Document structure
Key point: How hierarchy is defined for content and content containers.

The document template specifies how content is organized in the document, as well as what content and what type of content is allowed.

The definition consists of sections and fragments and it is expressed by the document template.

Sections are fixed, think of them as the foundations of a house. Changing the foundations can be done, but not casually and not through the user interface. Fragments are more like non-loading bearing walls. Depending on the design, there can be flexibility in how they are used.

Inside the fragments, structure is defined through the use of labels, properties and other aspects of PSML.

Structure hierarchy

A PSML document is composed of:

  • Optional metadata – it won't appear as part of the content but is part of its structure.
  • Optional Table of Contents (TOC) marker – which is typically embedded between the first and second section.
  • At least one section – to contain fragments.

A section can contain any number of fragments and fragments can be of any kind. Which kind of fragment to use is determined by the content. The template can restrict, as well as allow, fragments.

Natively, PageSeeder includes the following document types, each with their own document template:

Default document structure

The following is the document structure of the default document template.

References document structure

The following is the document structure of the references document template.

Structural changes

Whenever a fragment is moved, PageSeeder records the change to the document structure. But not when a fragment is added or archived.

Structure in the document view

Both sections and fragments have unique identifiers. To reveal the structure in the document view, click the icon in the document toolbar.

Lock structure

The document template can lock the structure of the document or that of a section.

When the structure is locked, the fragments cannot be moved, rearranged, added or deleted – only the content can be edited.

For developers

To lock a structure, set the value of the @lockstructure attribute to true on the <document> or <section> element in your document template.

For example:

<section id="title" lockstructure="true">
  ...
</section>