A Guide to learning how to
use the Web Content
Management System, CMS
April 2008
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Glossary of Terms
III. Navigation
Layout
IV. Content Management Tool Access
Logging in and exiting
V. Content Management Tools
Back-end Dashboard Tool Set
Front-end Tool Set
VI. Managing Web Pages
Elements of a page: Keywords/Tags, Defined, How to use
Template Styles
Add a new page
Request approval for draft page
Edit a page
Delete a page
VII. PDF Files
Add a PDF
Edit/update a PDF
Delete a link to a PDF file
VIII. Links
Add a link
Create multiple instances of a link
Edit a link
Delete a link
IX. Spotlight/News
Creating a spotlight or news item
X. Other
Calendar
Photos
Users
Videos
XI. Help
Online
Help Desk Tickets
Fellow Content Managers
Quick Reference Guides
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I. Introduction
This is your manual and guide to using the Web Content Management System, CMS.
Please feel free to write in it and keep your own set of notes.
As a content manager you will be updating information on city owned websites using
the CMS. You will have the ability to create new pages; edit existing pages; and
create links; route pages for approval – and more.
Check on-line help for description of web content manager responsibilities.
For more specific information on your responsibilities, check with your supervisor.
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II. Glossary of Terms
Administrative DashboardA user interface that organizes and presents information in a way that is easy
to use. The Administration Dashboard or “Back-end” tool set is one way you
will do some work as a content manager
API –
Application Program Interface is a set of routines and tools for building
software applications.
Back-end Tool Set –
A collection of GUI tools available ‘behind the scenes’ to aid content managers
in administering web content.
BlogBlog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently
updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally
represent the personality of the author or the Web site.
Content Management System, CMSA web content management system is software for website management. It is
used to manage content and and ease the tasks required to publish content to
websites.
Content ManagerOne who creates and maintains information on a website.
EditPrepare for publication or presentation by correcting, revising, or adapting.
FlickrFlickr is a digital photo sharing website and web services suite. It was
developed by Ludicorp, a Vancouver, Canada company founded in 2002. In
March 2005, both Flickr and Ludicorp were bought by Yahoo. City websites are
using Flickr to post photos.
Front End –
A collection of GUI tools available from the front or facing web pages to aid
content managers in administering web content. You can use these tools to
make edits and additions to the web site without going to the administrative
dashboard panel or back-end tool set: [±] [-] [+].
Link –
A hyperlink (often referred to as simply a link), is a reference or navigation
element in a document to another section of the same document, another
document, or a specified section of another document, that automatically
brings the referred information to the user when the navigation element is
selected or clicked on by the user.
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MenuA common use of the term menu within a website is to provide convenient
access to selected information by chosing this information from a list or a
“menu.”
NavigationThe movement through hypertext links that allows a web visitor to move or
navigate between the pages of the website. It is one of the key design
elements of a website in terms of usability.
Novell user name –
Novell is a name to distinguish the tool that allows City users to login to their
workstations and connect to the City’s network. The name and password you
use to log into your workstation is your Novell user name.
Meta data Meta data is information that helps describe other data.
PDFPDF (Portable Document Format) is a file format that has captured all the
elements of a printed document as an electronic image that you can view,
navigate, print, or forward to someone else. PDF files are created using Adobe
Acrobat, Acrobat Capture, or similar products. To view and use the files, you
need the free Acrobat Reader, which you can easily download. Once you've
downloaded the Reader, it will start automatically whenever you want to look
at a PDF file.
PageA single document or file on the World Wide Web, identified by a unique URL.
Page ParentA page parent is a relationship or association to an existing page. This is a
required field in the page builder window. By selecting a page parent you
create a relationship to what page the new information should be related to.
Page TitleA name given to a web page. The title typically describes only the topic that
the page is about.
Page StatusA field in the content management page builder tool that allows you to choose
the status of a web page. Choices are: Menu, Draft, and Published or Off.
Page KeywordsWords (tags) assigned to pages in the page builder tool to allow a single page to
be shown on more than one page at a time. Note – the use of keywords
eliminates the need to recreate information in order for it to appear under
multiple areas.
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Page Custom text 1For use with ticketed items only, a content manager would add a comma
delimited string of the each tessitura performance id for a given show run.
(Example: 19285, 19300, 19301, 19302, 19303, 19304, 19305, 19306, 19307).
