How To
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Create a New Site Page
New Content Types are created using the Content menu in your toolbar. To create a new Site Page, navigate to: Content > Add Content > Site Page.
Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.
- Title (*) - Enter the page name here. Include important keywords in the title to improve the search results. The optimal title length is less than 60 characters, including spaces.
Main Image
On Site Pages, if a Main Image is added, it appears at the top of the page. The page's Title is overlaid on top of the image with a colored rectangle between the text and image. The rectangle is added to ensure that there is enough visual contrast so that the text is readable. Learn about Color Contrast for Digital Accessibility.
Dimensions and Resolution
The ideal dimensions for a Site Page Main Image are 2880px wide x 1254px high. The recommended minimum resolution is double the desktop view size for clearer, better-looking images on high resolution screens. Download an image to use as a template.
Note: Do not put important content in the bottom left corner of the image. The platform places a colored square containing the Page Title on top of the image in this corner and will obscure content.
Alternative Text
All meaningful images must have descriptive alternative text (alt text) to be accessible for visitors with low or no vision. If the image does not convey meaningful information and is purely decorative, check the box for Decorative Image and leave the Alternative Text field empty. This allows screen reading software to skip over the image. Learn more about Alternative Text.
Above: Before selecting Add media and choosing a Main Image. - Main Image - Select the Add Media button to add a Main Image.
- The Media Library opens. Select the desired image, or upload a new image and select it.
- Select Insert Selected.
- A thumbnail of the image you selected now appears.
Above: After selecting Add media and choosing a Main Image, a thumbnail of the chosen image appears. Summary
- Summary - Briefly describe the contents of the Site Page. The Summary appears in search engine results with the link. Provide a Summary to enhance Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Note: When left blank, the Summary field uses an excerpt from the Page Content as the summary.
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Page Content
Best Practices
Write for your audience's needs in plain and direct language. Not sure where to begin? Use a tool to help simplify your writing, such as the Hemingway Editor, and consider our Writing for the Web training.
Bands
Page content is organized using Bands. If desired, you may insert multiple Bands, which will stack one on top of the other. See the Bands Help Topic.
- In the Page Content section, insert a Band. Select the Add button, indicated by a blue square containing a white plus sign.
- A dialogue box appears, prompting you to Choose a Layout. You may choose either a one-column or a two-column Band layout. Choose the desired option, then select the Save button.
- Hover over the Band. An outline appears around the band and a toolbar appears at the top of the band. You may use the toolbar to:
- move the band up or down when there are multiple bands.
- edit the layout to add or remove columns.
- duplicate the band and its content.
- delete the band and its content.
Paragraph Components
Page content is added with paragraph components. These pre-designed modules allow you to insert different types of content and place them in the order you want on your page. The column layout you select when inserting a Band determines which content Components you may insert. The wider one-column layout allows more options.
- Select the Add Component button, indicated by a gray square containing a gray plus sign.
- A dialogue box appears, prompting you to Choose a Component.
- Select the desired Component and provide the appropriate content.
- Repeat these steps as needed to add the desired number of Bands and content Components to the page.
One-Column Component Options Two-Column Component Options One-column Options: Article Card, Callout, Contact, CTA Card, Event Card, iFrame, NC Map, Quick Links, Statistic Card Tabs/Accordion, Text, Video Card, View Embed, Webform Embed. Two-column Options: Article Card, Contact, CTA Card, Event Card, Profile Card, Quick Links, Statistic Card, Text, Video Card. -
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Date of Last Update and On This Page Jump Links
At the bottom of the Page Content section there are two checkboxes for additional information you can add to the page, if desired:
- Display Date of Last Update
- On This Page Jump Links
Date of Last Update
- Unchecked by default, the date of the last modification does not appear for the public viewing your page.
- When checked, text is added to the very bottom of your page for the public to see, stating "This page was last modified on MM/DD/YYYY."
Example of a Site Page with the "Display Date of Last Update" checkbox enabled. On This Page Jump Links
- Unchecked by default, jump links are not automatically added to your page.
- When checked, a menu is added at the top of your Page Content that reads "On This Page." Any text that you have formatted as Heading 2 automatically appears as a jump link in this menu.
- The platform automatically creates anchors for your H2 content and links to them from the menu.
- These links allow visitors to "jump" down to the content they are interested in. This is particularly useful for long pages.
- Note: When you also add Documents and/or Related Content, these sections are automatically styled with Heading 2 markup, so they also appear in the "On This Page" menu.
Example: A Site Page containing Heading Level 2 text that has been added to the "On This Page" menu. Note that other heading levels, such as the H3 heading pictured, are not added to the menu. -
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Related Information
Documents
All online public documents should meet digital accessibility requirements. Learn about Accessible PDFs and Documents.
- To upload a Document, select Add Media. Repeat this process to add as many documents as you need.
- You may upload an unlimited number of files.
- The maximum size for each file is 256 MB.
- The allowed file types include: .pdf, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .csv, .txt, .rtf, .zip, .ppt, .pptx, .xml, .kmz, and .mp3.
- Learn about uploading files here.
- Remove - Select the Remove button, indicated by an "X' within a circle on top of the document, to remove that document.
- Rearrange multiple media items by dragging and dropping them into the desired order, or by adjusting their Row Weights. To bring an item closer to the top, assign it a lower number.
Related Content
Provide related links, if desired.
- URL - Enter a web address.
- Links within your website - Start typing the Title of the content to which you want to link and select it from the search results. You can also enter an internal path, such as /node/add.
- External links - Paste the URL if it points to a website other than your own.
- Link Text - Enter text for the link.
- Select Add Another Item to post additional links.
- Select Remove Item to delete a link.
Learn about creating meaningful links.
Above: The first link points to an external website so the URL path is pasted into the URL field. The second link points to a page on the same website, so the search feature is used to select the desired content. Site Page Terms
Content Types can be tagged with taxonomy terms to help visitors filter for the content that interests them. Web Managers can add new terms to the vocabulary, while other user roles may apply those terms to their content.
In the example above, the Neuse River term is selected from the menu. - Site Page Terms are taxonomy terms that can be applied to a Site Page. You may or may not see Site Page Terms listed in your drop-down menu. The options are specific to your Division or Office and differ from the examples provided.
- Web Managers can add new terms to a vocabulary by navigating to Structure > Taxonomy and selecting the desired vocabulary.
- Other user roles may apply the terms to their content. If you are unsure which taxonomy terms to apply, ask your Web Manager.
- To upload a Document, select Add Media. Repeat this process to add as many documents as you need.
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Save
Save often as you work on your content to avoid losing work due to timing out or navigating away from the page.
- Editors may only save as "Draft" or "Needs Review."
- Publishers and Web Manager may also save as "Published."
Current State: Displays the current status of the Content Type and whether or not it is available to the public.
Change to: The state you want the content to be in the next time you select the Save button.
- Draft - All new content types are in Draft State by default. This state allows you to continually edit and save your work before it is made available to the public.
- Needs Review - Editors may save as Needs Review when they are finished working and want a Publisher or Web Manager to publish the content.
- Published - This content is available to the public. Only a Publisher or Web Manager can choose this state.
- Unpublished - This content was available to the public at one time, but is not now. Only a Publisher or Web Manager can choose this state.
Delete: Deleted Content Types cannot be recovered. If you may need this content again in the future, it is best to change the state to Unpublished.
Save content as Published to make available to the public. -
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Menu Settings and Navigation
Main Menu
To add this page to the Main Menu, follow Step 2 of the Menu Structure & Navigation Help Topic.
Unique Navigation Features of Site Pages
Example of a right rail menu. The page titled "Headings" is a child of the parent page titled "Digital Accessibility." On this Page
This navigation feature is unique to Site Pages and only applies to text on the same page that is styled with Heading Level 2. See Step 3: Date of Last Update and On This Page Jump Links.
Right Rail
Site Pages have a navigation menu on the right side of the page called the right rail. On mobile devices, the right rail menu appears at the bottom of the page against a core background color. The right rail menu displays the Site Page in context of its parent and any children.
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Publish or Unpublish Content on a Scheduled Date
Some content types allow you to Publish or Unpublish them on a scheduled date. After creating the content type as outlined above:
- Change the Save As: status to Unpublished.
- Navigate to the Content Information Panel > Scheduling Options.
- Expand Scheduling Options.
Sidebar Panel - In the Publish On field, use the Date and Time pickers to choose when the content will be published.
- Set the Publish State field to Published.
- If desired, repeat these steps for the Unpublish On field and Unpublish State.
- Select the Save button at the bottom of the page.
Scheduling Options