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

RedDot CMS User Guide

To view a section, please click on the appropriate link below:

Introduction

This document provides details about the content classes (templates) that the Administrative Information Services Web & Communication Services team (AIS W&CS team) has built into the RedDot environment to manage the content of Penn State University's Administrative Information Services Web site and Administrative User Guides Web site. The intended audience includes Web site content providers, Internet application developers, and Web site administrators who have at least a basic understanding of Web Content Management Systems (CMS)--specifically, the RedDot CMS application.

Back to Top

Standard Page (Public and Intranet)

The following instructions assume that you are editing a page that has already been created with one of the Standard Page templates, whether it's a Public Standard Page or an Intranet Standard Page. If you need to create a new page, please refer to the section covering the Links Area template for instructions.

  1. Click on the Open Page red dot.
  2. Click the Properties menu at the top and 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.).
  3. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
  4. Click on the Edit Elements via Form red dot.
  5. Fill in the Headline field with the page title. The headline appears on the live site, so please follow the Web standards when creating the headline.
  6. Fill in the Content Contact Name and Content Contact E-mail fields. If the page is owned by W&CS, put "AIS Webmaster" as the content contact name and "ais-webmaster@psu.edu" as the content contact e-mail address.
  7. Optionally fill in the Support Contact Name and Support Contact E-mail fields if on a service-level page or wherever else it might be appropriate. If support should be handled by the AIS Support Center, put "AIS Support" as the support contact name and "ais-support@psu.edu" as the support contact e-mail address.
  8. Optionally fill in the Body Content text area with either descriptive text about the page or with the page content, if not using page components to construct the page. You are not required to enter body content at the content page level if you’re going to use page components to add additional components to the page.
  9. Click on the OK button to save your changes and close the edit elements form.
  10. To add new components to the page, do the following:
    1. Click on the Manage Components red dot.
    2. Click on Create and Connect Page.
    3. Select the appropriate Content Components template.
    4. Enter the Headline for the newly created component. The headline appears on the live site, so please follow the Web standards when creating the headline.
    5. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
    6. Refer to the instructions for the component template you have chosen.
  11. To add already existing components to the page, do the following:
    1. Click on the Manage Components red dot.
    2. Click on Connect Existing Page.
    3. When the Page Search dialog appears, enter the criteria to locate the component you wish to connect to (i.e., the Headline or Page ID).
    4. Click on Start to search for the component.
    5. When the Search Results list appears, click on the Headline of the component you wish to connect to. Only connect to pages that were created using one of the Content Components templates. Do not connect to pages using any of the Content Pages templates. You can tell which template was used to create a page by viewing the information displayed for the Content Class within the search dialog.
  12. To change the order that the components are displayed on the page, do the following:
    1. Click on the Manage Components red dot.
    2. Click on Edit Page Order.
    3. Select the page from the list that you want to move and use the up and down arrows to move the page up or down in the list. Do this for each component you wish to reorder.
    4. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
  13. To remove components on the page, do the following:
    1. Click on the Manage Components red dot.
    2. Click on Disconnect Page from List.
    3. Check off each page component to be disconnected.
    4. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
  14. Click on the Close Page red dot to save your changes.
  15. Submit the page and all components of the page to workflow when finished.

