Design and Structure of Dynamic Content (+technical documentation)

Modified on Fri, 28 Sep, 2018 at 2:26 PM

By default, the apps include all dynamic content from the “default” folder, which must be prepared as a ZIP file in Purple DS Manager for test and release apps. Each Purple DS app already has a file for dynamic content by default. It includes a file for the app menu and icons as well as some sample assets (like sample HTML page and configuration for newsfeed and tracking services). You can download this ZIP file from the Manager (see here) and customize it to your needs.

The “default” folder can contain the following elements or files:

app_menu.xml (defines entries and icons for the app menu on the left)
App menu icons in PNG format (icons for the app, each icon has to be added in three sizes: 40x40 px, 80x80 px and 120x120px)
Folder with HTML pages incl. graphics and CSS (therefore this HTML page is offline available, e.g. for FAQs or custom Subscriptions pages)
sharing.properties (text for Sharing info, incl. link to app download)
email_feedback_configuration.json (recipients address and text for feedback of users of the app)
channel_configs.json (configuration of newsfeed layouts like tile size and fonts etc.)
tracking_config.json (individual configuration of tracking services if they are included in the app)

If there are errors in the folder structure or the syntax of the JSON files, you will be notified with a message in the manager and when loading the app. Check the folder structure according to the message and pay particular attention to the names "default" and the names for the platforms "ios", "android", "kindle" and "web". The names must not be changed, otherwise referencing is not possible.
In order to test the syntax of a JSON file, we recommend an online JSON validator, e.g. https://jsonformatter.curiousconcept.com/#.

The following is an example of the folder design and structure for dynamic content.

The folder "default" is the root for subfolders like "info" which contains an HTML page and including data.

The "web" folder must contain another "default" folder and this one contains samples for designing the web newsstand if it has been activated in "Basic settings".

You can find more technical information about dynamic content here.