MMM-pages/readme.md

# MMM-pages

This [MagicMirror²][mm] Module allows you to have pages in your magic mirror!
Want to have more modules in your magic mirror, but want to keep the format?
Or, want to have grouped modules that are themed together? Look no further!

[Click here to see an example of it in action!][example_url]

Note that this module does not provide any method of manually changing the page!
You should ask other developers to add a notification to their modules, or add
one yourself!

## Installation

In your terminal, go to your MagicMirror's Module folder:

```bash
cd ~/MagicMirror/modules
```
Clone this repository:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/edward-shen/MMM-pages.git
```
Configure the module in your config.js file.

*\<self-promotion>*

To display what page you're on, I'd highly recommend checking out my
[page indicator module][page indicator].

*\<\\self-promotion>*

## Using the module

To use this module, add it to the modules array in the `config/config.js` file:
```js
modules: [
    {
        module: 'MMM-pages',
        config: {
                modules:
                    [[ "weatherforecast", "newsfeed"],
                     [ "calendar", "compliments" ]],
                fixed: ["clock", "currentweather", "MMM-page-indicator"],
        }
    }
]
```

## Configuration options

| Option              | Type               | Default Value            | Description |
| ------------------- | ------------------ | ------------------------ | ----------- |
| `modules`           | `[[String...]...]` | `[]`                     | A 2D String array of what each module should be on which page. Note that all entries must take their class name (e.g. this module's class name is `MMM-pages`, while the default modules may just have `newsfeed`, without the `MMM-` prefix. |
| `fixed`             | `[String...]`      | `["MMM-page-indicator"]` | Which modules should show up all the time. |
| `excludes`          | *NA*               | *NA*                     | **Deprecated**. Use `fixed` instead. |
| `animationTime`     | `int`              | `1000`                   | Fading animation time. Set to `0` for instant change. Value is in milliseconds (1 second = 1000 milliseconds). |
| `rotationTime`      | `int`              | `0`                      | Time, in milliseconds, between automatic page changes. |
| `rotationDelay`     | `int`              | `0`                      | Time, in milliseconds, of how long should a manual page change linger before returning to automatic page changing. In other words, how long should the timer wait for after you manually change a page. This does include the animation time, so you may wish to increase it by a few seconds or so to account for the animation time. |
| `rotationHomePage` | `int`               | `0`                      | Time, in milliseconds, before automatically returning to the home page. If a home page is not set, this returns to the leftmost page instead.|
| `rotationFirstPage` | *NA*               | *NA*                     | **Deprecated**. Use `rotationHomePage` instead. |
| `homePage`          | `int`              | `0`                      | Which page index is the home page. If none is set, this returns to the leftmost page instead. |

For the `module` configuration option, the first element of the outer array
should consist of elements that should be on the first page. The second element
should consist of elements that should be on the second page, and so forth.

## Notifications

The following is the list of notifications that MMM-pages will handle:

| Notification        | Payload type    | Description |
| ------------------- | --------------- | ----------- |
| `PAGE_CHANGED`      | `int`           | MMM-pages will switch to the provided page index. |
| `PAGE_INCREMENT`    | `int`, Optional | MMM-pages will increment the page, or by `n` times if a number is provided. Not providing a number is equivalent to sending a payload of `1`. If there are no more pages to increment by, this will loop around to the first page. |
| `PAGE_DECREMENT`    | `int`, Optional | MMM-pages will decrement the page, or by `n` times if a number is provided. Not providing a number is equivalent to sending a payload of `1`. If there are no more pages to decrement by, this will loop around to the last page. |
| `QUERY_PAGE_NUMBER` | *None*          | MMM-pages will respond with `PAGE_NUMBER_IS` with the current page index. |
| `PAUSE_ROTATION`    | *None*          | If MMM-pages is set to rotate, this will pause rotation until a `RESUME_ROTATION` notification is sent. This does nothing if rotation was already paused. |
| `RESUME_ROTATION`   | *None*          | If MMM-pages was requested to pause rotation, this will resume automatic rotation. This does nothing MMM-pages was not requested to pause. |
| `HOME_PAGE`         | *None*          | Return to the home page. If no home page is provided, return to the first page instead. |

The following is the list of notifications that MMM-pages sends out:

| Notification | Payload type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `MAX_PAGES_CHANGED` | `int` | This is sent only once during initialization of MMM-pages. This contains the number of pages defined in `config.js`. |
| `NEW_PAGE` | `int` | This notification is sent out on every page change and contains the  current page index. This is to help other modules keep track of what the current page is. |
| `PAGE_NUMBER_IS` | `int` | Sent in response to a `QUERY_PAGE_NUMBER` notification. Returns the current page index. This notification sends the same payload as `NEW_PAGE`. |

### Notes

This module responds to the notification `PAGE_CHANGED` and the payload strictly
must be an `integer`. Note that this has strict error checking, so `"3"` will
not work, while `3` will.

This module keeps track of pages by their index rather than their page number,
so the leftmost page has an index of 0, the page to the right of that has an
index of 1, and the page to the right of that has an index of 2. Thus, to change
to the third page, your module should send out:
```js
this.sendNotification("PAGE_CHANGED", 2);
```

This module keeps internal track of how many pages you have, defined by your
config in the config file. There is no way to dynamically change the pages you
have. If there arises a need, please create an issue.

This module does not enforce how other modules represents or even responds to
MMM-pages notifications.

### Initialization

_This section provides documentation on what notifications the module sends on
startup. This section isn't necessary to read for most users._

MMM-pages doesn't activate until we receive the `DOM_OBJECTS_CREATED`
notification, as that notification ensures all modules have been loaded. On this
notification, we send two notifications out, `MAX_PAGES_CHANGED` and `NEW_PAGE`,
so other modules that would like to keep synchronized of the starting page and
max pages have a way to determine which page to start on.

## FAQ
- How do I interact with different pages?

  MMM-pages intentionally does not provide methods to interact with the pages.
  This is intentional by design, as there are too many ways to interact with a
  Magic Mirror. [MMM-page-indicator][page indicator] does provide a way to click
  on the circles to change pages, but this requires the ability to click or tap
  on the circles itself. If no other method is available, MMM-pages provides an
  automatic rotation feature.

- Help! My module is (above/below) another module in the same region but I want
  it to be somewhere else!

  The order of your `config.js` determines your module location. If you have two
  modules, both with `position:bottom_bar`, the one that is first listed will
  appear on top. The rest will appear in the same order you defined them in. If
  you want this module to be at the very bottom, define this module as the last
  module in your `config.js` file. If you want it to be on top in that region,
  make sure no other module is defined before it that has the same region.

- Can I make a pull request?

  Please do! Feel free; I love improvements!

- I want more config options!

  Please make an issue. Thanks!

[example_url]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NQ-sGtdUdg
[mm]: https://github.com/MichMich/MagicMirror
[page indicator]: https://github.com/edward-shen/MMM-page-indicator