CILIP Website Refresh Project Instructions for Website Editors: Using the CILIP Website Content Management System (CMS) (version 1.0)
March 2013
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Contents 1. Getting started Before you start Basic information about editing the website Logging in Main editing menu
2. Understanding basic and landing pages Understanding basic pages Understanding landing pages
3. Adding content to the landing page type Before you start Choosing the correct page type Groups audience Page title Landing page summary Basic pages teaser heading Menu settings
4. Adding content to the basic page type Before you start Choosing the correct page type Groups audience Page title Main page image Page summary Subheading Body Related links, documents and images Tags Menu settings (inc. how to link a basic page to a landing page)
5. Further support for web editors Basecamp Contact details
6. Your notes
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1. Getting Started Summary: This section will show you how to log-in and prepare yourself to begin creating and editing webpages and content.
Before you start These instructions should be viewed alongside the Guidance for Website Editors which will help you create content of a suitable standard for the CILIP website. Please ensure you have the latest version which is available here: http://www.cilip.org.uk/get-involved/bng-resources/guidance/guidance-web-editors/pages/websiterefresh-project.aspx
Basic information about editing the website All editing is performed on the actual website. There is no equivalent of the old mossauthor site. At the moment you can’t save your webpage while you work on it, instead you must publish it. All modern, up-to-date browsers (inc. Macs) can be used to edit the site so upgrade from Internet Explorer 7 and 8 to Chrome or Firefox now. More page types are being worked on and are coming soon.
Logging in Before you log-in you will need to complete the website registration process and be identified as a website editor – instructions about this will be provided separately. Contact us if there are any problems. To access the CMS go here: http://refreshed.cilip.org.uk then click on user login and enter the username and password from the registration process:
Main editing menu Create and edit your content using the links in the main editing menu - the black bar at the top of the page:
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Create page: Select from the drop down menu to begin creating a webpage of that type.
My pages: View the list of webpages you have the right to edit. You can filter these pages by page type too.
My menus: View the menu structure of your webpages. Enables you to rename your menu items and rearrange the order in which they appear in the website navigation.
Your notes:
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2. Understanding basic and landing pages Summary: This section will help you understand how basic and landing page types work together to make the website. At the moment there are two simple webpage types that will be used to present and organise the bulk of the content on the website - the basic page and the landing page. These two pages types have been chosen as the basis for most of the content because they work together to make the website easier to scan and navigate. New page types will be introduced at a later date.
Understanding basic pages Basic pages are straightforward normal webpages which contain content such as images, text, links, documents etc. Most of the content you write will use the basic page template.
Understanding landing pages To group together and display basic pages in sections or subject areas, we need to link them to a landing page. The landing page is the page which summarises and displays the various basic pages in that site. This enables the visitor to the website to scan the page summaries faster and get to the content they want. Editors are advised to create the necessary landing pages first, then create and attach the associated basic pages afterwards. The only original content in a landing page is the landing page summary which describes the content to be found in that section. The rest of the content that appears in the landing page is automatically pulled from the basic page summary linked to it. The following diagram may help you visualise this:
Your notes:
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3. Adding content to the landing page type Summary: This section will explain how to complete the landing page type.
Before you start Ensure you understand the difference between basic and landing pages and how they interact with one another. Also ensure you know how you will be organising your content using them. If you are unsure about the latter then contact CILIP’s Online Information Manager. We recommend you create your landing pages before the basic pages.
Choosing the correct page type Now you have decided which page type you need to use and know what the page needs to say, you are ready to create the page. Choose the appropriate page type:
Group’s audience Select the basic page audience. For most people there will be just one option here but editors of more than one branch or special interest group must select the appropriate option.
Page title Give the page an appropriate page title and capitalise only the first word and any others that require it (eg names etc). For advice on choosing titles and labels see the Guidance for Website Editors section on labels and search engine optimisation and/or speak to the Online Information Manager. Labels should be clear and meaningful, consistent across the entire website and optimised for search engines. They should also adhere to the CILIP style guide. The words used in the page title will form the end part of the URL for the webpage. If editors change the page title, the URL will automatically change also and someone visiting the old URL will be automatically redirected to
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the new one. Please keep amendments to page title to a minimum though, too many redirects may slow down the page loading speed.
Landing page summary This is arguably the most important piece of any webpage. For a landing page it should sum-up the content on the webpage, ie the content in the basic pages which are displayed and linked to beneath. Make it easy to read and understand. If people only take one thing from your page, it will be this. It should be simple, not include technical language, acronyms or initialisms and be written with the assumption that people are not well versed on the subject at hand. This text also appears in Google search results so front-load your text with the most important information. The rest of the content in the webpage will be formed from the page summaries of the basic pages. You can paste your content in and any formatting from Word will be automatically stripped out. A formatting toolbar contains some features to help you edit your copy:
Basic page teasers header You may if you wish enter a brief subheading to introduce the basic page summaries below.