This ties the CMS to the shopping cart API
Page Custom text 2For use with ticketed items only, a content manager would add the text they
want to appear on the buy tickets button/link. Usually it would be ‘Buy
Tickets’ but could be ‘Check Availability’ or ‘Sold Out’ or ‘Call Box Office’ or
whatever seems appropriate. 99% of the time it would be just ‘Buy Tickets.’
Page SummaryA short synopsis of a page or a teaser allowing the reader a preview of what
information is covered in the body of the page.
Page Start DateUsed for event start dates and press releases.
Page End DateUsed for multi-day events.
Shopping Cart APIApplication Program Interface is a set of routines and tools for building
software applications. In this case, the API applies to the Shopping Cart tool
related to the Arvada Center.
SlugA unique identifier for each page in the CMS that is found at the end of the URL
string. It is automatically assigned to the page upon page creation and can not
be changed.
TemplatesPage templates are predetermined layouts. Each template is intended to
display certain types of information.
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III. Navigation or Menu Buttons
Menu buttons on each of the city websites allows visitors to navigate to different
information by choosing which subject they want to access.
For example Arvada.org has 11 menu buttons categorized by subject: About Arvada,
Arts and Recreation, Ask Arvada, City Services, Government, Jobs, KATV 8, Kids
Pages, Online Services, Safety and Health and Transportation. These are the very 1st
or highest level of pages. It is not possible to add new menu buttons to this highest
level; however you can make edits to the existing content on these pages.
Familiarizing yourself with the categories or menus will help you to understand the
layout of your website.
Under each of the 1st level menu choices there are 2nd level choices/“pages” grouped
by common subject themes. Under the 2nd level there may be a 3rd level of pages.
Only a maximum of 3 levels of pages exist on any site.
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IV. Content Management Tool Access
1) Where do I log in?
At the bottom of any page, click on the “Admin” link
2) Put in your Novell username and your web content password and click
Submit
Your user ID = your Novell user ID
3) Lost Password
Click the blue link. Enter the email address you used to create your
account, and then click on “Get New Password.” The password will be
sent to your GroupWise mailbox.
Logging out
Close the browser or click on the “Logout” link on the admin page
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V. Content Management Tools
Back-end Dashboard Tool Set
The back-end tool set allows for additional functionality which is not available with
the front-end tool set.
Some functions offered from the back-end specifically relate to certain websites and
are only used by those web administrators.
Here is a partial list of functions you can do from the back-end:
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Change your password
Add, Edit or Delete pages, links and files
Search pages, links and files by keywords, author, date edited
Access “My pages” only
Check and approve pending/draft pages
Check for broken links
Upload banners
Add Sponsors
Access to the photo tool
Access to the calendar tool
Access to the video tool
Search the on-line documentation for help
Access for administrators to Users
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Front-end Tool Set
The front-end tools are the primary set of tools you will use to manage content. Once
you have logged in you will automatically be pointing to the back-end. To access the
front-end you will need to click in the address bar window and remove all characters
at the end of the site name.
Front-end tools look like this: [±] [-] [+] and will be associated to the pages and levels
you may edit. Mouse over them to see what they will allow you to do.
These 3 tools allow you to:
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Edit pages or links
Add pages or links
Delete pages or links
Using the front-end tools is the recommended way to manage your content. The ease
in being able to click on the tool to make changes to your materials, as well as, the
convenience of having the necessary keywords to automatically associate with your
additions should aid you.
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VI. Managing Web Pages
Elements of a page
• Page Status – Choices are Menu, Off, Draft, and Published
• Page Title - Give the page an appropriate title, this is what the
customer sees on the web
• Page Parent – This is where the page appears - under what menu or
navigation button should it appear?
• Page Template –There are 2 different template styles that you can
choose to build pages. Both template styles allow for pages to display
information in a different format. The “Default” template is used unless
you change it to the list template
• Start Date – Used for event start dates and press releases on certain
websites. This field is used for adding dates to time sensitive materials
and if NOT filled in, your new page will not post.
• End Date – Used for multi-day events
• Page Keywords – By putting in keywords or tags you allow a single page
to be shown on more than one page at time. Always include the keyword
of the website you are working on: i.e. City, Arvada Center, AEDA,
Police etc.
• Custom Text 1 – see glossary
• Custom Text 2 – see glossary
• Page Summary – This is optional; you can write a “teaser” here that
introduces your page. However, if you do not write a summary it will
pull the first 125 characters of the actual text from the body of your
page. This is used when using the list style template style not the
default template.
