Publishing Websites
Typemill is a web content management system (CMS) — and web publishing is its core feature. Once your content structure and projects are set up, Typemill makes it easy to publish a website.
Publishing Pages
To publish a website with Typemill, use the author interface described in the previous chapter. Use the sticky publish controller at the bottom of each page to publish or unpublish content. You can view the live version of a page at any time by clicking the external window icon in the publish controller. A page will only appear in the frontend if its parent page or folder is also published.
Choosing a Theme
The layout and design of the frontend website is controlled by a theme. Typemill provides a variety of themes, each designed for specific use cases and offering unique layout options and settings. To use any theme, simply:
- Download it from the Typemill theme directory.
- Unzip the theme file.
- Upload the theme files to the
/themesfolder in your Typemill installation.
To customize a theme, click System in the top navigation, choose Themes from the sidebar, and open the settings of a theme. There you can adjust colors, layouts, and typography. Most themes also include a Readymade feature at the top of the configuration panel. It lets you load predefined design presets and save your own configurations.
The Publisher Theme
If your main goal is to publish book series or multiple publications, we recommend using the Publisher Theme. This theme is optimized for showcasing multiple books or projects in various formats. Its key features include:
- Listing all publications on the homepage with teasers.
- A web-version of each book with an innovative reading layout.
- A section to download the PDF and EPUB version of each book.
Configuring the Startpage
The Publisher Theme provides several options to configure your startpage. First, you can activate a stage for the startpage. It displays the content of the “home” page on the left and shows three projects on the right. You can configure the background color and a background image in the theme settings. If you prefer a simpler layout, you can also disable the stage entirely.
Below the stage, you can list all book projects of your Typemill instance. Currently, there are two layout options:
- one teaser per row (stacked), or
- a three-column layout with three teasers in a single row.
The content for each teaser is defined in the Publisher tab on the homepage of each project.
Configuring the Homepages of Projects
The homepage of a project displays a stage presenting the book, including options to read it online or download the PDF and EPUB versions. Below the stage, you’ll find the homepage content with the usual online reading features.
You can configure the book stage and all teasers in the Publisher tab on the project's homepage. Here you can define key information such as the title, author, short and long descriptions, cover image, and download files.
Configuring the Online Reading Area
Typemill provides a clean and focused online reading experience for each book. The layout features a toolbar at the top, a book-style content area with readable typography, and simple forward and backward navigation.
The toolbar includes options for dark mode, font family (serif or sans-serif), text size adjustments, and a print button. On the right side, readers can open the table of contents or the book stage with download options — available on every page. This gives your audience full control over the reading experience and easy access to the entire publication.
You can configure the toolbar, navigation, and other reading settings in the theme options.
