Edison cms manual
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The document provides an overview and instructions for using a content management system (CMS) to manage a website. The CMS allows users to easily add, edit, and organize website pages and content without advanced technical skills. It provides templates for pages that include predefined areas for content, images, and other elements. The summary guides users through basic tasks like creating and editing pages, adding images and files, and publishing or deleting pages. Navigation and site structure are automatically managed by the CMS to maintain a consistent brand appearance.
Edison cms manual
- 1. Brand EnsembleTM Content Management System Quick Start Guide
- 2. 2 What it is The Brand Ensemble Content Management System (CMS) is a powerful tool that makes management of our Web site easy. Using it, you can add, delete, and move Web pages; edit text on any page; and upload and place images and files. CMS does not require knowledge of Web authoring tools or HTML. While the tool is designed to be simple and intuitive, a basic understanding of how it works makes it much easier to get started and produce good results. That’s what this document is for.
- 3. Anatomy of a typical page 3 The CMS tool makes management of the site structure automatic, so you don’t need to worry about building navigation menus or defining the overall appearance of a page. Navigation menu – This is where the pages you create are listed. When you are on a page (such as the “About us” page shown here) and create a new page, it automatically appears indented below the parent page in the navigation menu. The menu changes appearance depending on where you are in the site. Copy blocks – Each page template has one or more areas where text, images, and links can appear. All pages are built using pre-configured templates, so the places to insert content are already defined for you. Non-editable items – Some items on the page cannot be altered using the tool. This helps to ensure site integrity and consistency. Tip: Be thoughtful about adding pages. The site structure has been thoroughly researched and carefully planned. It is very easy to create a convoluted, messy Web site by adding unnecessary pages. 1 2 3 1 2 3 3
- 4. Accessing the tool 4 To edit pages on the site, you need to first log in to the administration page. Go to http://www.edisonlearning.com/admin/login.aspx and enter your user name and password. When the tool first opens, you are presented with your “My queue” in the main part of the window. This is a listing of the pages you are working on (if any), which have not been “pushed live” on the actual site. On the right you’ll see a gray box with a pencil icon. Mouse over this and a pop-out menu will appear. The pencil icon changes to a push pin. Clicking on the push pin will force the menu to remain visible. Otherwise it automatically retracts when the mouse is moved off it to give you more room to work. The only two things in this menu that are important for basic editing tasks are the items next to “View”: “My queue” (where you are now) and “Home.” Click on “Home” to get into the site itself, then navigate to the “About us” page. 1 2 1 2
- 5. Creating a page 5 You’ll notice that the menu choices have changed. First we’ll create a new page. Select “Create a new page” from the menu. This will create a sub-page in the “About us” section. Fill in the title of the page, and the page name will be generated automatically. It is recommended that you fill in a description and keywords, to make it easier for search engines to find the page. When you’re done, click “Next.” Then, choose the page template you’ll be using. Choose carefully...the vast majority of the pages on the site use the free-form “Content” or “Content wide” templates. Do not use the graphic-heavy “Home” templates without good reason. You can always change the template later. 1 2 3 1 2 3
- 6. Editing a page and applying styles 6 When the page is open for editing, a toolbar appears above the page content area. You can either enter text directly on the page, or you can paste it from the Clipboard. Tip: Microsoft Word includes a lot of invisible information that can cause formatting problems when pasted. Use the Clipboard tool with the Word icon on it to paste this text, but make sure to carefully examine the text once it’s in place. To be safe, it’s best to do as little formatting in Word as possible. Make sure to apply the correct style to all of the text on the page. Select the text you want to format and choose the appropriate style from the pop-up menu. 1 1
- 7. Inserting graphics and files At the upper left of the page is a gray “Image Gallery” tool. Click the downward-pointing arrow to see the available images, by category. You’ll notice that our example template has a pre-defined box at the top for a header image. Select the “Headers” category, choose an appro-priate one, drag it to the box and drop it in place. You can also drag and drop images into text boxes on the template. Images are uploaded to the “Image Gallery,” which is accessed from the right-hand menu. Several image categories are provided. This list can be easily edited. The buttons at the top guide you through the upload process and are self-explanatory. There’s also a “File Gallery,” for downloadable files like PDFs. Once a file is added to the “File Gallery,” it’s inserted onto the page by creating a link. Right-click on the “Link to file” selection in the “File Gallery” to copy the file’s URL. Then, on the page, create a link to the file by typing the text you want to appear and clicking on the link tool in the toolbar. Then paste the URL of the file into the dialog. Tip: You can also create “hot” e-mail address links and “jump” links to anchors in the text using this dialog. 1 2 1 2 3 4 3 4 5 5 6 6 7
- 8. Saving, publishing, and deleting pages First, save the page by choosing “Save” from the right-hand menu. Important: The system will time out after a period of inactivity and you will lose any unsaved changes. Make sure you allow enough time to complete your work on any given page before moving on to another task. The page isn’t on the site at this point. It is sitting in your queue. The next step is to publish it. You’ll notice that the right-hand menu now has a new selection: “Go live with this version.” When you select this, the page will immediately be posted on the public site. Use caution! If the page is not ready to be shown to the world, do NOT go live with it! The page will appear on the navigation menu at the left, at the bottom of its group. You can now move it to the appropriate spot by selecting “Sort navigation” from the menu. Drag it to the correct spot in the list and click “Done.” 1 2 1 2 8
- 9. Moving and deleting pages To delete a page, navigate to it and select “Delete” from the right-hand menu. A confirmation dialog will appear. If you’ve accidentally created a page in the wrong place, moving it is easy. Select “Add to other sections” from the menu and click through the site to place it in the correct spot. Tip: “Add to other sections” applies to bottom-level pages. Sections can also be moved, but this is rarely, if ever, done. 9
- 10. A final word The Brand Ensemble Content Management System is a powerful tool. As such, it should be used with care. It is of the utmost importance to avoid “creep,” meaning individual changes to style, editorial voice, or presentation. Avoid changing the site structure without good reason, changing the way subheads are used, creating new text styles, changing the way capitalization is used, inserting images or other graphics that do not match the style of the site, and so forth. Being cautious, thoughtful, and conservative is the best way to preserve the company’s carefully crafted brand image. 10