TonicsCMS User Documentation

This user documentation provides a high-level overview of the Tonics CMS and its features.

Tonics is a powerful and intuitive content management system designed to simplify the process of creating and managing websites. With Tonics, you can easily create, edit, and publish content, without needing any technical expertise.

This documentation covers the basics of using Tonics, including creating pages, posts, and menus, customizing your site's design, and optimizing your content for search engines and social media.

Whether you're a small business owner, blogger, or individual looking to establish a web presence, Tonics has the features and tools you need to create a professional and engaging website.

So let's get started and explore what Tonics can do for you!

DataTable

The Tonics Data Table is a powerful feature that drives all the listings in Tonics. It provides a flexible and customizable way to manage and display data in the CMS.

Features include:

Multi-editing of rows, you can select multiple rows and edit their data all at once, which can save a lot of time and effort when working with large datasets.
Support for selecting multiple rows using the CTRL/Shift-Click method, this allows you to quickly and easily select and manipulate multiple rows without having to individually click on each one.
Supports various inline editors for different data types, this includes editors for text, numbers, dates, images, and more. These inline editors provide a convenient way to edit data directly within the DataTable, without having to navigate to a separate page or form.

Below is an example of a data table (Open image in new tab):

I have highlighted the section in red with an arrow pointing to the number for the below number list

This is the Data Table menu, the default menu are Save, Cancel, Mult-Edit, Delete, and Reload. As you can see that the Save and Cancel are greyed out, they would be activated once you start editing the row field
This is an example of the inline editor
The pagination links

Multi-Editing

To do a Multi-Edit, you can either first select the rows you'll like to edit, then click the Multi-Edit button or just click the Multi-Edit button and start selecting, now, do any inline editing you want to do, then hit the Save button (you'll get a confirmation prompt) or Cancel to cancel any changes.

Here is a video illustration:

Deleting

To delete a row or rows, simply select whatever rows you want to delete, hit the Delete button (at this point the rows would be highlighted in red), then hit the Save button.

Here is an illustration:

Rich Editor

The Tonics Rich Editor is powered by TinyMCE, a popular and powerful WYSIWYG editor. The editor provides a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to create and edit content for your website, also, Tonics comes with powerful integrations for the editor such as the media manager integration and the Field manager integration.

One of the key features of the Tonics editor is its integration with the Media/File Manager, which allows you to easily upload and manage media files for your posts. This saves you the hassle of having to manually upload and insert images, videos, and other media into your posts.

The Tonics Editor also comes integrated with the Field Manager, which provides a flexible way to include dynamic content in your posts. Typically, most CMS relies on shortcodes for dynamic content which feels powerful, the problem with that approach is, it is not user-friendly, takes time to learn, and leaves unwanted data in the editor if the App powering the shortcode is deleted.

In Tonics, you can use the Field Manager to include actual Fields that can perform specific functions (i.e, embed, table of content, AI tool, etc), here are some reasons why you'll enjoy the Field approach to including dynamic content:

Intuitive: Fields provide an intuitive way to include dynamic content directly in the editor. Instead of relying on shortcodes, which can be difficult to remember and use correctly, Fields provides a user-friendly interface for adding custom content, you can copy Field from one editor to another, you can move images inside the Field to the content, in short, it has unlimited potentials
Consistent Interface: Fields promote a consistent interface for adding dynamic content to your posts. This makes it easier for you to create and manage content.
Reusability: Fields can be reused across different editors' instances, which can save you time and effort in the long run.

Below is an image of the editor (Open image in new tab):

I have highlighted the section in red with an arrow pointing to the number for the below number list

The Editors Menu
The Editors Content Section (This is where you write your text)
An example of a Field (The Image shows a Field of the Table of Content)

Here is a video illustration of using the Field:

Here is another video showing a generative AI Field:

Modules

In Tonics, Modules are the part and parcel of the CMS system, everything is a Module or you can call it an App (For Extensions), the good thing about this approach is you only use what you need, if the only thing you want to do is blogging, then you might not need the Customer Module or the Payment Module, etc. You get the idea right?

Let's explore what each module can do for you.

