Web Help

1. Visit sites.wcms.iu.edu and log in via CAS and DUO
2. From the selector at the top of the page, choose BL-VPUE-HHC.main to begin

It is always best practice to test out your edits on your test site, which is hosted on the webtest server, before publishing changes to the live site, hosted on the webserve server.

URL for webtest: _____________.webtest.iu.edu

URL for webserve: _____________.indiana.edu

Whenever you publish a file, page, or directory, you must select the server destination. For webtest, leave only webtest checked (this is the default). If you want to publish your change to the live server, also select “webserve” in the publish menu.

Once you have submitted the publish screen, you'll see a pop-up at the bottom of the screen with a link to the publish queue. Click this link to see when your publish task is completed.

Note: whenever possible, use PDF files instead of word documents

1. Navigate to the correct folder (for example, click “PDF” for a PDF upload). Click the > to actually open the folder
2. Click “+ Add Content” to create a new item
3. Choose “File”
   
   
   
   
4. Use lowercase with dashes between words for the filename and upload your file
5. Save & Preview
6. Submit
7. Publish to webserve and webtest
8. If navigation needs to be changed, publish the _xml folder to webserve and webtest

Note: Whenever possible, start from a copy (right click on an existing page, choose copy, then customize and rename, save, submit, and publish)

To create a new page from scratch:

1. Navigate to the correct folder. Click the > to actually open the folder
2. Click “+ Add Content” and choose “Page”
   
   
   
   
3. Use lowercase words with dashes for the page name
4. Configure page and add sections and chunks
5. Save & Preview
6. Submit
7. Publish to webserve and webtest
8. If navigation needs to be changed, publish the _xml folder to webserve and webtest

Whenever the navigation needs to be updated, republish the _xml folder. This step is required when:

• A new page, external link, or document is added that should be in the navigation
• The order of menu items changes
• A page’s display name or system name is updated

To reorder the pages in the site’s navigation:

Note: the home page of a folder can be in any “Order” position, as it is not listed in the left-side navigation.

1. Open the affected folder by clicking > next to the folder name in the navigation
2. Click the “Order” column to see how the pages are ordered in navigation
3. Drag and drop items or check the box next to a page and use the up and down arrow buttons over the content list to change the order
4. Publish the _xml folder to webserve and webtest to see navigation change

Grids

The Grid option can be misleading. Grid should only be used when the items in a section all need to be the same height and width. One example is when you have a grid of stat chunks or interactive panels. This option is not necessary just to make content appear in three or two columns.

This example illustrates how the grid feature makes all items the same height on each row:

Positioning

To make chunks fill half, one third, or two-thirds of the width of their section, simply choose the appropriate “Position” value in the Chunk > Details section on the page edit screen, then choose the width you want.

Note: On small screens, all left/right chunks regardless of size will display full-width.

Breakout Sections

Breakout sections should be used on standard pages (see “Wide Pages” below for more information), only for content far enough down the page that it will clear the left-side navigation.

In most cases, we recommend using a text chunk in the first section of a standard page with enough text to clear the left-side navigation, then using breakout sections for every section after the first one.

To make a breakout section, choose “Yes” under “Breakout?” in the Section > details area of the page edit screen.

In this example, the gray section is a breakout section.

Wide Pages

A wide page should always be used when no left-side navigation will be present. This will usually be the home page of a website, but in some cases may also occur on other pages (for instance when a top-level navigation item produces only a single landing page with no sibling pages).

To make a page wide, check “Yes” on the “Wide page?” section at the top of the page edit screen.

In the examples below, the top screen shows a standard page, the bottom screen shows a wide page.

The WCMS keeps a version history of each save change to pages, files, documents, videos, etc. This is useful on occasions when changes are made accidentally and you wish to undo them or if you want to make a temporary change for a time period and then revert back to its previous state.

1. Click on the … More link in the top right then click versions
   
   
   
   
2.  Select the version from the history you wish to view by clicking the checkbox on the row next to the page you want to view. Then click the compare with current button
   
   
   
   
   
3. To restore a page to a version after viewing it click the … More button and click Restore this version
   
   

The OVPUE IT Web and Application Services team has compiled the useful list below of resources that can assist with working on your website.

• Information on how to use the framework and the various chunk types available in the framework and content design/display options are available at the IU Web Framework website. 
• Information on the various chunk types that are available in the framework to assist with page layout are available on the Chunks section of the IU Web Framework website.
• IU has a certain set of guidelines to follow for websites. For more information on these guidelines visit the IU Style Guide website.
• By law content on IU websites (pages, videos, and documents) must be accessible to users with disabilities. Information on accessibility at IU is available on the following websites:
  • Web Style Guide > Accessibility
  • UITS User Experience Office > Accessibility Checklist
  • Accessibility at IU
• Many users view websites on mobile devices often with monthly limits on their data plan. The OVPUE IT Web and Application Services team recommends compressing images to the smallest file size possible without losing quality of the image. This can save users lots of data towards their limit and in general pages will load much faster. To compress images we recommend using a tool such as Compressor and then downloading the resulting image to add to the WCMS.