Back to Top

Frequently Asked Questions Organizer

  1. Make sure that the page is open by clicking on the Open Page red dot.
  2. Click on the Manage Components red dot.
  3. Click on Create and Connect Page.
  4. Select the Frequently Asked Questions Organizer template.
  5. Enter "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)" for the Headline of the new component.
  6. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
  7. If it is not open already, open the Frequently Asked Questions Organizer component by clicking on the Open FAQ Organizer red dot.
  8. To add questions to the FAQ Organizer, do the following:
    1. Click on the Manage FAQ Items red dot.
    2. Click on Create and Connect Page.
    3. Enter the question for the Headline. The content for the answer will be entered in a later step.
    4. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
    5. Repeat this process for each new question.
  9. To manage the content for each question in the FAQ Organizer, do the following:
    1. Open the question by clicking on the Open FAQ Item red dot for the question to be edited.
    2. Click on the Edit Elements via Form red dot.
    3. Fill in the Headline with the question (done when the question was created).
    4. Fill in the Body Content text area with the answer for the question.
    5. Click on the OK button to save your changes and close the edit elements form.
  10. To change the order that the questions are displayed in the FAQ Organizer, do the following:
    1. Click on the Manage FAQ Items red dot.
    2. Click on Edit Page Order.
    3. Select the FAQ item from the list that you want to move and use the up and down arrows to move the FAQ item up or down in the list. Do this for each FAQ item you wish to reorder.
    4. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
  11. To remove questions from the FAQ Organizer, do the following:
    1. Click on the Manage FAQ Items red dot.
    2. Click on Disconnect Page from List.
    3. Check off each question to be disconnected.
    4. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.

Back to Top

Links Area (Public and Intranet)

  1. Make sure that the page is open by clicking on the Open Page red dot.
  2. Click on the Manage Components red dot.
  3. Click on Create and Connect Page.
  4. Select the Links Area (Public) or Links Area (Intranet) template.
  5. Enter descriptive text for the Headline of the new component. The headline appears on the live site, so please follow the Web standards when creating the headline.
  6. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
  7. If it is not open already, open the Links Area component by clicking on the Open Links Area red dot.
  8. Click on the Edit Elements via Form red dot.
  9. Fill in the Headline with descriptive text (done when the component was created).
  10. Optionally fill in the Anchor Name field with the name of an anchor if you are planning to use jump marks on the page (should be all lowercase with no spaces).
  11. Optionally fill in the Body Content text area with descriptive text about the following links.
  12. Click on the OK button to save your changes and close the edit elements form.
  13. To add links to the Links Area, do the following:
    1. Click on the red dot beside either anc_LeftLink or anc_RightLink. There are two columns to the Links Area template and each column is managed independently of the other.
    2. Click on Expand Dynamic Link.
    3. Enter the number of additional link elements that should be created (maximum of 10 at one time).
    4. Optionally select whether the links should be created above or below the selected link element.
    5. Optionally select an option for assigning link names for the newly created link elements.
    6. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
  14. To manage the links in the Links Area, do the following:
    1. Click on the red dot beside the link to be managed.
    2. Enter the text for the link in the Link Name field.
    3. To create a new page:
      1. Click on Create and Connect Page.
      2. Enter the page title in the Headline field. The headline appears on the live site, so please follow the Web standards when creating the headline.
      3. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
      4. Click on the red dot beside the link again.
      5. Click on Edit Target.
      6. Make sure the User-Defined field is empty.
      7. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
    4. To reference an existing page:
      1. Click on Reference Page.
      2. When the Page Search dialog appears, enter the criteria to locate the page you wish to reference (i.e., the Headline or Page ID).
      3. Click on Start to search for the page.
      4. When the Search Results list appears, click on the Headline of the page you wish to reference. Only reference pages that were created using one of the Content Pages templates. Do not reference pages using any of the Content Components templates. You can tell which template was used to create a page by viewing the information displayed for the Content Class within the search dialog.
      5. Click on the red dot beside the link again.
      6. Click on Edit Target.
      7. Make sure the User-Defined field is empty.
      8. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
    5. To reference an external URL:
      1. Click on Assign URL.
      2. Enter the full URL, including the "http://" or "https://" portion of the URL.
      3. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
      4. Click on the red dot beside the link again.
      5. Click on Edit Target.
      6. Enter "_blank" in the User-Defined field (with no quotes).
      7. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
  15. To change the order that the links are displayed in the Links Area, do the following:
    1. Click on the red dot beside the link to be managed.
    2. Click on Edit Dynamic Link Order.
    3. Select the link element from the list that you want to move and use the up and down arrows to move the link element up or down in the list. Do this for each link element you wish to reorder.
    4. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
  16. To remove links from the Links Area, do the following:
    1. Click on the red dot beside the link you wish to remove.
    2. If a page is connected to the link:
      1. Click on Disconnect Following Page to disconnect the page from the link before you remove the link
      2. Click on the Yes button to confirm your changes and return to the page.
    3. If the link is referencing a page or an external URL:
      1. Click on Delete Reference to remove the reference from the link before you remove the link
      2. Click on the Yes button to confirm your changes and return to the page.
    4. Once all pages/references have been removed, click on the red dot beside the link again.
    5. Click on Delete Dynamic Link.
    6. Click on the Yes button to confirm your changes and return to the page.

