The Pennsylvania State University - Administrative Information Services, a unit of Information Technology Services

AIS Newsletter

AIS RedDot CMS Tips

AIS RedDot CMS Tips

by Web & Communication Services

November 2009

Working with Links, Part I

This month's tip is the first in a series intended to assist content providers in understanding how links to pages work within RedDot CMS. In this tip, we talk specifically about how actions for a link go through a "structural" workflow process rather than the normal workflow process that content changes go through.

The following actions for a link in RedDot follow a "structural" workflow process:

Structural Workflow Process--Structural Changes

Structural changes are most commonly found when working with page components, a page component created with the Links Area template, and news articles. They affect the way the site or page is structured and are, therefore, subject to the structural workflow process.

How Structural Workflow Works

When a content provider makes a structural change, such as creating a link in a Links Area to reference another RedDot page, the change will not go into the content provider's "drafts" but will be published to the live site during the next scheduled publication cycle. Be assured; however, that the Web team receives notification of structural changes and will work with the content provider if they are concerned about the change(s) made.

Normal Workflow Process--Content Changes

We're all familiar with the normal (content) workflow process, but we'll take this opportunity to review. A content provider opens an area to be edited, and after the changes have been saved, the page is automatically placed in his/her "drafts." The page remains in drafts, where no one else can make any changes to that page, until the content provider submits the page to workflow. Once submitted to workflow, the Writer/Editor then reviews the page and either approves or rejects the changes; if the changes are approved, those changes will then get published to the live site during the next scheduled publication cycle.

Summary

If you would like further clarification on this topic, please let us know.

We'll give additional tips on links, such as the difference between Connect Existing Page and Reference Page, in coming months.

October 2009

Naming Download Items

Content providers have included myriad downloadable files (media files) on our Web site over the years (including, but not limited to, Word files, PDF files, and Excel files) since media files are often easier for content providers to maintain and are a convenient format for our Web site visitors. Managing such a large number of files, however, can be a difficult task for the administrators of a Content Management System (CMS), such as RedDot. That's why we created Web standards related to media file names when we launched the redesigned Web site. Following the standards will make it much easier to manage the files on the site.

Naming Conventions:

Examples of Correct File Names:

Examples of Incorrect File Names:

Notes:

As always, let us know if you have any questions or comments.

September 2009

Assigning a File Name To a Page

Setting a file name on a page within RedDot CMS (Content Management System) is important because the file name of the published page will become part of the URL for that page. If a file name is not assigned by the content provider, then RedDot will automatically generate a file name that has no meaning, which will result in awkward, illogical Web addresses that will confuse our visitors.

To assign a file name to a page, perform the following steps:

  1. Open the page (either a page just created or an existing page that you want to edit) by clicking on the Open Page red dot.
  2. From the page menu at the top, click on Properties.
  3. Fill in the File Name field with the file name for the published page; the file name should not include capital letters, spaces (use an underscore instead), symbols, or an extension (.asp, .html, etc.). (For example, if the name of the page is RedDot CMS Tip of the Month, the file name should be something like reddot_tips. It's short, simple, and descriptive.)
  4. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.

Notes: