Adding Users

Users with an active NinerNET can now log into the site. We have 3 general roles. Site Managers, Editors and Subscribers. When a new user logs in they are first automatically assigned the subscriber role which has NO editing permissions. Then Site managers can elevate them to Editors. Web Services no longer needs to add editors.

/dashboard->users

Contact Form

The contact form is NOT enabled by default. But can be easily set up under site options->Contact Form. Site editors can set up several groups with different emails and topics for each. The form is NOT customizable and the page will be at /contact. If site editors want to customize the form, they can use a google form and embed it. 

There is also a contact form Block that site editors can add to any page. If the form isn’t enabled when the block is set up, there will be a button that links to where they can set up the form.

Dashboard

Largely the same. To get to the back end of the site where you can edit pages and menus. Click on dashboard when viewing the site. 

Log in and out

Logging in is still sitename.charlotte.edu/user and it still uses our SSO. However the screens are designed differently. Users add their NinerNET email and then password. Then it runs through Duo for approval and logs into the site.

Media Library

Largely the same. We have reduced the allowed file sizes and file types. Maximum file size is 23MB. However images need to be 5MB or less. If you have a file that is bigger there are several ways to compress it. Adobe Acrobat allows you to compress PDFs.

There are many services for compressing images. On MAC there is a free app called ImageOptim https://imageoptim.com/mac.

If you are not able to compress it, putting it in Google Drive might be a good solution. It is best practice to use a generic email account that belongs to a group for the google drive rather than have the file belong to a specific person.

Allowed file types: 'apng', 'csv', 'doc', 'docx', 'dotx', 'eps', 'gif', 'jpeg', 'jpg', 'key', 'odt', 'pdf', 'png', 'pps', 'ppsx', 'ppt', 'pptx', 'svg', 'webm',

'webp', 'xls', 'xlsx'

Menus

Left menu is created the same. Using a parent/child relationship. That means you have to create the parent page before you assign the child to it.

However the left navigation no longer displays automatically. If you want the left navigation to display, you need to add a child menu block to the page.

The Horizontal menu at the top of the site is created by going to Site options and choosing “main menu”. When you add a page to the horizontal menu, the children are brought over automatically.

Posts

No difference creating posts. However the displays are different See Post Cards below. To create a post go to New Posts in the black toolbar or Dashboard->Posts->Add new post. Make sure to tag your post with desired categories and tags.

Post Categories & Tags

Mostly the same. To create categories and tags go to the dashboard, hover over categories or tags and select new. You can also add them directly on the post. Posts also have author taxonomy. So editors can add an author to a post. 

People

Adding people is the same. Go to Dashboard->New person, but adding the data to the fields is a bit easier. The fields are exposed instead of collapsed. You can add more than one Job Title and Department before you were limited to one of each. There is a place to add a map link to your location which is new. Adding the name for sorting and custom display name is more intuitive and noticeable. Adding the featured image and category is the same.

Note: the featured image is in the right sidebar and should NOT be put in the editor. Make sure there is data in the First and Last name fields. We use those fields for sorting the directory listings.

People Categories Previously People Types

Used to be called People types. Now called People Categories. To add categories hover over people in the dashboard and select categories.Then add a new one. People also now has tags in addition to categories.

Redirects

We now use Safe Redirect Manager. It is under Tools. You will click on “Create Redirect Rule” and then add the link to the old url and the new url. 

Block Link Card

New. Customizations for background and card color. Provides a grid with title, description and link. Block has an optional title and description. The old system doesn't have an equivalent.

/blocklink card

Blocklink Cloud

New. Customizations for background and card color. Provides a grid with title and link. Block has an optional title and description. The old system doesn't have an equivalent. This is supposed to be for a list of links. The old system doesn't have an equivalent.

/blocklink cloud

Icon Cards (previously factoids)

New. Similar to Factoids. Options are on the sidebar. There is an optional Block Heading, eyebrow text  and description that displays above the icons cards. Each card has an icon, title and description. Site editors can add many cards per block.

/icon card

Image Cards

New. Image is required. Block has an optional title and description. Fields for title, description, and link. It is easy to add multiple cards. It is customized in the right sidebar. You can change the background color from gray, blank or white and the card color from gray and white. There are two display options: grid and "circle" which are like tiles. The old system doesn't have an equivalent.

/image card

Image Gallery

Added Differently. To add an Image Gallery Select image gallery. There are fields to select the images. Captions and Alt tags. Display options are in the right sidebar. Editors can choose a grid or brick layout and users can choose the aspect ratio of the images, the background color of the block and whether 3 or 4 columns are displayed. 

