Zed CMS — Feature Guide

A Simple Guide to Every Feature in Zed CMS
Last Updated: 2024-12-26 | Version 3.2.0

🎯 What is Zed CMS?

Zed CMS is a modern, lightweight content management system built with PHP and React. It uses an event-driven architecture where features are added through "addons" instead of hardcoding everything into the core.

Think of it like LEGO blocks — the core is minimal, and you add what you need.

🔑 Getting Started

First-Time Setup

Upload files to your server
Visit /install.php in your browser
Enter your database details
Login at /admin/login

Default Login

Email: admin@zed.local
Password: (set during install)

📋 Admin Panel Features

1. Dashboard (`/admin`)

Your command center showing:

Stats Cards — Pages, Posts, Users, Addons count
Recent Activity — Last 5 edited items
Quick Draft — Create posts instantly
Health Checks — System status (uploads, PHP, SEO)
🌙 Dark Mode Toggle — Switch via header icon

2. Content Manager (`/admin/content`)

Feature	How It Works
Create	Click "New Content" or use Quick Draft
Edit	Click row or Edit button
Delete	Click delete icon (asks confirmation)
Batch Select	Checkbox on each row, "Select All" in header
Batch Delete	Delete multiple items at once
Filter	Use status tabs (All / Published / Draft)
Search	Type in search box
Pagination	10 items per page

3. TipTap Editor (`/admin/editor`)

A modern rich text editor powered by TipTap (ProseMirror-based):

Paragraph, Heading, List — Basic text blocks
Image — Upload or pick from media library with resize/align controls
Quote, Code — Styled content blocks
Slash Commands — Type / to insert blocks
Bubble Toolbar — Select text for formatting options
🌙 Theme Sync — Editor matches admin dark/light mode
HTML Storage — Content saved as clean HTML

4. Media Library (`/admin/media`)

Upload — Drag-drop or click to upload
Auto-Optimize — Converts to WebP, creates thumbnails
Search — Instant filtering
Copy URL — One-click clipboard copy
Batch Select — NEW v2.5.0 Checkbox on each media card
Batch Delete — NEW v2.5.0 Delete multiple files at once

5. Categories (`/admin/categories`)

Simple category management:

Create: Enter name → auto-generates slug
Delete: Click trash icon
Protected: "Uncategorized" can't be deleted

6. Menu Builder (`/admin/menus`)

Visual menu editor:

Create Menu — Enter name
Add Items — Click pages/posts to add
Drag to Reorder — Move items up/down
Nesting — Create dropdowns
Auto-Save — Saves 2 seconds after changes

7. User Management (`/admin/users`)

Full user CRUD with roles:

Role	Access Level
Administrator	Everything
Editor	All content, no settings
Author	Own content only
Subscriber	No admin access

8. Settings (`/admin/settings`)

Organized in tabs:

General — Site title, tagline, homepage
SEO — Meta description, search visibility
System — Maintenance mode, debug mode

9. Addons (`/admin/addons`)

Toggle addons on/off with switches
Upload new addons (.php files)
System addons can't be disabled
NEW v3.0.1: Addon menus auto-hide when disabled

10. Themes (`/admin/themes`)

Preview installed themes
Activate with one click
Themes can have custom settings

🎨 Frontend (Public Site)

How URLs Work

URL	What Shows
`/`	Homepage (posts or static page)
`/blog`	Blog listing (if static homepage)
`/about`	Page with slug "about"
`/hello-world`	Post with slug "hello-world"

Theme System

Themes are in content/themes/. Each theme needs:

my-theme/
├── index.php      ← Blog listing template
├── single.php     ← Individual post/page
├── functions.php  ← Theme setup (optional)
└── parts/
    ├── header.php
    └── footer.php

Using Menus in Themes

<?= zed_menu('Main Menu') ?>
<?= zed_primary_menu() ?>

🔌 For Developers: Addon System

Creating an Addon

Create a file in content/addons/:

<?php
// my_addon.php
use Core\Event;

// Run on every request
Event::on('route_request', function($request) {
    if ($request['uri'] === '/hello') {
        echo "Hello World!";
        \Core\Router::setHandled();
    }
});

Admin Menu Registration API (NEW v3.0.1)

The easiest way to add admin pages:

