Global preferences
The Global preferences screen allows you to configure the preferences for all users in the system. For example, you can select which WYSIWYG plugins the user can use in the WYSIWYG editor toolbar.
These preferences can be overridden on a user group’s Preferences screen to configure the options for individual groups of users.
Read the Permissions documentation for more information about a user group Preferences screen.
To access the Global preferences screen:
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Select the
menu. -
Select System configuration from the list of options.
Descriptions of all available preferences and their fields is outlined in the sections below.
| The order in which the sections appear are dynamic, and may differ between Content Management instances. |
Comment preferences
The following preferences allow you to change the settings for the comment asset.
Read the News item documentation for more information.
Input box size
This preference allows you to change the size of the text box used for the comment asset.
By default, the size of the box is 300 pixels by 100 pixels.
Maximum comment length
This preference allows you to set the maximum length of the comment entered by a user.
By default, the maximum length is 0, meaning that this option is disabled.
HTML in comments
This preference allows you to determine what to do with any HTML code added to the comment text box. The available options include Allow, Escape, and Remove. By default, this is set to Allow.
Maximum rating
This preference allows you to determine the maximum rating a user can give for a comment.
By default, this option is set to 5.
Rated image
This preference allows you to change the image that appears when the comment has been rated.
To change the image being used, enter the URL into the fields provided.
Blank image
This preference allows you to change the image that appears when the comment has not been rated.
To change the image being used, enter the URL into the fields provided.
Disable keyword replacements
This preference prevents keywords from being replaced in user-submitted comments.
For example, %globals_asset_attribute_xxx:100% will be output as globals_asset_attribute_xxx:100 rather than the attribute value.
This setting is enabled by default for greater system security. It is designed to prevent malicious commenters from attempting to access information stored in the system to which they are not authorized to view.
Component container preferences
Core component containers are included with every Content Management system.
Read Content components for more information about core component containers.
Default component
This preference allows you to set the default component for all new content containers created on an asset. By default, this is set to WYSIWYG Component Type.
| This preference doesn’t apply to some configuration assets such as asset listings, custom edit layouts, asset builders, and account managers. For those assets, the Code core component will always be used by default. |
Default presentation type
This preference allows you to set the default presentation type for all new content containers created on an asset. By default, this is set to Block (div).
| This preference does not apply to some configuration assets such as asset listings, custom edit layouts, asset builders, and account managers. For those assets, the Raw (no formatting) presentation type will always be used by default. |
Default nested content paint layout
This preference allows you to set the default paint layout setting to be applied to nested component types. By default, this is set to Raw (no paint layout).
You can set this field to Using default paint layout (based on lookup rules) to specify that nested content containers should inherit the paint layout settings of the asset being nested.
File preferences
The following preferences allow you to change the settings for the files the users upload.
| Server administrators can make changes to the file size limits in this section. |
Max file size
This preference lets you set the maximum file size that can be uploaded.
You can use K for kilobytes or M for megabytes.
The maximum PHP file size limit is pre-set and can not be changed. You can set a size greater than the limit, however, any value that exceeds the pre-set limit is ignored in favor of the pre-set maximum limit.
Pre-uploaded max file size
This preference allows you to restrict the size of the file assets created in the system through the pre-uploaded files method. Enter the maximum file size into the field provided.
| This does not stop users from uploading files to the server itself. |
However, when you try to create a file asset using a pre-uploaded file, Matrix will not accept it if it is larger than the pre-uploaded file size limit.
Allow file with no extension
This preference allows you to stop files being uploaded that do not have a file extension. Select No to stop users uploading files that do not have a file extension.
Allowed file extensions to upload
This preference allows you to restrict the types of files the users can upload. Enter the extensions for the file types you want to allow the users to upload.
Do not include the preceding period (.jpg).
For example, if you want to allow the users to upload images, Microsoft Word documents, and PDFs, enter jpg,doc,pdf.
|
The WebP file format was added as a supported format in v6.18. If your Matrix instance was created before January 2022, you must add |
Allowed file extensions for pre-uploaded files
This preference allows you to restrict the types of files that can be used when creating file assets through the pre-uploaded files method. Enter the extensions for the file types you want to allow the users to use.
Do not include the preceding period (.jpg).
For example, if you want to allow the users to use images, Microsoft Word documents, and PDFs, enter jpg,doc,pdf.
This does not stop users from uploading different file types to the server itself. However, when you try to create a file asset using a pre-uploaded file, Matrix will not accept it if its extension does not match the specified one in this field.
| System administrators and the system’s root user are exempt from any file extension checks configured in the file preferences. |
File summary format
This preference allows you to set the format of the include summary (%asset_summary_x% keywords) option for file asset type links in the WYSIWYG editor.