Menu settings Now we need to locate the landing page in the right place in the website and add some other information that will help people navigate their way to it.
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Provide a menu link Check this box to make the page appear in the website navigation and be easier for visitors to find. If you leave this box unchecked the page will exist but will not be so easy to navigate to.
Menu link title In most cases this should be the same as your page title - if your page title is too long to work as a menu link title then you should consider making it shorter. However in some cases it will be OK to use a different menu link title, but remember we should aim for consistency in labelling wherever possible.
Description This text will appear when visitors hover over the menu item link with their mouse.
Parent item Select the appropriate sub site in which this webpage will appear. Choose the parent site which is the next level up in the appropriate place.
Your notes:
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4. Adding content to the basic page type Summary: This section will explain how to complete the basic page type to create your content.
Before you start There are two types of basic page, a public basic page type and a private basic page type. The public type will be accessible to all site visitors while the private page type should be reserved for member-only content. Make sure you know whether the content you are creating will be public or private and choose the appropriate page type.
Choosing the correct page type Now you have decided which page type you need to use and know what the page needs to say, you are ready to create the page. Choose the appropriate page type:
Group’s audience Select the basic page audience. For most people there will be just one option here but editors of more than one branch or special interest group must select the appropriate option.
Page title Give the page an appropriate page title and capitalise only the first word and any others that require it (eg names etc). For advice on choosing titles and labels see the Guidance for Website Editors section on labels and search engine optimisation and/or speak to the Online Information Manager. Labels should be clear and meaningful, consistent across the entire website and optimised for search engines. They should also adhere to the CILIP style guide. The words used in the page title will form the end part of the URL for the webpage. If editors change the page title, the URL will automatically change also and someone visiting the old URL will be automatically redirected to
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the new one. Please keep amendments to page title to a minimum though, too many redirects may slow down the page loading speed.
Main page image Ignore this for now. Images will be uploaded shortly.
Page summary This is arguably the most important piece of any webpage. For a landing page it should sum-up the content on the webpage, ie the content in the basic pages which are displayed and linked to beneath. Make it easy to read and understand. If people only take one thing from your page, it will be this. It should be simple, not include technical language, acronyms or initialisms and be written with the assumption that people are not well versed on the subject at hand. This text also appears in Google search results so front-load your text with the most important information. The rest of the content in the webpage will be formed from the page summaries of the basic pages. You can paste your content in and any formatting from Word will be automatically stripped out. A formatting toolbar contains some features to help you edit your copy:
Subheading Now you need a subheading to introduce and describe the next content area. Consult the guidance on labels, search engine optimisation and ensure you are adhering to the CILIP style guide also. Only capitalise the first word in the subheading.
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Body Write or paste content into this field until you need to create a new subheading then click ‘Add another item’ to create another subheading and paragraph. Through this you can build up a webpage made of easy to scan chunks and subheadings.
Related links, documents and images It’s possible to add multiple links at the bottom of the webpage to relevant related content. Use the ‘Add another item button’ if you need to add more.
Tags Use tags to describe the content on your webpage. Select the appropriate tags that appear when you type in the box to ensure we have a consistent approach to tagging our content. Add new tags as necessary and consult the Online Information Manager if you require assistance.
Menu settings Now we need to locate the landing page in the right place in the website and add some other information that will help people navigate their way to it. N.B. This is the point where we link the basic page to the appropriate landing page.
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Provide a menu link Check this box to make the page appear in the website navigation and be easier for visitors to find. If you leave this box unchecked the page will exist but will not be so easy to navigate to.
Menu link title In most cases this should be the same as your page title - if your page title is too long to work as a menu link title then you should consider making it shorter. However in some cases it will be OK to use a different menu link title, but remember we should aim for consistency in labelling wherever possible.
Description This text will appear when visitors hover over the menu item link with their mouse.
Parent item Select the appropriate sub site in which this webpage will appear. Choose the parent site which is the next level up in the appropriate place. To link your basic page to the appropriate landing page, simply select the landing page from the list and click save.
Your notes:
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5. Further support for web editors Basecamp A website project management community called Basecamp has been created for web editors and staff to make and share suggestions for improvements. Basecamp is a very simple and straightforward system where you can create a discussion and describe a problem or an idea for how to improve the CMS or website. That way all colleagues will be able to see your idea and IT will be able to add it to their to-do list if appropriate. http://basecamp.com
Contact details If you need help editing the website, or have any questions about the contents of this document or any aspect of the CILIP website please contact: Richard Hawkins Online Information Manager CILIP 7 Ridgmount Street London WC1E 7AE Tel: 020 7255 0626 Email:
[email protected] Twitter: @usernametaken10
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Your notes:
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