Create an element tag

Create an element tag

The Element tag is used to reference an element within a presentation template or element design. The format of an element tag:
[Element type=" " context=" " name=" " key=" " format=" " link=" " separator=" " htmlencode=" " awareness=" " ifEmpty=" " start=" " end=" " ]

To create an element tag use the Insert Tag option:

Click Insert a Tag from a presentation template or element design field. The Tag Helper dialog opens.

Select Element as the tag type.

Select the item type where the element is stored, and the context used to determine which item to reference:

type=" "
context=" " Description auto content sitearea parent top
Selected The context is set by the selected item. We select an item by clicking Select. This is added to the tag as the name=" " parameter: Display element from the selected item. Display element from the selected content item. If a site area is selected then nothing will be displayed. If the selected item is a site area, then this will display the element from the site area If the selected item is a content item, then this will display the element from the parent site area of the content item. Display element from the parent of the selected item. Display element from the first item in the path of the selected item.
Current The context is set by the current item. Display element from the item currently being rendered. Display element from the current content item. If a site area is selected then nothing will be displayed. If the item currently being rendered is a site area, this will display the element from the current site area. If the item currently being rendered is a content item, this will display the element from the parent site area of the content item. Display element from the parent site area of the item currently being rendered. Display element from the first item in the path of the item currently being rendered.
Autofill Use this option when the element being referenced is determined by the search parameters of a menu, navigator, or taxonomy component. If the tag is not used within a menu, navigator, or taxonomy component, the context will revert to the current item. Display element from the item returned by a menu, navigator, or taxonomy component. Display element from a content item returned by a menu, navigator, or taxonomy component. If a site area is selected then nothing will be displayed. If the current item returned by a menu, navigator, or taxonomy component is a site area, then the element from the site area will be displayed. If the current item returned by a menu, navigator, or taxonomy component is a content item, then the element from the parent of the content item will be displayed. Display element from the parent item of the item returned by a menu, navigator, or taxonomy component. Display element from the first item in the path of the item returned by a menu, navigator, or taxonomy component.
portalContext The context is set by the context of the current page. This option is only valid for content delivered using a web content viewer portlet. Display element from the current page context item. If the context of the current page is a content item, the element from the current content item is displayed. If the context of the current page is a site area, the element from the default content item of the site area is displayed. If the context of the current page is a site area, the element from the site area is displayed. If the context of the current page is a content item, the element from the parent of the content item is displayed. Display element from the parent of the current page context item. Display element from the first item in the path of the current page context item.
portalMapping The context is set by the content mapping of the current page. This option is only valid for content delivered using a web content viewer portlet. Display element from the item selected as the default content mapping of the page. Display element from the default content item of the site area selected as the default content mapping of the page. Display element from the site area selected as the default content mapping of the page. Display element from parent of the item selected as the default content mapping of the page. Display element from the first item in the path of the item selected as the default content mapping of the page.

Click Select authoring template to select an appropriate authoring template. Select the element to display from the list of available elements. This is added to the tag as the key=" " parameter:

Click OK to add the tag to your design.

What to do next
Once we have added the tag to the design, we can also add the following parameters to the tag:

Tag parameters Details
name=" " If we specify name="./itemName", the actual path is not resolved until the item is rendered. This takes slightly longer to resolve than specifying the path to the item.
format=" " Optional and can only be used with some element types:

When referencing an image element:

Use format="url" to render the URL of an image element.

Use format="tag" to render a complete image tag. The image is displayed on the rendered page. This is used by default if no format is specified.

Use format="height" to render the height of an image element.

Use format="width" to render the width of an image element.

Use format="alt" to render the alt text of an image element.

When referencing a link element:

Use format="url" to render the full URL of a link element. For example:
/wps/wcm/myconnect/Library/SiteArea/Content

Use format="path" to only render the site path of a link element. For example:
/Library/SiteArea/Content

Use format="tag" to render a complete link tag. This is used by default if no format is specified. For example:
<a href="/wps/wcm/myconnect/Library/SiteArea/Content"></a>

The URL generated by the link element is fully qualified when viewed through a portal. To generate a URL that is not fully qualified use the "noprefix" option instead:

format="noprefixurl"
format="noprefixpath"
format="noprefixtag"

Use format="linktext" to render text of the link.

