Prerequisites: This block may need to be enabled on your site. If it is not visible in the Add a Block list simply contact the Support Team and ask for it to be enabled.
Summary: The alerts ticker block presents users with scrolling messages that can be positioned anywhere on the page. It performs a similar function to a ticker tape message but with some additional colour coding.
Configuring the block
Hover over the title, click the , and choose Configure Alerts Ticker Block.
This will open the Configuring an Alerts Ticker block page.
It's broken up into four main sections:
Alert Messages: Configure the messages that appear on the alerts ticker block.
General block settings: Determine the visibility of the block and its size.
Where this block appears: This is a default section in all blocks that allows you to configure which pages display the block.
On this page: This is a default section in all blocks that allows you to configure the positioning
on the current page.
Alert Messages
At the top of the screen you have the options for up to 10 alerts.
Click on the alert you want to configure and add these details:
Enable Alert?: This must be ticked if you want this specific alert to be displayed on the block.
Alert Title: This is the message that will be displayed to users. This does not contain a HTML editor and does not support HTML code of any kind. It will only display plain text.
Alert Body: This is an HTML editor that allows you to add further information to each of the alerts. Any text entered here will only be visible when a user hovers over the alert.
Alert types
This is a dropdown option that allows you to choose the type of alert you are adding, your selection on this option will also define the colour of the alert. The options are:
Information: Selecting the information type will display a blue alert message with an “I”.
Warning: Selecting the warning type will display a red alert message with a warning.
Announcement: Selecting the announcement type will display a green alert message with a megaphone icon.
General block settings
By default, the alerts ticker block will span the full width of the page or column that it has been enabled on. With these settings, you can modify that as well as increase the spacing around the block.
All of the margin values entered into these settings must be in pixels e.g. 50px.
Background colour: Use this tool to determine the background colour using a HTML colour code.
Overlay: Standard will fit the standard margins of the page. The overlay will allow the block to spread across the screen.
Vertical & Horizontal alignment: Depending on where the block is being displayed on the page, this will allow you to determine the alignment within the block.
Right Margin: Entering a value into this field will increase the space between the right hand side of the page and the end of the alert.
Bottom Margin: Entering a value into this field will increase the space between the bottom of the alerts ticker block and anything else below it. Left Margin: Entering a value into this field will increase the space between the left hand side of the page and the start of the alert.
Top Margin: Entering a value into this field will increase the space between the top of the alerts ticker block and anything else above it.
Width: This is set to 100% by default but you can modify this by entering another percentage value in the box, this will determine the overall width of the alerts ticker block.
Z-index: The Z-index determines how the block is stacked or layered on the page. For instance, if you have added text into the alert body, which will be displayed when a user hovers over the alerts, then you will want to make sure that the text can be seen and will not be hidden behind the block that is currently below the alerts, to do this you will need to ensure that the Z-index for dropdown and selecting a numerical value, with 0 being the lowest layer and 10 being the highest layer. The alerts are higher than the other blocks. You can change this value by clicking on the dropdown and selecting a numerical value, with 0 being the lowest layer and 10 being the highest layer.
An example of the Z-index can be seen below. The first image has the Z-index set to 0 which places the alert body text behind the slider and blocks on the left and right, making it difficult to see the full text.
The image below has the Z-index set to 3 which places the alert body over the Slider and blocks on the
left and right, making it easier to see the full text.
Where this block appears
These are default options contained in every block and allow you to set where a block appears. You can edit these if you wish but you can also manually drag the block to the correct position on the page.
These are default options contained in every block and allow you to set where a block appears.
Page contexts: This is a dropdown menu that allows you to set which pages the block will appear on.
Default region: This is a dropdown menu allowing you to select the default region where the block will appear on any pages it has been set to appear on.
Default weight: The default weight allows you to choose roughly where you want the block to appear in the chosen region, either at the top or the bottom, with 14 being the bottom and -10 being the top.
On this page
These are default options contained in every block and allow you to set where a block appears on this specific page. You can edit these if you wish but you can also manually drag the block to the correct position on the page.
Visible: This is a dropdown menu allowing you to select Yes or No for whether the block can be seen.
Region: This is a dropdown menu allowing you to select where the block will appear on this page.
Weight: The weight allows you to choose roughly where you want the block to appear in the chosen region, either at the top or the bottom, with 14 being the bottom and -10 being the top.