started/ended yet. Most of these options are using the default WordPress (Settings → General → Timezone) or Joomla (System → Global Configuration → Server → Server time zone) timezone option.

Some of the plugins or extensions of our dynamic slide generators are offering their own time options, so if your framework specific time doesn't solve your issue, you should check out your plugin's/extension's global settings, in case it has a "timezone" or some similar option.

Also, don't forget that the generators are working from cache, which means their content is updated after the cache time expires. So if the generator's cache has not refreshed yet it won't show the new events, even if their date is expired. Try lowering the Cache Expiration to e.g. 1 hour, or manually refresh the slider's cache at the Slider Actions to get the updated result.