Miscellaneous Instructions and Information
- Why Web Content Management?
Empower our content experts with the appropriate tools (templates) to update the content that they own. This is beneficial by bringing them closer to their information. It also enables content experts with the means to provide new information in a streamlined, timely fashion.
- Provide better management of all AIS Web site assets, eliminating redundancy and facilitating reusability.
- Utilize a workflow process to ensure consistent and uniform presentation of information. Updated content would be reviewed and edited as needed and undergo final review by Workflow Approver, then published to production.
- Implement a 'content lifecycle' mechanism that would automatically notify content experts to review, update, and/or remove content. This would be based on a regularly established schedule. Thus, ensuring current and accurate information.
When a new page has been created, the following elements are required. A page will not be submitted to workflow until the required elements are entered – icons for required elements are located at the top of the page and are displayed when the page is opened.
Page Title – this is what appears in the bookmark and what is displayed in breadcrumb navigation.
Meta Tags – short, descriptive words and phrases describing the page. Utilized by search engines.
Page Contact – e-mail ID and name (individual, group, etc.) for questions about page content.
Page File Name – what the page will be saved as on the server. Requires a .html extension.
Assign a page file name. Currently, it is not possible to make this a required field in workflow. It is required element however. If a file name is not assigned, RedDot will assign a page identifier code making it difficult to search for future linking purposes. File names are assigned using the Properties menu in an open page. All filenames should use the HTML extension. Example: aims_content_info.html
Edit Elements via Form- This is an option (versus RedDot icons) found in the Action menu. The page must first be opened before accessing the Action menu. Here is where you find this feature:
When the Task icon is red,  , there are tasks awaiting your action in Workflow. Click on the icon to view your options. This is found in the RedDot navigation bar to the left.
Draft and Incomplete Pages (synonymous) – pages that have been created, edited and closed but not submitted to workflow. Use this for pages that are ‘work in progress’ and/or to be reviewed at a later time. A page is automatically saved when it is closed.
Pages that have been submitted to workflow but not yet released for publication by the Workflow Editor can be returned to draft status. Use the Task feature to view pages that are incomplete and/or in workflow, and preview the changes that have been made (redline mode).
Using the Search function- Link to a Page utilizes the RedDot search function which offers several criteria to locate pages. The search page is segregated by criteria and requires only one field to be completed, i.e. if searching by Headline it is not necessary to list information in the text, template, created by, edited by fields. This search is restricted to pages that have been created by RedDot. All search results offer a preview of pages found.
Document Formats-
Documents should be submitted in either Word format or as an HTML page(s).
NOTE: If a document is subject to frequent adjustments or will be printed by users, Word format is suggested for its ease of use and printability. If a document contains more than 1,000 words, it should be submitted as an HTML page, or converted to PDF format by the editor.
HTML versions of content preferred over downloadable media.
No PowerPoint presentations unless information isn't readily available on the AIS Web site. Those PowerPoints used must be reviewed by the editor prior to releasing.
**NOTE: Those documents used for final documentation, i.e. user documentation that will not change, Annual Report, etc., may be converted in PDF format by the editor. Viewing of these documents from the Web requires Adobe Reader.
Use the Text Editor (Edit body text feature in an open page) for the following:
- Copy & paste- Text from a Word document, e-mail message, etc., can be copied and pasted directly into the Text Editor. Some formatting cleanup will most likely be required and is determined on the format of the source document.
- Adding images- Add images by clicking on the image icon in the Text Editor toolbar.
- Adding external links- Within the text editor highlight text and click on the 'insert link' icon to add links to external sites. The full URL, including http:// or https://, must be included in the HREF field, i.e. http://www.psu.edu/. External links should open a separate browser which is done by adding _blank in the Target field of the insert/edit link dialog box.
When receiving e-mail notification from the RedDot server, i.e. when a page is rejected, general notifications, etc., embedded links to the RedDot pages will not work. The current RedDot software does not accommodate the option for changing to an encrypted (https) URL. There are two options for accessing the page listed in the message:
a) Click on the embedded link and let the page load -- an error page will be displayed. In the URL, change http to https and hit enter. You will either see a preview of the page or the RedDot login page. Logging into RedDot at this point will take you directly to the page that has been rejected and awaiting correction. Remember to view the Administration page notes to see why the page was rejected.
b) Login to the RedDot server and navigate to the page that has been rejected and awaiting correction. Remember to view the Administration page notes to see why the page was rejected.
Pages in workflow, once approved, will be published within 24 hours.
The option to "delete a page" has been removed from our RedDot settings. Our RedDot representative recommended that we never delete a page. One reason pertains to versioning. When you delete a page, it will delete all versions. This has caused complications that we hope to avoid in the future. Of course, you will still be able to "delete a dynamic link," which removes a link in a list indicated with a red dot.
DO NOT use the Yahoo toolbar in the Internet Explorer browser. This will disable your ability to use the RedDot Text Editor; you will be unable to enter text, images, save changes, etc.
Keeping the Page Headlines at or less than 20 characters avoids the need to abbreviate the associate bread crumb navigation.
Avoid naming the Page Headline and the documentation_label (container) the same name when using the Documentation Download template.
Hitting the Enter button on the keyboard (a.k.a hard carriage return) can result in unwanted spaces between lines. To fix this, hold the Shift key while hitting the Enter button.
About the page expiration feature: Each new or revised page within your section on the Web will have an expiration date attached to it. This will help ensure that the site content is fresh and up-to-date.
Once a page is released or the expiring page has been reviewed and approved, it will enter the expiration rotation. Each page will have a "shelf life" of nine months before it is considered "outdated". You will be notified in your Tasks 14 days before the scheduled expiration, letting you know that your page(s) is scheduled for review. An E-mail notice will be sent to you five days before the scheduled expiration, serving as a final reminder that the page(s) is about to expire. For example, when you are notified of an expiring page, you must:
- review the page
- approve the page as is or make needed changes
- submit the page to workflow for release (if it was changed)
So, if a page was changed and released on July 10, 2005, the page would be due to expire on April 10, 2006. If a page is due to expire and has not been acted upon, it will be permanently deleted from the RedDot server and cannot be restored.
If you select the wrong template do NOT click the browser's Back button to attempt to select another. In RedDot world, you've already created a new page with the wrong template. Hitting the Back button just confuses the system.
Once you have the bogus page, fill out the required info as usual (as per Reddots at top of page) so it can be submitted to workflow...and thus, deleted. BEFORE submitting to workflow there are two things you must do:
1. Email the Web team with the pageID and headline of the page. Request the page be deleted. Only an administrator can delete a page.
2. Disconnect the bogus page from the original link. This way, you can create a new page with the proper template to replace the bogus one.
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