When referencing a file resource element:

If the file resource is a file type that can be converted to HTML we can instead convert the file to HTML and render the converted HTML directly in the web content using the format="HTML" parameter.
Examples of supported file types include:

word-processing documents (*.doc, *.odt)
spreadsheets (*.xls) *
HTML files (*.htm, *.html)
Text files (*.txt)

Other file types may also work but we need to test them first.
Maximum Cache Size:
If the converted HTML is larger than the default cache size defined by the resourceserver.maxCacheObjectSize property in the WCM WCMConfigService service, each request containing this file is converted dynamically instead of using the cached copy. This will impact performance. We may need to increase the size of the resourceserver.maxCacheObjectSize property to support large file conversions. Before doing this, we should ensure the system has enough memory installed to cope with the increase in cache size. You could also break up the file into separate files that can be converted separately instead of increasing the cache size.

When referencing file resource and image elements:

Use format="mimetype" to render the mime type of a file or image. If no valid mime type can be determined then "www/unknown" is rendered.
Use format="filename" to render the name of a file or image.
Use format="size" to render the size of a file or image using the most appropriate unit. If the resource is smaller than 1K, then the size in bytes is rendered. If the size of the resource is less than 1MB, then the size in kilobytes is rendered. If the size is greater than or equal to 1MB, then the size is rendered in megabytes.
Use format="size_bytes" to render the size of a file or image in bytes. Only the numeric value is displayed.
Use format="size_KB" to render the size of a file or image in kilobytes. Only the numeric value is displayed.
Use format="size_MB" to render the size of a file or image in megabytes. Only the numeric value is displayed.

When referencing date elements:

The following formats can be defined when displaying dates:

format="DATE_SHORT"
format="DATE_MEDIUM"
format="DATE_LONG"
format="DATE_FULL"
format="DATE_TIME_SHORT"
format="DATE_TIME_MEDIUM"
format="DATE_TIME_LONG"
format="DATE_TIME_FULL"
format="TIME_SHORT"
format="TIME_MEDIUM"
format="TIME_LONG"
format="TIME_FULL"
format="DATE_SHORT_TIME_MEDIUM"
format="DATE_SHORT_TIME_LONG"
format="DATE_SHORT_TIME_FULL"
format="DATE_MEDIUM_TIME_SHORT"
format="DATE_MEDIUM_TIME_LONG"
format="DATE_MEDIUM_TIME_FULL"
format="DATE_LONG_TIME_SHORT"
format="DATE_LONG_TIME_MEDIUM"
format="DATE_LONG_TIME_FULL"
format="DATE_FULL_TIME_SHORT"
format="DATE_FULL_TIME_MEDIUM"
format="DATE_FULL_TIME_LONG"
format="RELATIVE" (The relative date is displayed as either "today", "yesterday" or the number of days ago.)
format="MILLIS" (Number of milliseconds since Midnight, January 1, 1970 GMT)

We can also set user-defined formats for dates:

Set parameters to format dates

When referencing number elements:

We can also set user-defined formats for numbers:

Note on formatting numbers

When referencing user details:

When formatting user details, the format parameter is used to define which LDAP parameter to use when displaying user details. For example:

format="cn" is used to display the common name.
format="dn" is used to display the distinguished name.

Maximum character length:

We can also specify a maximum number of characters to display using this format:

format="length:number_of_characters"

For example, to display a maximum of ten characters we would specify the following parameter:

format="length:10"

link=" " The link parameter is used to define the type of link created by the element tag:

link="default"

A standard link to an element is created.

link="path"

Contextual path linking is used when rendering this element.

link="contextual"

Contextual content linking is used when rendering this element. If not applicable, then contextual path linking is used.

Contextual linking:
Contextual linking is used so that when content is linked from another site, the link is rendered relative to the current site if possible. It can only be used if context="current" or context="autofill".
separator=" " This is used when referencing an option selection or user selection element. It is used to define what text or code is rendered between each selection displayed in an option selection or user selection element. For example, to add a line break between each selection, we would use separator="<br>". If not defined, a comma is placed between each selection when rendered.
htmlencode=" " If htmlencode="true" the reserved HTML characters in text, short text and option selection elements are converted into character entities. For example, '<' is converted to '<'. This is useful if to prevent users adding malicious code, or to prevent users changing the look and feel of their text using HTML.
If not specified, the default setting specified by the cmpnt.htmlEncodeDefault property in the WCM WCMConfigService service is used. By default, this property is set to true.
awareness=" " If awareness="true" then user names are displayed using the people awareness features. These features display user names as hyperlinks that allow users to contact people with whom they might want to work. Wherever person links appear, users can click the link to display a menu of actions for collaborating (contacting and working) with the person named by the link. If we, as administrator, have also configured an IBM Sametime server to work with WebSphere Portal, person links indicate whether a person is active, away, offline, or in a Do Not Disturb state. If not specified, then awareness="false" and people awareness is not used.
start=" "
end=" "
The start and end attributes are used to wrap the data returned by a tag within other tags, such as HTML. These attributes are not mandatory.