By default, this field will list the file type of the file type asset (in uppercase) and its size in whole-number kilobytes, for example: DOC, 24kB.
%file_type^uppercase%,
%asset_file_size_in_bytes^divide:1024^round:2% KBYou can change this format by changing the information in this field, using keyword replacements and text.
Recurring calendar event preferences
The following preferences allow you to change the settings for recurring calendar event assets.
Events frequency threshold
This preference allows you to limit the frequency of recurring calendar event assets on upcoming events list and calendar events search page assets.
In the events frequency threshold field, enter a minimum threshold (in days) for the recurring calendar events. If a calendar event’s frequency falls within this threshold, the event will only appear once on the listing/search results.
For example, if you set this threshold to 7 days, an event that recurs daily will only display in the results once, while an event that recurs fortnightly will display all instances of this event on the listing/search results.
By default, this threshold will be set to 0, meaning the option is disabled; no threshold will be applied to the recurring calendar events on listing/search results.
Search manager preferences
The following preferences allow you to change the settings for searching in the administration interface of Matrix.
Snippet component preferences
The following preferences allow you to change the settings for the snippet component.
Read the Snippet component documentation for more information.
Snippet root node
This preference allows you to select the root node where the bodycopy assets for the snippet component are being stored.
Enable permission check
This preference allows you to turn off permission checking when loading snippet keywords in the WYSIWYG editor.
This can provide improved performance with the caveat that users can insert keywords they do not have permisison to use. The normal permission checks that determine whether a user has read permission before including snippets in the select snippet keyword list do not run when this option is activated.
User preferences
Session expiry rules
This preference allows you to specify rules regarding when the session for a user logged into Matrix should expire. When the session expires, they will be signed out of the system and will have to log back in.
The options that are available for a session expiry rule are as follows:
- Session expiry method
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Select one of two options to expire the session:
- When user closes browser
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Select this option to end the user’s session when they close their browser.
- Set future time
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Select this option to specify a future time for the session to expire. Selecting this option will also give you options for the future time value and the refresh threshold value. The refresh threshold sets the minimum time the user would need to visit Matrix again for the future time expiry to reset.
For example, if you put a future time of '30 days` and the refresh threshold is then set to
1 day (24 hours), it would mean that Matrix would wait at least 24 hours since the initial session was created before sending an updated expiry time. This also means that if a user signs in on a particular day and then doesn’t visit again for another 30 days, it would have expired the user’s session cookie, and they would need to sign in again.
- Time since their last Matrix activity is longer than
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Enable this option and specify the number of days, hours, and minutes to allow the session to remain open for the specified time frame while the user is using the system. For example, if this value is selected and
5 daysis specified, the session will remain open for five days just as long as the user is using the system. When they access the administration interface, they will be automatically signed in, as the session has not expired. If they do not access the administration interface for more than five days, the session will expire, and they will have to log back into the system. - Time since their last sign-in is longer than
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Enable this option and specify the number of days, hours, and minutes to allow the session to remain open for the specified time frame once the user has logged into the system. For example, if this value is selected and
5 daysis specified, the session will remain open for five days after the user has signed in. When they access the administration interface, they will be automatically signed in, as the session has not expired. After five days, the session will expire, and they will need to log back into the system. - Limit to an IP address or range
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Enable this option and specify an IP address or IP address range on which to apply the rule. For example, if this value is selected and an IP address is specified, the expiry rule will be limited to the individual with that IP address. Similarly, if an IP address range is specified, the rule will be limited to users whose IP addresses fall within that range.
You would add new rules if you wanted to have different session expiry rules for different IP addresses. For example, if the user is at work, leave them logged into Matrix for five days but if they are outside of the network, log them out when they close the browser.
- Limit to these user types
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Enable this option and select the user types on which to limit the rule. To add additional session expiry rules:
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Click the Add a new session expiry rule field.
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Select Save.
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Asset map root node
This preference allows you to change the asset tree’s root node that the user sees when they first sign in. For example, you can select your site as the asset tree root asset. This means that when the user signs in, they will see your site and all of its child assets in the asset tree instead of the system assets, which include the trash, system management, designs folder, media folder, and users folder.
To show more than one root node to signed-in users:
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Select Add root node.
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Type a name to identify the root node.
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Type an asset ID or use the asset picker to select the asset.
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Select Save.
Show statuses in asset tree
You can configure whether asset statuses are shown to users by default with this setting.
Users can change this setting from what you set here if they prefer to have asset status colours turned off.
Read Asset statuses and categories for more information.
Enforce safe trash
This preference allows you to turn on safe trash. This means that an asset will not be trashed until all reference links have been removed. For example, if you try to delete an image and it is being used on an asset in your site, it will not be deleted until you remove that image from that asset.