// Register a menu with automatic routing
zed_register_admin_menu([
    'id' => 'my_addon',
    'title' => 'My Addon',
    'icon' => 'settings',
    'capability' => 'manage_options',
    'position' => 55,
    'badge' => '3',
    'callback' => function() {
        echo '<h1>My Addon Dashboard</h1>';
    }
]);

// Register a submenu
zed_register_admin_submenu('my_addon', [
    'id' => 'my_addon_settings',
    'title' => 'Settings',
    'callback' => fn() => echo '<h1>Settings</h1>'
]);

Features:

✅ Automatic route registration (/admin/my_addon)
✅ Automatic permission checks
✅ Automatic admin layout wrapping
✅ Auto-hides when addon disabled

📖 Full API Documentation

Route Registration API (NEW v3.0.1)

For custom routes and API endpoints:

// Basic route
zed_register_route([
    'path' => '/admin/my-page',
    'callback' => fn() => '<h1>My Page</h1>'
]);

// Pattern matching
zed_register_route([
    'path' => '/admin/reports/{type}',
    'callback' => function($request, $uri, $params) {
        return "<h1>Report: {$params['type']}</h1>";
    }
]);

// API endpoint (no layout)
zed_register_route([
    'path' => '/admin/api/my-action',
    'method' => 'POST',
    'wrap_layout' => false,
    'callback' => fn() => json_encode(['success' => true])
]);

📖 Full API Documentation

Available Hooks

Hook	When It Fires
`app_init`	After addons load
`app_ready`	System fully ready
`route_request`	Every HTTP request
`zed_head`	In theme `<head>`
`zed_admin_menu`	Building sidebar

Addon DX APIs (New!)

Shortcodes

zed_register_shortcode('youtube', function($attrs, $content) {
    return '<iframe src="https://youtube.com/embed/' . $attrs['id'] . '"></iframe>';
});
// Use: [youtube id="dQw4w9WgXcQ"]

AJAX Handlers

zed_register_ajax('my_action', function($data) {
    return ['success' => true, 'message' => 'Done!'];
}, require_auth: true, method: 'POST');
// Endpoint: POST /api/ajax/my_action

Addon Settings (Auto UI)

zed_register_addon_settings('my_seo', [
    'title' => 'SEO Settings',
    'fields' => [
        ['id' => 'tracking_id', 'type' => 'text', 'label' => 'GA ID'],
        ['id' => 'enabled', 'type' => 'toggle', 'label' => 'Enable Tracking'],
    ]
]);
// Creates settings page at /admin/addon-settings/my_seo

Admin Notices (Flash Messages)

zed_add_notice('Settings saved!', 'success');
zed_add_notice('Something went wrong', 'error');

Security (Nonces)

// In form:
<?= zed_nonce_field('my_action') ?>

// On submit:
zed_check_nonce('my_action'); // Dies if invalid

Transients (Cache)

// Cache API data for 1 hour
$data = zed_remember('api_data', function() {
    return fetch_from_api();
}, 3600);

🗂️ File Structure

ZedCMS/
├── index.php           ← Entry point
├── config.php          ← Database config
├── install.php         ← Installer
├── cron.php            ← Scheduled tasks
│
├── core/               ← Engine (don't modify)
│   ├── App.php         ← Bootstrap
│   ├── Router.php      ← Event-driven routing
│   ├── Event.php       ← Hook system
│   ├── Database.php    ← PDO wrapper
│   └── Auth.php        ← Session & login
│
└── content/            ← Your stuff
    ├── addons/         ← Plugins
    │   ├── admin/      ← Admin modules
    │   └── frontend/   ← Theme helpers
    ├── themes/         ← Site themes
    └── uploads/        ← Media files

🛠️ Admin Development

Admin Themes

Admin themes are located in content/themes/. To create a custom admin theme:

Create a folder (e.g., content/themes/my-admin-theme)
Create admin-layout.php (master layout)
Create view templates in views/ folder (optional overrides)
Set admin_theme option to my-admin-theme in database

Admin Renderer (New!)

Routes are theme-agnostic. Use AdminRenderer to render pages:

use AdminRenderer;

// Render a full page with layout
$content = AdminRenderer::renderPage('my-view', [
    'foo' => 'bar'
], [
    'page_title' => 'My Page'
]);

// Render just the view (no layout)
$html = AdminRenderer::render('my-view', ['foo' => 'bar']);

View Resolution

When you request view my-view, the renderer looks in:

content/themes/{active_theme}/views/my-view.php
content/themes/{active_theme}/partials/my-view.php (legacy)
content/themes/{active_theme}/my-view.php
Falls back to admin-default theme if not found

🤔 Common Questions

How do I change the homepage?