Back to Top

Media File Download Item

The Media File Download Item template needs to be used if only a single download item is going to be added to a page or if the page will only consist of download items, and those download items do not need to be separated with headlines. To create a download list that requires a headline or can be managed as a group, use the Media File Download Organizer template instead.

  1. Make sure that the page is open by clicking on the Open Page red dot.
  2. Click on the Manage Components red dot.
  3. Click on Create and Connect Page.
  4. Select the Media File Download Item template.
  5. Enter a descriptive file title for the Headline of the new component. The headline appears on the live site, so please follow the Web standards when creating the headline.
  6. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
  7. If it is not open already, open the Media File Download Item component by clicking on the Open Download Item red dot.
  8. Click on the Edit Elements via Form red dot.
  9. Fill in the Headline with a descriptive title for the file (done when the component was created).
  10. Fill in the Media File field with the location of the file:
    1. To upload a new file:
      1. Select the pencil icon next to the Media File field.
      2. When the Asset Manager window appears, click on Select asset from local file system.
      3. Browse to the file on your local machine.
      4. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the edit elements form.
    2. To use an existing file:
      1. Select the pencil icon next to the Media File field.
      2. When the Asset Manager window appears, click on the filename of the file to be used.
  11. Optionally fill in the Media File Description field with a short description about the contents of the download item.
  12. Optionally fill in the Media File Date field with the date that should be displayed as the file's last modified date. If no date is specified, the last modified date from the Asset Manager will be used.
  13. Click on the OK button to save your changes and close the edit elements form.

Back to Top

Media File Download Organizer

The Media File Download Organizer template should be used in either of two situations--when you need to manage a list of downloads as a group (such as when there is more than one group of download items on an individual page) or when you need to have a separate headline for a download item or group of download items (such as when you want to add a headline for downloads on a page with other components). If only a single download item is going to be added to a page or if the page will only consist of download items, use the Media File Download Item template instead.

  1. Make sure that the page is open by clicking on the Open Page red dot.
  2. Click on the Manage Components red dot.
  3. Click on Create and Connect Page.
  4. Select the Media File Download Organizer template.
  5. Enter descriptive text for the Headline of the new component. The headline appears on the live site, so please follow the Web standards when creating the headline.
  6. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
  7. If it is not open already, open the Media File Download Organizer component by clicking on the Open Download Organizer red dot.
  8. Click on the Edit Elements via Form red dot.
  9. Fill in the Headline with descriptive text (done when the component was created).
  10. Optionally fill in the Anchor Name field with the name of an anchor if you are planning to use jump marks on the page (should be all lowercase with no spaces).
  11. Optionally fill in the Body Content text area with descriptive text about the following downloads.
  12. Click on the OK button to save your changes and close the edit elements form.
  13. To add downloads to the Media File Download Organizer, do the following:
    1. Click on the Manage Download Items red dot.
    2. Click on Create and Connect Page.
    3. Enter a descriptive file title for the Headline. The headline appears on the live site, so please follow the Web standards when creating the headline.
    4. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
    5. Repeat this process for each new download item.
  14. To manage the downloads in the Media File Download Organizer, do the following:
    1. Open the download by clicking on the Open Download Item red dot for the download to be edited.
    2. Click on the Edit Elements via Form red dot.
    3. Fill in the Headline with a descriptive title for the file (done when the component was created).
    4. Fill in the Media File field with the location of the file:
      1. To upload a new file:
        1. Select the pencil icon next to the Media File field.
        2. When the Asset Manager window appears, click on Select asset from local file system.
        3. Browse to the file on your local machine.
        4. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the edit elements form.
      2. To use an existing file:
        1. Select the pencil icon next to the Media File field.
        2. When the Asset Manager window appears, click on the filename of the file to be used.
    5. Optionally fill in the Media File Description field with a short description about the contents of the download item.
    6. Optionally fill in the Media File Date field with the date that should be displayed as the file's last modified date. If no date is specified, the last modified date from the Asset Manager will be used.
    7. Click on the OK button to save your changes and close the edit elements form.
  15. To change the order that the downloads are displayed in the Media File Download Organizer, do the following:
    1. Click on the Manage Download Items red dot.
    2. Click on Edit Page Order.
    3. Select the download item from the list that you want to move and use the up and down arrows to move the download item up or down in the list. Do this for each download item you wish to reorder.
    4. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
  16. To remove downloads from the Media File Download Organizer, do the following:
    1. Click on the Manage Download Items red dot.
    2. Click on Disconnect Page from List.
    3. Check off each download to be disconnected.
    4. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.