Core Module

The Core Module is the foundation of the Tonics CMS, and it provides essential functionality that powers the entire system. Some of the key features of the Core Module include:

Essential Libraries: The Core Module includes a number of essential libraries that provide the underlying functionality for Tonics CMS. These include the routing system, which allows users to navigate between pages and content on your website, as well as the view system, which determines how content is displayed to users. Other important libraries include the job & scheduler management system, which handles background tasks and processes, and the query builder library, which allows you to query and retrieve data from your database, and many more.
App and Extension Installation: The Core Module also provides an interface for installing new apps or extensions into Tonics CMS. This makes it easy to expand the functionality of your website as needed, by adding new features or capabilities. The installation process is straightforward and user-friendly and can be performed directly from the Tonics CMS dashboard.
Background Task Management: The Core Module is also responsible for managing a number of essential background tasks, such as deleting old sessions and optimizing database performance. These tasks are handled automatically by Tonics CMS, ensuring that your website remains fast, responsive, and up-to-date at all times.
Module and App Updates: The Core Module also provides an interface for updating and managing modules and apps within Tonics CMS. This ensures that your website remains up-to-date with the latest security patches, bug fixes, and feature enhancements. Updates can be performed automatically or manually, depending on your preferences.
Customization and Extensibility: Finally, the Core Module is highly customizable and extensible, allowing you to tailor Tonics CMS to your specific needs and requirements. This includes the ability to define custom routes, create custom modules and plugins, and customize the appearance and functionality of your website using a variety of built-in tools and APIs.

Let's see some examples of what you can do with the Core Module...

Managing Apps

Tonics makes it easy to manage apps, the app page is in the following location: Tool -> Apps

Here is how the App page looks:

In Tonics, everything is an App or Module, the only difference between them is one is an internal module while the others are external modules.

The Internal module can't be deleted (doing as a safeguard) which is why it is greyed out, however, you can safely remove it if you have access to your server or you can just choose the Modules you would like to use before installing the Tonic CMS, just ensure the Core Modules is included. On the Tonics release page, I have packaged Modules for different solutions, so, you can check and see if that fits your requirement.

The number lists are as follows:

The App Name
The App Description (describing what the App does)
The App Type (can be Module, Tools, External Modules, or anything given by the App developer)
Action: This gives you the option to install/uninstall external apps, again, you can't uninstall Modules from the App page, however, you can delete them from your server (Don't delete the Core Module though) as long as you can ascertain no other Apps is using it or it is useless for your current scenario
This indicates if an update is available or not, you would see "Yes" if an update is available and "No" if otherwise
The app version string
The menu button for updating Apps (Greyed out because no update is available, if there is an update for App(s), click whatever App you wanna update and the button would be active)
Settings page of App (Not all app has a settings page, it has App dependent)

Here is an overview of how you can update an App:

Core Settings Page

The Core settings page is where you change settings pertaining to your Tonics CMS, for example, your website name, timezone, mail settings if you are doing anything related to sending an email (newsletter, payment confirmation, etc), setting auto-updates for Modules and Apps, by default it is set to true, meaning when there is an update, it would automatically apply, however, if you do not want that option, you can set it to false.

You also have the Media Drives where you can set an unlimited number of cloud media storage you want to connect to, (e.g Dropbox, etc).

Here is a quick video overview:

Clearing Cache

There are some cases where you might need to clear the cache, perhaps an error of some sort related to content not getting updates in the frontend, or as instructed by an App manufacturer, clear the cache by going to: Settings -> Clear Cache

The Menu module is a powerful tool that allows you to create and manage custom menus for your website. With this module, you can create a menu from scratch or use an existing one as a starting point.

Once you have created your menu, you can then use the intuitive drag-and-drop menu builder to add, remove, and reorder menu items as needed.

The Menu module includes a range of customization options, allowing you to configure your menu to meet the specific needs of your website.

This includes the ability to add custom CSS classes and styles to your menu, as well as the option to create nested menus and dropdown menus.

You can create a menu that automatically updates with links to your latest blog posts, or a menu that displays links to your top-selling products.