• Page Content – This is the actual text or body of your page
More on Keywords . . .
Each website is already populated with pages and associations to other pages
with main keywords or tags. From a content management view point, it is very
important to understand the use of key words.
Keywords and tags are types of meta data. Meta data is data that helps
describe an object. The word 'tag' is recently favored in the internet
community over the word 'keyword,' but they are essentially the same thing.
They help create relationships.
On the cities’ websites, keywords/tags (hereafter referred to as tags) are used
for a variety of purposes:
On pages, tags are used to categorize content on a specific page. Other pages
can be associated to it by assigning them the same tag.
For example, a page about a dog park could be given a page tag of 'animals',
'park', and 'recreation.' Then another page, describing new leash laws for pets,
could be given a tag with 'animals' and 'law.' Now the two pages are associated
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together by the tag 'animals.' If you were to click on 'Animals' under Related
Keywords on either of those pages, it would take you to a page that lists both
the dog park article and the leash law article.
On links and files, tags are used to associate links and files with specific pages.
This way a link or a file can be uploaded once, and by adding specific
keywords, and be associated to many different pages. The concept may be
little tricky at first, but after you master it, content management will become
much, much easier.
On photos, tags are used to associate photos with specific pages (just like with
links and files). A photo is uploaded once, and specific keywords are added to
associate that photo to many different pages.
On video, tags are use to describe the video and enhance search engine
optimization. In the future, we will be able to associate videos with particular
pages based on tags (like we do with photos).
The use of keywords can be limitless, however those below are required, at a
minimum, for each site respectively:
"arvada center" : required to show up on AC website, arvadacenter.org
“city” : required to show up on City website, arvada.org
“AEDA” required to show up on Arvada Economical Development website,
aeda.biz
“police” required to show up on Arvada Police website, arvadapd.org
Rules on keywords:
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They are at a must – at a minimum you must have at least one posted
(see above)
They are not case sensitive
Separate them with a comma and a space
Spelling counts
Avoid conjunctions, pronouns, adverbs or articles
Verbs like, is, am, was, and were are not helpful
Verbs such as hiking, biking, planning are okay
Think of your customer and how you would suggest or direct them to
other pages that may interest them
Make sure you are not directing them pages that do not exist
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Template Styles –
“List” Style – Displays pages in a list by title with short summaries and a link called
“Read more” to access and open the full page
“Default” Style – Displays full page of text with related links and keywords to the
right of content and allows for displaying photos
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Add A Page
1) Log in to the Admin tools and go to the area or page on the website that you want
to work on.
2) Using the front-end tools, click on the [+]; if moused over you should see “add a
new page with tag...” in a small pop-up box next to your cursor. Only certain areas
allow for new pages to be added.
3) The “Add a Page” window will open.
4) Select Page Status. By default it is set to “Draft” and will not show up on the
website until you decide to publish your page. This is used for pages in progress; or
ones that you may want to publish at a later date or ones that you want a supervisor
to approve. See notes on how to request approval for a “Draft” page.
5) Type in an appropriate Page Title* (required field.)
6) Page Parent* will already be chosen for you if you used the front-end tool (required
field.)
7) Template style is set to “Default”. You have two to choose from; List which only
shows lists, or the default which allows for photos, links, and related keywords to be
displayed on a page (see template examples for a visual example of these
choices.)
8) Fill in start date – (this is used for events and press releases.)
9) Fill in end date – (this is used for events and press releases.)
10) Type in Key words if more are needed (required field.)
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11) Fill in Custom Text 1 and Custom Text 2 if necessary – (this is used for Arvada
Center shows through Tessatura.)
12) Type in Page Summary if desired. If this field is left blank, it will put the 1st 125
characters of your content for a list template only. Make sure the summary
grammatically makes sense. Check your spelling.
13) Type in or paste Page Content (required field.)
14) Run clean-up tool
to clean up html issues that could plague you later – You
will need to highlight the text first.
15) Run remove formatting tool
16) Run Spell Check
- You will need to highlight the text first.
- You will need to highlight the text first.
17) Click “Add page” - The new page shows up in the recent link and file activity
window.
Note:
If you created this page using the “Published” page status, you can verify your page
was added by viewing it on the site.
If you created this page in “Draft”, you’ll need to “Publish” it before you can see it
displayed on the site.
Notes:
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Request Approval for a page in a “Draft” mode
1) Click on Drafts from the top tool bar.