Parent Create web content tags

		type=" "
context=" "	Description	auto	content	sitearea	parent	top
Selected	The context is set by the selected item. We select an item by clicking Select. This is added to the tag as the name=" " parameter:	Display element from the selected item.	Display element from the selected content item. If a site area is selected then nothing will be displayed.	If the selected item is a site area, then this will display the element from the site area If the selected item is a content item, then this will display the element from the parent site area of the content item.	Display element from the parent of the selected item.	Display element from the first item in the path of the selected item.
Current	The context is set by the current item.	Display element from the item currently being rendered.	Display element from the current content item. If a site area is selected then nothing will be displayed.	If the item currently being rendered is a site area, this will display the element from the current site area. If the item currently being rendered is a content item, this will display the element from the parent site area of the content item.	Display element from the parent site area of the item currently being rendered.	Display element from the first item in the path of the item currently being rendered.
Autofill	Use this option when the element being referenced is determined by the search parameters of a menu, navigator, or taxonomy component. If the tag is not used within a menu, navigator, or taxonomy component, the context will revert to the current item.	Display element from the item returned by a menu, navigator, or taxonomy component.	Display element from a content item returned by a menu, navigator, or taxonomy component. If a site area is selected then nothing will be displayed.	If the current item returned by a menu, navigator, or taxonomy component is a site area, then the element from the site area will be displayed. If the current item returned by a menu, navigator, or taxonomy component is a content item, then the element from the parent of the content item will be displayed.	Display element from the parent item of the item returned by a menu, navigator, or taxonomy component.	Display element from the first item in the path of the item returned by a menu, navigator, or taxonomy component.
portalContext	The context is set by the context of the current page. This option is only valid for content delivered using a web content viewer portlet.	Display element from the current page context item.	If the context of the current page is a content item, the element from the current content item is displayed. If the context of the current page is a site area, the element from the default content item of the site area is displayed.	If the context of the current page is a site area, the element from the site area is displayed. If the context of the current page is a content item, the element from the parent of the content item is displayed.	Display element from the parent of the current page context item.	Display element from the first item in the path of the current page context item.
portalMapping	The context is set by the content mapping of the current page. This option is only valid for content delivered using a web content viewer portlet.	Display element from the item selected as the default content mapping of the page.	Display element from the default content item of the site area selected as the default content mapping of the page.	Display element from the site area selected as the default content mapping of the page.	Display element from parent of the item selected as the default content mapping of the page.	Display element from the first item in the path of the item selected as the default content mapping of the page.

