Textpattern Tag Reference Now Downloadable

14 November 08

You wanted it, you asked for it, and now it’s here. The Textpattern Tag Reference in TextBook is now downloadable directly from the working source. Go get your copy and keep it handy on your desktop for those offline times.

When you become a seasoned Textpattern user, particularly one who sets up and manages Textpattern sites, it’s only Textpattern tags (and perhaps new community plugins) that keep you entertained. A joy it is too as txp tags can be used in a seeming endless number of ways. I know you purists are out there as well, always exploring how to use core to do what plugins otherwise might.

As such, the Textpattern Tag Reference is one of the hottest resources going, providing enthusiasts with accurate tag specs and examples of use. Since it’s existence in TextBook (the Textpattern documentation wiki), people have repeatedly asked for the downloadable version. Well now you can have it in PDF format. Just go to the Tag Reference index and look for the download link.

Keep it Green

The Tag Reference in it’s entirety generates a PDF document having upwards of 170 pages. You may not want to print that much, especially in these economic and ecological times. Save the file in your desktop for offline reference. Alternatively, you can download any of the Tag Reference’s sub-categories the same way, which represent various contexts of how the tags are used. Downloading a book from one of these locations will be considerably shorter, and perhaps more feasible to print. Mileage varies.

Regular wiki print styles (also long past due) will be looking better soon too, and those will make it feasible to print single tag pages.

Minor Annoyances to be Aware Of

The default presentation and page structure of the PdfBook extension is pretty good and seems defined by it’s own style sheet somewhere (I’m still poking around). There are a few annoyances to mention but nothing that should ruin the parade.

The first page of a given PDF file tends to be blank for some reason. Nothing is lost, it’s just an extra page. After that the document parses nicely, first the TOC, then each tag page as a numbered book section (going alphabetically).

Wiki subcategories, such as the subcategories in the Tag Reference category, do not create book chapters (as would be ideal), rather they are alphabetized along with the pages themselves and appear as numbered sections just like the tag pages are. You could get around these subcategories appearing as they do by downloading the individual Tag Reference subcategories as mention earlier. Another possibility (though not tested) might be to use Adobe to remove the erroneous subcategory pages from the comprehensive Tag Reference document, but I have doubts if this will auto-adjust the numbering of tag page sections.

And there you have it.

I’ll keep trying to improve the user experience as we go along, such as a prominant download button and improved PDF presentation, but this should be an immensely welcome addition to all those wanting this feature.