To add a new menu, go to Tools -> Menu or Tools -> Menu -> New Menu

Here you can add the Menu name, and save changes

To create menu items, go to Tools -> Menu -> All Menus

Then you can click on the builder menu of the Menu Action, this would take you to the builder page where you can build a menu, sort them, drag and drop, and even make it nested to whatever level you like.

Below is a video overview of adding a menu and creating menu items:

The Widget module is a powerful tool that allows you to create and manage custom widgets for your website. Unlike the Menu module, which is specifically designed for creating menus and navigation systems, the Widget module is designed to handle a wide range of different types of content and functionality.

With the Widget module, you can create a widget from scratch or use an existing one as a starting point.

Once you have created your widget, you can then use the intuitive drag-and-drop widget builder to add, remove, and reorder widget items as needed.

Depending on the extensions you are using, a widget can come in different types such as Text Boxes, Rich Text Editor, Images, Audio Player, Social Media Feeds and so many more.

To add a new menu, go to Tools -> Widget or Tools -> Widget -> New Widget

Here you can add the Widget name, and save changes

To create menu items, go to Tools -> Widget -> All Widgets

Then you can click on the builder menu of the Widget Action, this would take you to the builder page where you can build a widget, sort them, drag and drop

Below is a video overview of adding a widget and creating widget items:

Media Module

The Media module is an essential part of the Tonics CMS media manager, it provides the Media/File Manager

The Media Manager provides a powerful set of tools for managing and organizing your website's media files, including images, videos, audio files, and documents.

With Media Manager, you can easily upload, organize, and categorize your media files using a simple and intuitive interface.

You can also use it to crop and resize your images, or just general edit an image, you also get to preview your audio files directly from the media manager.

Here are some features of the Media Manager:

API Driven: It is API Driven. So, as long as whoever is implementing the interface conforms with the interface methods you can add an additional drive system, e g your local folder, Dropbox, GDrive, etc. By default, it works with the Local Drive and Dropbox
Link Rot: Prevention of broken links, this way, moving, renaming, and editing a file shouldn't affect the media file link, in short, moving folders does not affect the link preventing any form of broken links.
Resumable: Imagine living in a country like Nigeria where electricity is unstable, you would want something that can survive an outage, Fortunately, Tonics Media Manager has an inbuilt file resumption, you can literally complete the upload on a different device (when your other device is offline or when uploading is abruptly interrupted due to power outage or network issue) as long as the files you are uploading is the same.

Using The Media Manager

There are several ways to use the Media Manager depending on the context, it is integrated into the editor, but you could also use it in a standalone manner.

To use the Media Manager in the editor, you can either click on the File Manager menu or by right-clicking and clicking File Manager.

For standalone usages, go to Media -> File Manager

Here is a quick demo illustrating the moving Video from the Image folder to the Video folder:

Adding More Media Storage

The beautiful thing about the Tonics Media Manager is you can add an unlimited number of cloud storage (it currently supports only Dropbox).

To do this, go to the Core settings page (refer to the Core Module section to find that), and click on the Media Drives Tab, to add more drive storage, you can simply click on "Add New...", for example, to add more Dropbox Storage. you click "Add New DropBox Key":

Upon doing that, you can go ahead to enter the name of your choosing and then the API key of the cloud storage you are using.

Post Module

The Post modules provide the ability to create posts and categories. With this module, you can create and publish blog posts, news articles, tutorials, and other types of content that are relevant to your audience.

Before creating, ensure you have created relevant categories, so, let's start with that...

Adding New Categories

To create a new post category, go to Blog -> New Category.

On the new Category Page, you get:

Category Experience: Here you can add the Category Title and the Category Content
Category Settings: Here you can set the Parent Category (leave it as is if you want the new category you are creating to be the Parent), on the Meta tab of the Category Settings, you can set the Category Slug (optional), the Category Status (The Default is Draft, set it to Publish if you want the category to go live), and lastly you can set the Date (also optional)
Seo Settings: Where you can set various SEO fields such as the Title (Optional), and the Description (also Optional), it also has several tabs such as the Setting, Open Graph Type, Old URLs (this would redirect old URL to the canonical URL), and lastly you can set the Structured Data of all types

Once you are done, save changes by scrolling to the bottom of the page where you find the Save Changes button (Here is how you would save changes to everything you do in Tonics going forward).

