Do i have to use Sitemaps?

Setup, Configuration and Use Beginners
1

Hi i’m a newbee and loving the OpenHab so far, i have managed to create a SmartTV.items config for my Samsung Smart TV and have managed to mute and unmute TV as well as turn it off :slight_smile:

What i’m confused about is i’m trying to work out how to change channel and control the volume and feel that i could be missing something and i keep seeing Site Maps mentioned and i can not figure it out.

I have spent hours online and on youtube and can not find any steps to follow in order to getting it all working.

Oh did i forget to mention i have the OpenHab all working well, it’s the binding for the control with Alexa :slight_smile:

This is a great community and hope that someone may have an idiots guide.

Thanks in advance.

Regards
Pedro

2

You should definitely start building your sitemap! A Sitemap is the base for Basic UI and the openHAB smartphone apps.

You can find all details and a few examples here:

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3

Moved to: Examples of your Basic UI

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4

wow yours looks very complex in comparison to mine :slight_smile:

i did not realize that this is a site map, how do i edit this in command line, i’m using openhab2?

Thanks for your assistance.

5

You should use the SmartHome Designer to access your configuration folder, then configure things, items, sitemaps and rules as you need them. You’ll find numerous examples behind the links.

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Just to clarify on this a bit further: Is it true that you need the sitemap for the manual control and status reporting only? That is, I could have a system without a sitemap that used rules to automate actions and it would work fine? If I did this, I would be missing the view of the current state/status, but it would still work. True? Thanks.

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I run mine completely without a sitemap. PaperUI control and the default sitemap from BasicUI are already fine for simple control of items linked and I use Siri (homekit) for everything else. You can even check the current state/status of items in Homekit, Alexa, BasicUI etc.

Maybe someday I’ll create a proper Sitemap but if you don’t care about the smartphone app it’s unlikely that it’s needed from my experience.

8

Absolutely correct. I use my sitemap occasionally, for example when I want to switch the heating mode back to normal after a trip or if I want to ensure that all lamps are off. Pay attention to the special sitemap elements for that.
The mentioned Admin area is the least you should have to easily be able to check the current state of an item. Will be helpful for beginners.

Besides the said above @shadowmite is totally right, you don’t necessarily need a sitemap. Rules, Alexa integration or HABPanel work without one.

Nevertheless I’d argue that having a sitemap doesn’t hurt and there will be a time where you’ll benefit from it. Be it while rule testing or to showoff at a BBQ evening :wink:

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Thanks all, i am still trying to get my head around all of this but loving it so far.

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