Models are generators that know how to create certains types of components. Models use input provided by you, as a web developer, to configure the generated code to your exact needs. Models allow developers to inherit the skills of the PHP experts who coded the model.
GenHelm ships with over 70 models which we describe below. The supplied models are generally sufficient to create most websites. Nevertheless, one of the most powerful features of GenHelm is that it is fully extensible. This means that if you have a need to create a certain class of component for which there is no supplied model, you can easily create a new model designed to satisfy your exact requirements.
In the sections below we describe various groups of models and provide links to the pages that describe these models in detail.
GenHelm is extremely capable when it comes to building HTML forms and writing PHP programs that process forms. Follow this link to learn more about processing HTML forms.
Although GenHelm is not dependent on the Bootstrap framework, several models are available which make it easy to leverage the capabilities of Bootstrap. If you are familiar with Bootstrap or you would like to build your sites on top of the Bootstrap framework, check out this link which describes how to build websites using Bootstrap.
Many models are used to build different types of content pages. Your goal when using GenHelm should be to choose the page-oriented model that best aligns with the type of page you want to build. For example, if you are building an Frequently Asked Questions page, you will want to use the FAQ model since this model was developed for this exact purpose. In other cases, you may not find a model that is an exact match so you will use one of the general-purpose page-oriented models. Follow this link to learn about all of the page-oriented models that are available.
Several models are used to define and render images, galleries and widgets associated with images. Visit this link to learn about image handling in GenHelm.
Several models are used to generate complex HTML tags such as for rendering lists, videos, audio files and anchors. Visit the HTML Tag Models page to learn about these models.
Gadget Models are similar to HTML tag-oriented models however they tend to involve generating more complex components that may encompass several HTML tags combined with JavaScript and CSS. Click this link to learn about generating Gadgets in GenHelm.
The database models are used to build websites that interact with a SQL database. Visit this page to learn how to build websites that use SQL.
Some models are used to make it easy to encapsulate and access data that is not stored in a database. These models allow you to cache commonly used data values without the complexity of designing and implementing a database. Learn more about GenHelm's data-oriented models.
Several models are used to facilitate the creation of multilingual web applications. Some of these models, such as the messages model, are used even if you are building a monolingual site. By using this model you externalize messages from your code to make them easier to change. Learn more about the building multilingual websites.
Some models are used to help with Search Engine Optimization. Follow this link if you are interested in improving your websites's SEO.
Follow this link to learn about various other models that are not specific to one of the classifications above. Support models include models to generate components such as JavaScript, Styles and Packages.
Please visit this page for a complete list of supplied models.