Editing Categories

Editing categories is as simple as going to: Blog -> All Categories, then you click on the Edit button of the category you want to Edit.

Then you can go ahead to Edit the category fields to your heart desire, there is also a Preview button at the top if you want to preview your changes, just ensure that your changes are saved before previewing the changes.

Adding New Post

To create a new post, go to Blog -> New Post or Click on Blog

On the new Post page, you get:

Post Experience: Here you can add the Post Title and the Post Content
Post Settings: Here you can set the Featured Image, on the Posts Category Tab, you can select a post category, on the Author tab, you can select the Post Author (The Ability to add a new author or edit authors detail is coming soon), and lastly on the Meta tab, you can set the Post Slug (optional), the Post Status, the Date and Excerpt is optional, but there is nothing stopping your from writing a new excerpt
Seo Settings: Same as the one in the Posts Category

Editing Posts

Editing posts is as simple as going to: Blog -> All Posts, then you click on the Edit button of the post you want to Edit.

Then you can go ahead to Edit the post fields to your heart desire, there is also a Preview button at the top if you want to preview your changes, just ensure that your changes are saved before previewing the changes.

Page Module

The page modules give you the ability to create a standalone page, but unlike the Post module, Pages are driven by Templates (provided by a Theme) and Fields.

Here is an image illustration of the Page UI:

The number list is as follows:

The Page Slug (Optional)
The Page Status
Title of The Page
The page template you would be using (refer to your theme documentation on how to use the page templates)
Additional Fields (By default the page is using the Default Page Field, but you can more such as the Seo Settings field)

Note: Again, ensure you consult your theme documentation on what the page template is for or whatever extension is supplying the template

Adding New Page

To create a new post, go to Pages -> New Page or Click on Pages

Editing Page

Editing a page is as simple as going to: Pages -> All Pages, then you click on the Edit button of the page you want to Edit.

Then you can go ahead to Edit the page fields to your heart's desire, unlike the Post, there is no preview button in the page edit page, this is because the page slug can be dynamic, however, you can still preview the page in the All Pages page, though, dynamic pages won't be previewable

Track Module

The Track module is similar to the Post Module, with few exceptions. It is similar in the sense that, you need to create Track categories that you would assign tracks to, so, for example,

To create a Track Category, you go to Media -> Track -> Track Category
To view all created Track Categories, go to Media -> Track -> Track Category -> All Track Categories
Then you can go ahead to creating a Track by navigating to Media -> Track
To view all created Track, go to Media -> Track -> All Tracks

Here is a video illustration of creating a Track:

Note: Ensure you select at least one category before saving the Track changes

Here is a video of creating a Track category and assigning it to the track I created above:

The following are further things you can do with the Track module...

Creating a Genre

By default, thousands of common genre has been created and populated for you, however, if you find yourself in a position where you need a custom genre or a new genre altogether, then you can go to the following location to create a new genre:

Media -> Track -> Genres

Editing a Genre

To edit an existing genre is as simple as going to:

Media -> Track -> Genres -> All Genre
Then you can find whichever genre you want to edit, you can as well use the search form to filter the genre, then click the Edit button once you find your preferred genre

Video illustration of creating a genre, editing existing genre, and assigning it to the Track created above:

Creating Artist

A track must be assigned to an artist, by default, it is assigned to an artist - "Unknown", however, to create a new artist, you go to:

Media -> Artist

Editing Artist

To edit an existing artist is as simple as going to:

Media -> Artist -> All Artist
Then you can find whichever artist you want to edit, and click the Edit button

Video illustration of creating an artist, editing an existing artist, and assigning it to the Track created above:

Creating a License

This is where you can create a grouping of Track Licenses, you can:

Set Price
Upload License Contract
Enable and Disable License Item
Sort Licenses

Then once you are done, save your new license, go over to your Track, and attach it with the download URL of the track, this is the URL that would be mailed to the User once they purchase the license.