/image gallery

List Links

New. Options are on the sidebar. Editors can change the card color and button color. There is an optional Block Heading, eyebrow text  and description that displays above the list link cards. Each card has a title, description and then the links. Site editors can add many links per card and many cards per block. 

/list links

Post Cards (Previously Post Listing)

Now called post cards. We have reduced how much customization is available. Options are on the right sidebar. Editors can customize how many columns, background and card colors. But the displays are set. 

/post cards

People Cards (Previously Directory Listing)

Now called people cards. We have reduced how much customization is available. Options are on the sidebar. Users can customize how many blocks, background and card colors. Easy to use.

 /people cards

Accordions (details block)

Added the same. . Accordions are called “details” and added by searching for the details block. The styling is a bit different. The old system has a border around the area. New system doesn't. There are no style customizations. 

/details

Big Video

NEW-ish To create a Big Video use a section block with a YouTube block. Set the section block to align full or wide and the video will fill the available space.

 /section, /youtube

Buttons

Added the same. Customizations are on the right sidebar. We have removed the option to change the shape of the buttons and have changed the styles available: Green, Gold, Green Outline, Gold Outline and custom. 

 /button

Code

Added the same. Style is a bit different. Grey background vs. Yellow in the old version. 

/code

Embeds

Changed. Site managers and editors no longer have the ability to add embed code. Web services will need to add it–which will require putting in a help desk ticket and having it routed to Web Services. Be sure to include the url of the page where the code should be added, a brief description of what the code is supposed to do and the code itself. Embed code has to meet our security and accessibility standards. Not all code will be approved. 

/snippet embed

Headings

Added the Same. Styles are streamlined with less customization so they are more consistent. Headings should be used in order. H1 is the title of the page. The editor will begin with H2 through H6.

/heading

Images

Added the Same. Options are on the sidebar. No real differences.

Info Block

Added the Same. Options on the right sidebar. Editors can choose between info (gray), warning (light yellow), caution (red) and success (green). Each of these options will change the background color of the block.

/info

Lists (bulleted and numbered)

Added the Same. Options are on the right sidebar. Limited customization for consistency.

/list

Page Headers

New. This is used for at the top of the page. Block has an optional title and description. The customizations are on the right sidebar. There are 4 layout options. Small, medium, large and form embed. The small is a field for the title and breadcrumbs. Medium has a title, breadcrumbs, and an image. The large has a much bigger image, description and button. The form option will embed a form with an rfi code typically used for academic programs. The old system does not have an equivalent.

/page

Paragraph and Basic Formatting

Now the content editor uses blocks. So each component from images to paragraphs are separate blocks with their own unique options on the right sidebar. 

There are blocks for headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, etc. 

Basic formatting like bold or italics work the same. Cntl-B, Cntl-I will toggle bold and italics on or off.

Program Search

New. This block allows users to search for programs and will take them to the program information on the new academics site. It is VERY important NOT to duplicate program information on individual sites. Always link back to the official program information on Academics.charlotte.edu either with a direct link or using this program search block. 

/program

Quotes

No change. Indents the area and allows for a quote with citation. There are no options on the right sidebar. Instead you click on the quote block and click on the feather icon to add the citation. 

/quote

Section Block

Section blocks can be used to set content apart from other content. It has padding (white space) on all sides so it is a nice way to separate sections of your page. But there are many ways to use this block so I can’t describe all the use cases here.

There is an optional block heading with options on the right sidebar for Eyebrow text, title, description and button. 

You can also set the background color of the block which will alter the color of the text. 

/section

Social Icons

Can add icons for many social media applications. These are not feeds, just a link to your profile page for each app. Click the plus to add the icon and then click on the icon to add the link to each profile. 

Only options are whether or not they open in a new window and you can choose to show the text with the icons. That setting is off by default. 

/social

Stat Card

Used to be Factoids. Optional block heading, description and link. 

Fields for Stat, Title and a SHORT description with an optional link. Two stats are required per block. Like all blocks, options are on the right sidebar.

/stat

Tables

Created it the same way, but the new design doesn't have borders in the editor. The customizations are similar and done in the right sidebar.

/table

Testimonials

New - Block has an optional title and description. Fields for a SHORT quote, name, and description. There is an image as well. The image, name and quote are required. The description is optional. The old system doesn't have an equivalent.

The description is SHORT and any extra text will be cut off. You will need to adjust your content to meet this requirement.

/testimonials