Back to Top

News Slider

The News Slider component must be added to a page by a member of the W&CS team. If you need to have a News Slider added to your service-level homepage, please contact W&CS so that they can set it up for you. The instructions below should be used to manage news items using the News Slider component.

  1. If it is not open already, open the News Slider component by clicking on the Open News Slider red dot.
  2. Click on the Edit Elements via Form red dot.
  3. Fill in the Headline with descriptive text (done when the component was created).
  4. Optionally fill in the Anchor Name field with the name of an anchor if you are planning to use jump marks on the page (should be all lowercase with no spaces).
  5. Click on the OK button to save your changes and close the edit elements form.
  6. To add news articles to the News Slider, do the following:
    1. Click on the Manage News Articles red dot.
    2. Click on Create and Connect Page.
    3. Enter a descriptive news article title for the Headline. The headline appears on the live site, so please follow the Web standards when creating the headline.
    4. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
    5. Repeat this process for each new news article.
  7. To manage the news articles in the News Slider, do the following:
    1. Open the news article by clicking on the news article's title on the left-hand side of the News Slider. When the news article slides into place on the right, click on the Edit News Article link.
    2. Once the news article page loads in SmartEdit, click on the Open Page red dot.
    3. Click the Properties menu at the top and 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.).
    4. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
    5. Click on the Edit Elements via Form red dot.
    6. Fill in the Headline with the news article title (done when the news article was created).
    7. Fill in the Content Contact Name and Content Contact E-mail fields. If the page is owned by W&CS, put "AIS Webmaster" as the content contact name and "ais-webmaster@psu.edu" as the content contact e-mail address.
    8. Optionally fill in the Support Contact Name and Support Contact E-mail fields if on a service-level page or wherever else it might be appropriate. If support should be handled by the AIS Support Center, put "AIS Support" as the support contact name and "ais-support@psu.edu" as the support contact e-mail address.
    9. Fill in the News Article Date field with the date that the news article will be posted.
    10. Fill in the News Article Teaser field with a short description of what the news article is about. This teaser will show in the News Slider and can be no more than 200 characters in length.
    11. Fill in the News Article Detail text area with the complete details for the news article that will be shown to the user when they click the "Read More" link on the News Slider.
    12. Click on the OK button to save your changes and close the edit elements form.
    13. To add new components to the page, do the following:
      1. Click on the Manage Components red dot.
      2. Click on Create and Connect Page.
      3. Select the appropriate Content Components template.
      4. Enter the Headline for the newly created component. The headline appears on the live site, so please follow the Web standards when creating the headline.
      5. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
      6. Refer to the instructions for the component template you have chosen.
    14. To add already existing components to the page, do the following:
      1. Click on the Manage Components red dot.
      2. Click on Connect Existing Page.
      3. When the Page Search dialog appears, enter the criteria to locate the component you wish to connect to (i.e., the Headline or Page ID).
      4. Click on Start to search for the component.
      5. When the Search Results list appears, click on the Headline of the component you wish to connect to. Only connect to pages that were created using one of the Content Components templates. Do not connect to pages using any of the Content Pages templates. You can tell which template was used to create a page by viewing the information displayed for the Content Class within the search dialog.
    15. To change the order that the components are displayed on the page, do the following:
      1. Click on the Manage Components red dot.
      2. Click on Edit Page Order.
      3. Select the page from the list that you want to move and use the up and down arrows to move the page up or down in the list. Do this for each component you wish to reorder.
      4. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
    16. To remove components on the page, do the following:
      1. Click on the Manage Components red dot.
      2. Click on Disconnect Page from List.
      3. Check off each page component to be disconnected.
      4. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
    17. Keywords must be assigned to the news article so that the news article will show up in the AIS News sidebar, as well as appear in other areas of the site. To assign keywords to the news article, do the following:
      1. Click on the Edit Keywords red dot.
      2. Click on the Add link to add a new keyword to the news article.
      3. When the "Select Keyword" dialog appears, make sure the "News" category is selected.
      4. Select one of keywords from the available list of keywords.
      5. Click on the OK button to save your changes and close the "Select Keyword" dialog.
      6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 above for each keyword to be added to the news article.
      7. If you wish for the news article to appear in the News Archive, the "Archive" keyword must be added to the news article.
      8. Use the Delete link beside each keyword to remove keywords from a news article.
      9. Click on the OK button to save your changes and close the "Assign Keywords" dialog.
    18. An appearance schedule allows you to specify when a news article should appear and/or disappear from the Web site. To set an appearance schedule on a news article, do the following:
      1. Click the Linking menu at the top.
      2. You may choose to check the option Move page to Recycle bin once all links have expired if the news article will not appear in the News Archive.
      3. For the "AIS News" and all "Service News" links, use the down arrow to pull up the calendar to select the appearance schedule for when the news article should appear and disappear from the site.
      4. If the news article is to be archived, you will see an additional link titled "News Archive" listed. You may set a starting appearance schedule for that link, but it is recommended that an expiring appearance schedule not be set.
      5. Click on the OK button to save your changes and close the "Edit Linking/Appearance Schedule" dialog.
    19. Click on the Close Page red dot to save your changes.
    20. Submit the page and all components of the page to workflow when finished.