Read the Trashing and purging assets documentation for more information.
Set context on sign-in
You can set a specific context to load for all users when they first sign-in.
If you have multiple contexts configured in your system, you can select one from the list. The context selection then applies to all user groups in the Content Management system, regardless of whether they have a custom context set.
- Do not change context on sign-in
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(Default)
If a user group has a specific context set, then this setting will stop the context settings from being altered for that user group. - Default Context
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Available on all Content Management systems as a fallback context. If a user group has a specific Context set, then this option will change that user group’s context to Default Context.
Read Configuring contexts to learn how contexts work.
Filter front end-user input
| This option is set to Yes as a recommended protection for overall system security. |
This preference allows you to determine whether to filter frontend user inputs in forms and APIs such as asset builders, custom forms, JS API, triggers, etc. When enabled, this preference will strip script tags and keyword replacements, and escape HTML from user inputs.
Such inputs, in rare cases, can affect the backend operations of Matrix and may cause unexpected and potentially adverse behavior. This preference removes this risk and also improves the security of your system.
This feature will only filter inputs under the following circumstances:
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Input is from a user who does not have admin mode or edit mode access.
This includes public users and users signed into Matrix as a standard user asset. -
Input is saving data against an asset attribute or metadata field (excluding WYSIWYG fields).
| Other asset inputs, such as URLs, are not filtered. |
Some examples of user-supplied input data filtered by this feature includes:
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Completing a custom form submission.
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Building or editing an asset through an asset builder.
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Creating a new account or editing their existing one using an account manager.
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Logging in through a SAML or OAuth2 account manager that also sets metadata and attributes on their user account.
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Executing a JS API function that sets metadata or attributes on an asset.
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Firing a trigger that sets metadata or attributes on an asset.
Preview screen size options
This preference allows you to set and configure various pre-defined screen sizes for use when viewing the frontend of your assets on the Preview screen.
Read the Asset preview screen documentation for more information about previewing content.
This preference is applicable when creating sites with responsive designs, allowing you to create and preview your assets in a variety of different device screen sizes.
Preview sizes can be configured by setting the width and height of the screen. You can also apply a name for each configured screen size and set which size should be used as the default size when viewing your assets on the Preview screen.
By default, a variety of screen sizes will be pre-configured on your system. These include:
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Desktop (1920 x 1080)
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Laptop (1366 x 768)
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Tablet (768 x 1024)
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Mobile (320 x 568)
An auto screen size is also available, which will display the full width and height of your asset. If you have not configured an alternate screen size, this will be used as the default when viewing the Preview screen’s assets.
To add a screen size:
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Select Add option
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Set a name to describe the screen size option.
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Set the width and height to the desired breakpoints.
The minimum size is 100 x 100 -
Select Save to add the size option to the list.
To delete a screen size:
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Select the Delete field for the corresponding screen size.
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Select Save.
Hide errors on the frontend
Select whether to hide system errors from users on the frontend of your site.
By default, this setting is not activated. Error messages are shown to site visitors.
This may not be desirable in a production systems. Consider enabling this setting to hide these messages from your site visitors.
System administrators can append the query string variable sq_show_errors to the site URL to view errors on the frontend if they are hidden.
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Custom actions
Users can add custom actions to the the drop-down menu in the Matrix page header.
Read the documentation in the Custom actions section for more information.
WYSIWYG component type preferences
The following preferences allow you to change the global settings for the WYSIWYG component.
Hyperlink safety in live assets
This preference prevents users from creating hyperlinks from a live asset to an asset that is not live in the WYSIWYG editor.
This setting defaults to Live assets can link to all other assets, which effectively means hyperlink safety is turned off.
If you select Live assets can only link to other Live assets, the following features take effect:
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If a user attempts to link to a non-live asset, a warning appears informing them that they can not set the link.
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Users can not set a link on a live page to an asset that has a status other than live.
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Content changes are still saved but invalid links are stripped prior to saving.
Editor plugins
This preference allows you to select which tools and settings are available for the WYSIWYG content editor. By default, all available plugins will be selected for use in this section.
To disable a tool or setting:
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Clear its corresponding checkbox.
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Select Save.
The selected plugin will no longer appear in the editor toolbar.
Read the WYSIWYG component documentation for more information.
| Plugin | Icon/description |
|---|---|
Accessibility |
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Choose language |
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Core styles |
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Formatting |
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History |
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Insert image |
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Insert link |
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Keywords |
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Listing |
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Matrix editing tools |
Cleans any markup from content pasted into the WYSIWYG. |
Search and replace |
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Special characters |
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Table editing |
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View source |
|