Go to Settings
Set "Homepage Mode" to "Static Page"
Select a page from dropdown
Save

How do I add custom fields?

Use the Metabox API:

zed_register_metabox('book_details', [
    'title' => 'Book Details',
    'post_types' => ['book'],
    'fields' => [
        ['id' => 'isbn', 'type' => 'text', 'label' => 'ISBN'],
        ['id' => 'author', 'type' => 'text', 'label' => 'Author'],
    ]
]);

How do I create a custom post type?

// In theme's functions.php
zed_register_post_type('product', [
    'label' => 'Products',
    'singular' => 'Product',
    'icon' => 'shopping_cart',
]);

How do I send emails?

zed_mail([
    'to' => 'user@example.com',
    'subject' => 'Welcome!',
    'body' => '<h1>Hello!</h1><p>Welcome aboard.</p>',
]);

How do I schedule tasks?

// In cron.php or addon:
zed_schedule_event('cleanup', 'daily', function() {
    // Runs once per day
    delete_old_records();
});

🆕 New in v3.2.0

11. Comments System (`/admin/comments`)

Full comment moderation system:

Feature	Description
Status Tabs	All, Pending, Approved, Spam, Trash
Moderation	Approve, mark spam, trash, delete permanently
Search	Find comments by content or author
Bulk Actions	Moderate multiple comments at once

Theme Usage:

<?php if (zed_comments_open($post)): ?>
    <h3><?= zed_comment_count($post['id']) ?> Comments</h3>
    <?php zed_comments_list($post['id']); ?>
    <?php zed_comment_form($post['id']); ?>
<?php endif; ?>

12. Widgets System (`/admin/widgets`)

Drag-and-drop widget management:

Built-in Widgets:

Widget	Description
Recent Posts	Latest posts with dates
Categories	Category list with counts
Tags	Tag cloud
Search	Search form
Custom HTML	Raw HTML content
Social Links	Social media icons

Register Sidebar in Theme:

// In functions.php
zed_register_sidebar('main-sidebar', [
    'name' => 'Main Sidebar',
    'description' => 'Appears on blog pages',
]);

// In template
<?php zed_dynamic_sidebar('main-sidebar'); ?>

13. AJAX Loading

Frontend JavaScript library for dynamic content:

<script src="/addons/_system/assets/js/zed-frontend.js"></script>
<script>
// Infinite scroll
Zed.infiniteScroll({
    container: '.posts-grid',
    url: '/api?action=get_posts',
    render: (post) => `<article><h2>${post.title}</h2></article>`,
});

// Live search
Zed.liveSearch({
    input: '#search',
    results: '#results',
    url: '/api?action=search',
});
</script>

14. Theme Helpers

Quick functions for common theme features:

Function	Purpose
`zed_reading_progress()`	Animated reading progress bar
`zed_social_share($post)`	Social sharing buttons
`zed_author_box($post)`	Author bio with avatar
`zed_reading_time($post)`	"5 min read" estimate
`zed_breadcrumbs($items)`	Breadcrumb navigation
`zed_post_navigation($post)`	Previous/Next links
`zed_get_post_format($post)`	Post format (video, gallery, etc.)

Example:

<!-- In single.php -->
<?php zed_reading_progress(['color' => '#6366f1']); ?>

<article>
    <?php zed_breadcrumbs([['label' => 'Blog', 'url' => '/blog'], ['label' => $post['title']]]); ?>
    
    <h1><?= $post['title'] ?></h1>
    <span><?= zed_reading_time($post)['text'] ?></span>
    
    <div class="content"><?= $post['content'] ?></div>
    
    <?php zed_social_share($post, ['style' => 'buttons']); ?>
    <?php zed_author_box($post); ?>
    <?php zed_post_navigation($post); ?>
</article>

📊 Database Tables

Table	Purpose
`zed_content`	Pages, posts, all content
`zed_users`	User accounts
`zed_categories`	Categories
`zed_menus`	Navigation menus
`zed_options`	Site settings
`zed_content_revisions`	Version history
`zed_comments`	Comments (v3.2.0)

🚀 Need Help?

Check the Knowledge Base in admin
Review ARCHITECTURE.md for technical details
Look at existing addons for examples

Zed CMS — Built for developers who want simplicity with power.

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DOCS.md

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