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Editing a Page

Opening a Page

To begin adding or editing content on a page, you must first open the page on which you wish to work. Do the following:

  • To Open a Parent Page
    In the left-hand Navigation pane, double-click on the parent page's icon. The page will open, by default, in Edit mode.
  • To Open a Child Page
    In the left-hand Navigation pane, click on the + sign to expand the parent page. You will see each child page listed. To view the page:
    • Double-click on its page icon, or
    • To see each child page listed in the right-hand Details pane, click once on the parent page icon. Then, to view the page, double click on its name. PC users may right-click on the page in the right-hand side Details pane and select Open. The page will open, by default, in Edit mode.

In page Edit mode, the left-hand Navigation pane is replaced by the Asset Finder, a listing of all existing content types in the CMS repository. The Sidekick floats on top of your page and holds components, properties and other edit functions. 

Note: After you have opened a page, you can navigate to and edit other pages within your content area by clicking their links in the page navigation.

Screenshot of a page

The example of a page with assets in the left-hand Navigation asset finder and the sidekick floating on the right.

Adding Content to a Page

The page template is subdivided into sections to which you may add various types of content. Available sections are surrounded by dashes and are labeled Drag components or assets here... . See our tutorial on Adding a Component for detailed instructions.

  1. Use the Sidekick to select the component for the type of content you wish to add to the highlighted section. For example, to add a text area, select the "Rich Text" component.
  2. Drag the selected component into the section.
  3. Double-click on the component icon and an Edit dialog window will open allowing you to add in your content.
  4. Type (or select an image to add) in your content.
  5. Click the OK button to finish.

Alternately, you can right-click on the section and select Insert OR double-click on the section and an "Insert New Component" window will open with a list of the available components for that section. When you select your component, its dialog window will open allowing you to add in your content.

When adding image or other media-based components, you may either upload content from your local machine by clicking inside the dialog box, or by dragging and dropping in an item selected from the Asset Finder pane.

Dealing With Empty Spaces

White Space

Sometimes the content spreads in a way where it leaves empty spaces.  What can be done when there is:

Too much content?

  • remove, model or shorten some content in order to obtain a more balanced layout.  

Not enough content?

  • think of related topics, news or events, maps or secondary content that may be useful to the main subject.

Empty space scattered throughout the page?

  • Use 1- or 2-column small elements to fill them.
  • extend the wording in your text content. 1 or 2 words sometimes can make all the difference.

Definitions

  • Assets: Assets are more complex types of content that you can add to your pages. The CMS has a built-in Digital Asset Management (DAM) system to which you can upload your own assets, or use pre-loaded assets. Types of assets are single files such as digital documents, images, video or audio files. Assets can also have sub-assets; for example, layers in a Photoshop file, or slides in a Powerpoint file. Assets can have multiple renditions.
  • Asset Finder: The left-hand Navigation pane in Edit mode that displays and allows authors to search for DAM assets. Assets are then dragged and dropped onto your page.

Screenshot of Asset Finder

Example of the Asset Finder in top left corner of a page in the Edit mode.

  • Column Control: Columns control the layout of content on pages. The Column Control component allows you to split up single areas into multiple columns. You may specify the number of columns and then create, delete, or move content within each of the columns.

  • Components: A Component is a specialized content container. Components are modular units used to provide functionality on a page. They are reusable. The component gets added to your page template and will display content in a particular way or for a particular purpose. For example, a text component will present text only. Adding in an image component defines a section of the page to display an image only. Components can also be used to add dynamic elements to your page, for example, a feedback form. You can also think of components as the paragraph areas on your page.

  • DAM: DAM is an acronym for Digital Asset Management. A digital asset management system is a system built to manage the life cycle of a digital asset.Rendition: A Rendition is the binary representation of an asset, e.g. its primitive source file. Each asset has a primary representation - that of the uploaded file. Alternative representations can be created (by customized workflow steps) when an asset is uploaded. These renditions might be of a different size, with a different resolution, with added watermark or some other characteristics.

 

  • Sidekick: The Sidekick is a floating toolbar. It contains all the available component options for your page, separated into component groups (though, not all components may be added to all templates). The Sidekick also lets you perform various actions such as previewing a page, activating (publishing) a page, and provides shortcuts to other areas of the CMS.
    • Pencil icon - Switch to edit mode
    • Magnifying glass icon - Switch to preview mode
    • Globe icon - Return to site admin
    • Arrow icon - Reload the page

Screenshot of a sidekick

The sidekick with icons on the bottom for different modes.

  • Template: A Template is a formatted design which defines the look and feel of a page. It may be reused many times. Our standard template is based on a 5-column grid layout.

White Space

The use of white space is important in layout. Emptiness allows objects to be seen and the clever use of white (or more precisely, lighter) spaces helps the more contrasted and outlined elements show themselves and vice versa.

What is a lighter space?

  • If a layout contains harsh contrast (images with hard colors, big text elements, graphically complex parts) then a dense block of text may also be considered as a light space, because it will automatically shift to a lesser optical value.  
  • On the other hand, if the page is already light in contrast (has couple of headers and maybe one small image), then a dense block of text looks much more prominent and we have to watch its placement and size. 
  • Empty spaces are also part of lighter space, and can be used to balance the layout of a page. However, they should be used sparingly and with purpose.

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