170 Advanced Content
Editing Smart objects
Once an object is created it can be edited either in the My Smart Object
Library or directly on the page. Typically, you might want to alter the
appearance of the object from its original settings, maybe change a Poll
question, or reset a Hit Counter back to zero.
Editing an object only affects the object itself and does not alter any
collected data.
The dialog options for editing and creating a Smart object are identical.
To edit a Smart object in your library:
• From the Smart Objects dialog, click the Edit button at the bottom
of the My Smart Objects Library pane.
To edit a Smart object on your page:
• Double-click the object to reveal the object's Edit dialog.
Managing Smart objects
While editing Smart objects affects how the object operates, managing
Smart objects can be used to manage the object's "gathered" data when
the web page is published. Some Smart objects such as Hit Counters
don't need to be managed as they just increment on each web visit (you
can reset the counters though). However, other more complex Smart
objects (e.g., Forums, Blogs, Accommodation Booker, Resource Booker,
User List, Poll, and Shout Box) store collected visitor data such as article
comments, email addresses, poll results, and a chat messaging log. For
Blog and User List smart objects creating and managing articles or
users, respectively, is a fundamental part of the management process.
To manage a Smart object from your library:
• From the Smart Objects dialog, click Manage at the bottom of the
dialog. The management options differ for each Smart object type.