2) Find your page either by using My Pages button, using the Search button or scroll
through the displayed list of drafts and search for its title (“Drafts” color coded in
yellow.)
3) Select by clicking on the box.
4) Scroll to the bottom and select “Request Approval”
5) Fill in the “To” field with the recipient’s Novell GroupWise email address.
6) Fill in the “Subject” field.
7) Message is already populated for you.
8) Click on “Request Approval.”
9) Window will verify that your message was sent.
Notes:
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Edit a page
1) Using the front-end tools, click on the [±]; note, if moused over you should see
“Edit This Page...” in a small pop-up box next to your cursor. Only certain areas allow
for pages to be edited.
2) The Edit page window will open.
3) Make your edits.
4) Run the spell check. For your Page Content tools to be available (highlighted vs
greyed out), click your cursor somewhere within Page Context body.
to clean up any formatting issues that could plague you
5) Run clean-up tool
later by clicking within the Page Content, Ctrl+A to select all of the text and then
click the paint brush icon.
6) Run remove formatting tool
pink eraser on the tool bar.
7) Run Spell Check
on the tool bar.
Ctrl+A to select all of the text and then click the
by Ctrl+A to select all of the text and then click the ABC icon
8)
Click on “Edit page” and look for the green check mark at the top of the form
to see your success with this edit.
9) Verify the edit was made “Page edited” by going to the site and viewing the page.
Notes:
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Delete a page
1) Using the front-end tools, click on the[-]; note, if moused over you should see
“Delete This Page...” in a small pop-up box next to your cursor. Only certain areas
allow for pages to be deleted.
2) Window comes up: Are you sure you want to delete this page? Deleted pages are
unrecoverable. Select carefully.
3) Choose OK or Cancel
4) Back-end tool opens to verify the page has been deleted.
5) Then go view it on the site, make sure it has been deleted.
Notes:
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VII. PDF Files
Add a PDF file
PDF (Portable Document Format) is the recommended file format for uploading. Keep
in mind that by using this file format, visitors to the website are able to open
documents using Adobe Acrobat reader.
1) Using the front-end tools, click on the [+]; if moused over you should see “Add
New Link with Tag...” in a small pop-up box next to your cursor. Only certain areas
allow for files and links to be added.
Do not let yourself be confused with the concept that you are selecting “Add
New Link…” when you are attempting to add a file. The two tools are related
and the following instructions show you how to distinguish one action from the
other.
2) The back-end tool opens to Add a Link. Click on “Are you trying to upload a file?”
3) A new window, Upload a File, appears.
4) Click Browse to find and select your PDF file.
5) Type in the Title. Check your spelling.
6) Keywords or tags are populated for you; add any additional that may be needed.
7) Type in file summary if needed.
8) Click “Add File.”
9) Verify the file was uploaded by viewing the new file now listed at the top of the
Recent Link and File Activity window.
10) Then go back to the site, refresh the page and click on it to make sure the PDF
file appears.
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Edit or update a PDF File
This section relates to your replacing one PDF with another, rather than changing the
content of the existing, uploaded PDF. To change the content of an existing PDF, it
must be done outside of the web tools. Before you execute the following steps, have
your new PDF ready for uploading.
1) Using the front-end tools, click on the [±]; note, if moused over you should see
“Edit This Link...” in a small pop-up box next to your cursor.
2) Edit Link window opens.
Do not let yourself be confused with the concept that you are selecting
“Editing a Link…” when you are attempting to edit a file. The two tools are
related and the following instructions show you how to distinguish one action
from the other.
3) Click on “Are you trying to edit or update a file?”
4) Change file status if needed.
5) Click on browse to find and open new PDF.
6) Type in new title.
7) Edit the keyword field if needed.
8) Click on Edit file.
9) Verify that the file was edited.
10) Then go to the site, refresh the page and click on the replaced file to make sure
the new PDF file appears.
Notes:
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Delete a PDF
1) Using the front-end tools, click on the [-]; if moused over you should see “Delete
This Link...” in a small pop-up box next to your cursor.
2) Window comes up: Are you sure you want to delete this link?
3) Choose OK or Cancel. Deleted pages are unrecoverable. Select carefully.
4) Link deleted will be verified.
5) Go look to see if is gone.
Notes:
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VIII. Links
Add a link
1) Using the front-end tools, click on the [-]; if moused over you should see “Add New
Link with Tag...” in a small pop-up box next to your cursor. Only certain areas allow
for links to be added.