Back to Top

Service Hours and Requirements

The Service Hours and Requirements template should be used on service-level home pages to display the hours a service is available and to display the browser and/or system requirements for the use of a service.

  1. Make sure that the page is open by clicking on the Open Page red dot.
  2. Click on the Manage Components red dot.
  3. Click on Create and Connect Page.
  4. Select the Service Hours and Requirements template.
  5. Enter "General Information" for the Headline of the new component.
  6. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
  7. If it is not open already, open the Service Hours and Requirements component by clicking on the Open Service Hours and Requirements red dot.
  8. Click on the Edit Elements via Form red dot.
  9. Enter "General Information" for the Headline (done when the component was created).
  10. Optionally fill in the Anchor Name field with the name of an anchor if you are planning to use jump marks on the page (should be all lowercase with no spaces).
  11. Fill in the Hours of Availability text area with information about when the service is available for use.
  12. If using for a Web-based service, fill in the Browser Compatibility text area.
  13. If not using for a Web-based service, fill in the System Requirements text area.
  14. Click on the OK button to save your changes and close the edit elements form.

Back to Top

Text Area

  1. Make sure that the page is open by clicking on the Open Page red dot.
  2. Click on the Manage Components red dot.
  3. Click on Create and Connect Page.
  4. Select the Text Area template.
  5. Enter descriptive text for the Headline of the new component. The headline appears on the live site, so please follow the Web standards when creating the headline.
  6. Click on the OK button to save your changes and return to the page.
  7. If it is not open already, open the Text Area component by clicking on the Open Text Area red dot.
  8. Click on the Edit Elements via Form red dot.
  9. Fill in the Headline with descriptive text (done when the component was created).
  10. Optionally fill in the Anchor Name field with the name of an anchor if you are planning to use jump marks on the page (should be all lowercase with no spaces).
  11. Fill in the Body Content text area with the content of the Text Area component.
  12. Click on the OK button to save your changes and close the edit elements form.

Back to Top

Content Questions: AIS Webmaster