Tag parameters	Details
name=" "	If we specify name="./itemName", the actual path is not resolved until the item is rendered. This takes slightly longer to resolve than specifying the path to the item.
format=" "	Optional and can only be used with some element types: When referencing an image element: Use format="url" to render the URL of an image element. Use format="tag" to render a complete image tag. The image is displayed on the rendered page. This is used by default if no format is specified. Use format="height" to render the height of an image element. Use format="width" to render the width of an image element. Use format="alt" to render the alt text of an image element. When referencing a link element: Use format="url" to render the full URL of a link element. For example: /wps/wcm/myconnect/Library/SiteArea/Content Use format="path" to only render the site path of a link element. For example: /Library/SiteArea/Content Use format="tag" to render a complete link tag. This is used by default if no format is specified. For example: <a href="/wps/wcm/myconnect/Library/SiteArea/Content"></a> The URL generated by the link element is fully qualified when viewed through a portal. To generate a URL that is not fully qualified use the "noprefix" option instead: format="noprefixurl" format="noprefixpath" format="noprefixtag" Use format="linktext" to render text of the link. When referencing a file resource element: If the file resource is a file type that can be converted to HTML we can instead convert the file to HTML and render the converted HTML directly in the web content using the format="HTML" parameter. Examples of supported file types include: word-processing documents (.doc, .odt) spreadsheets (.xls) HTML files (.htm, .html) Text files (.txt) Other file types may also work but we need to test them first. Maximum Cache Size: If the converted HTML is larger than the default cache size defined by the resourceserver.maxCacheObjectSize property in the WCM WCMConfigService service, each request containing this file is converted dynamically instead of using the cached copy. This will impact performance. We may need to increase the size of the resourceserver.maxCacheObjectSize property to support large file conversions. Before doing this, we should ensure the system has enough memory installed to cope with the increase in cache size. You could also break up the file into separate files that can be converted separately instead of increasing the cache size. When referencing file resource and image elements: Use format="mimetype" to render the mime type of a file or image. If no valid mime type can be determined then "www/unknown" is rendered. Use format="filename" to render the name of a file or image. Use format="size" to render the size of a file or image using the most appropriate unit. If the resource is smaller than 1K, then the size in bytes is rendered. If the size of the resource is less than 1MB, then the size in kilobytes is rendered. If the size is greater than or equal to 1MB, then the size is rendered in megabytes. Use format="size_bytes" to render the size of a file or image in bytes. Only the numeric value is displayed. Use format="size_KB" to render the size of a file or image in kilobytes. Only the numeric value is displayed. Use format="size_MB" to render the size of a file or image in megabytes. Only the numeric value is displayed. When referencing date elements: The following formats can be defined when displaying dates: format="DATE_SHORT" format="DATE_MEDIUM" format="DATE_LONG" format="DATE_FULL" format="DATE_TIME_SHORT" format="DATE_TIME_MEDIUM" format="DATE_TIME_LONG" format="DATE_TIME_FULL" format="TIME_SHORT" format="TIME_MEDIUM" format="TIME_LONG" format="TIME_FULL" format="DATE_SHORT_TIME_MEDIUM" format="DATE_SHORT_TIME_LONG" format="DATE_SHORT_TIME_FULL" format="DATE_MEDIUM_TIME_SHORT" format="DATE_MEDIUM_TIME_LONG" format="DATE_MEDIUM_TIME_FULL" format="DATE_LONG_TIME_SHORT" format="DATE_LONG_TIME_MEDIUM" format="DATE_LONG_TIME_FULL" format="DATE_FULL_TIME_SHORT" format="DATE_FULL_TIME_MEDIUM" format="DATE_FULL_TIME_LONG" format="RELATIVE" (The relative date is displayed as either "today", "yesterday" or the number of days ago.) format="MILLIS" (Number of milliseconds since Midnight, January 1, 1970 GMT) We can also set user-defined formats for dates: Set parameters to format dates When referencing number elements: We can also set user-defined formats for numbers: Note on formatting numbers When referencing user details: When formatting user details, the format parameter is used to define which LDAP parameter to use when displaying user details. For example: format="cn" is used to display the common name. format="dn" is used to display the distinguished name. Maximum character length: We can also specify a maximum number of characters to display using this format: format="length:number_of_characters*" For example, to display a maximum of ten characters we would specify the following parameter: format="length:10"
link=" "	The link parameter is used to define the type of link created by the element tag: link="default" A standard link to an element is created. link="path" Contextual path linking is used when rendering this element. link="contextual" Contextual content linking is used when rendering this element. If not applicable, then contextual path linking is used. Contextual linking: Contextual linking is used so that when content is linked from another site, the link is rendered relative to the current site if possible. It can only be used if context="current" or context="autofill".
separator=" "	This is used when referencing an option selection or user selection element. It is used to define what text or code is rendered between each selection displayed in an option selection or user selection element. For example, to add a line break between each selection, we would use separator="<br>". If not defined, a comma is placed between each selection when rendered.
htmlencode=" "	If htmlencode="true" the reserved HTML characters in text, short text and option selection elements are converted into character entities. For example, '<' is converted to '<'. This is useful if to prevent users adding malicious code, or to prevent users changing the look and feel of their text using HTML. If not specified, the default setting specified by the cmpnt.htmlEncodeDefault property in the WCM WCMConfigService service is used. By default, this property is set to true.
awareness=" "	If awareness="true" then user names are displayed using the people awareness features. These features display user names as hyperlinks that allow users to contact people with whom they might want to work. Wherever person links appear, users can click the link to display a menu of actions for collaborating (contacting and working) with the person named by the link. If we, as administrator, have also configured an IBM Sametime server to work with WebSphere Portal, person links indicate whether a person is active, away, offline, or in a Do Not Disturb state. If not specified, then awareness="false" and people awareness is not used.
start=" " end=" "	The start and end attributes are used to wrap the data returned by a tag within other tags, such as HTML. These attributes are not mandatory.