2) The Add a Link back-end tool will open; type in your link title. Check your spelling.
3) Copy and paste the web address in the Link URL field.
From the website that you want to copy from, highlight the URL, right click
while highlighted, and right click to select Copy. Then go to the Add a Link
tool page, right click to Paste URL into Link URL field.
4) Key words are populated for you but add more if it merits it.
5) Click Create Link.
6) The new link shows up in the Recent Link and File Activity window.
7) Navigate back to the webpage, refresh the page and click on the link to make sure
it works.
Notes:
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Creating multiple instances to a single link
The following show you how to create more than one occurrence of a single link or
PDF file within multiple places of the website without uploading the link or file again.
1) Follow the steps as stated in Adding a Link as outlined on page 28 (see above.)
2) Go to the page or pages that you want to post in multiples.
3) Copy the last part of the page URL from the address bar, this is the slug.
Highlight the last part, right click while highlighted and right click to select
Copy.
4) Go back to the Add a Link window and paste this slug in as a keyword making sure
to replace the dashes with spaces. A comma and a space must separate the slug from
keywords preceding it.
5) Scroll down and click Create Link.
6) Link edited will be verified.
7) Go to the page(s) you expect it to show up to make sure it is posted as expected.
Notes:
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Edit a link
1) Using the front-end tools, click on the [±]; nf moused over you should see “Edit
This Link...” in a small pop-up box next to your cursor.
2) Edit Link window opens.
3) Change link status if needed.
4) Change Link Title if needed.
5) Cut and paste new URL.
6) Edit the keyword field if needed.
7) Click on Edit link.
8) Verify that the link was edited.
9) Then go to the site, refresh the page and click on the replaced file to make sure
the new link appears.
Notes:
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Delete a link
1) Using the front-end tools, click on the [-]; if moused over you should see “Delete
This Link...” in a small pop-up box next to your cursor. Only certain areas allow for
links to be deleted.
2) Window comes up: Are you sure you want to delete this link? Deleted links are
unrecoverable. Select carefully.
3) Choose OK.
4) Link deleted will be verified.
5) Validate that the link is gone.
Notes:
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IX. Spotlight/News (more recent News)
What’s the difference?
These areas pertain to the city website, Arvada.org.
The “Spotlight” area is used to showcase information and to draw attention to it. The
“News or Headline” areas are used to inform our citizens of current information.
How to make an existing page a Spotlight and or a News item – it’s just a matter of
adding keywords!
How to post a spotlight:
1) Using the front-end tools, click on the [±] of the page to be featured as a Spotlight;
note if moused over you should see “Edit This Page...” in a small pop-up box next to
your cursor. Please note – only certain amount of spotlights can be listed and are
listed by page creation date.
2) The Edit page window will open.
3) Go to the “Page Keyword” field and type the keyword “spotlight.”
4) Click on “Edit page” and look for the green check mark at the top of the form to
see your success with this edit.
5) Verify the edit was made “Page edited” and by going to the site, refreshing the
page, and making sure your page shows up in the spotlight area.
6) Remove a spotlight – go into the page editor window and remove the keyword of
“spotlight” and click Edit Page to complete the change.
Notes:
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X. Other
Calendar – to add events, email the [email protected] for
assistance
Photos – to add events, email the [email protected] for
assistance
Users – to view information relating to Content managers
Video – to add events, email the [email protected] for
assistance
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XI. Help
There are many ways to get help. Here are some of your options:
Online Help - From the Dashboard, the “Help” link takes you to a database of
questions and answers. From there you can view the top 10 frequently asked
questions; search the database for answers; ask a question and even answer questions
from others.
Submitting a Help Desk Ticket via the Dashboard –
1) From the Dashboard, click Create an IT Service Request.
2) Enter your online Track-it login name and password then click OK.
This is your Novell login name and password. Remember to precede your login
name with ISYS\.
3) From the IT Support Desk webpage.
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4) Click Add Work Order.
5) Populate the form with a brief summary of your need, priority, type (chose
Internet), and populate Description with details that can help expedite your request,
i.e. errors received, when the problem started, etc.
6) Monitor your work order until resolved.
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Fellow Content Managers – Check with experienced content managers, they may be
able to show you or answer your questions rather quickly and explain it in a way that
you will understand. Ask!
Content Training Manual – This manual has been designed to give you step by step
instructions on the basics of content management.
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