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Editing Pages

Page Content

Checking Out

The first step in editing a page is checking it out. Much like checking out library books, checking out a page in Omni CMS ensures it is locked to you and that no other users can make changes while you are working on it.

To check out a page, click the lightbulb icon for the page, turning it yellow. This icon can be found in multiple locations:

• In the page actions toolbar, at the top of a page when you’re viewing it.

  

• In Pages list view.

  

• In the file navigation sidebar on the left-hand side.

  

• From the My Checked-Out Content gadget on either your dashboard or the gadgets sidebar.

  

• And finally, from the Checked-Out Content report.

A yellow lightbulb indicates the page is checked out to you; a white one indicates it is available.

If the page has a red lock icon, that means it’s checked out to another user.

Editable Regions

To open a page, click its name while in Pages list view. You can also click the More Actions

menu and select Edit > File.

The page is now in edit mode, which you can confirm in the page actions toolbar. You’ll also know it’s in edit mode when the green editable region buttons are visible.

Clicking a green button will open that editable region. Now you can type in the region, edit text, and insert images, links, and other content while being able to see what the changes will look like on the published page. This called the What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor.

The WYSIWYG toolbar at the top of the editing window contains much of the same functionality as common word processors, such as font styling and alignment, spell check, and list formatting, as well as the ability to insert content like images, assets, links, and tables. To save your changes and exit the editable region, select the Save and Exit button in the very top left corner of the toolbar.

To save your changes while continuing to work in the region, use the keyboard command Ctrl + S for Windows or Cmd + S for Mac.

Note: We recommend that you use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl/Cmd + C and Ctr/Cmd + V to copy and paste, respectively, rather than the buttons in the toolbar as some web browsers block copy and paste buttons from working.

Inserting a Link

To insert a link on a page:

1. In an open editable region, highlight the text that you want to turn into a link.

2. In the toolbar, click the Insert Link button.

3. To insert an external link, i.e., a URL not managed in Omni CMS, copy and paste it into the URL field.

   

4. To insert an internal link, click the file chooser button to the right of the URL field.

5. Navigate through the file structure to select the page you want to link. Once you’ve

   chosen a page, select Insert.

6. Notice what appears in the URL field. This is a dependency tag. Omni CMS uses something called Dependency Manager to keep track of and link to internal files. Each file is assigned a unique tag that is inserted into links. This way, the link remains valid even when the file is moved or renamed (though there’s nothing we can do about deleted files).

   

7. Other fields include,

   1. Title, which is the text that displays when you hover your cursor over the link;

   2. Open link in, where you can choose if the link opens in a new window; and

   3. Class, where you can apply a style to the link.

8. Finally, click Save to place your link on the page.

To edit an existing link, place your cursor in it and then select the Insert/Edit Link button from the toolbar. You can also click the Remove Link button, next to it.

If you are trying to upload a file and insert the link, we go over that in detail on the Creating Content page.

Inserting an Image

To place an image on a page:

1. In an open editable region, place your cursor on the page where you want the image to be placed.

2. In the toolbar, select the Insert/Edit image button.

   

3. In the Source field, click the file chooser button.

4. Use the file chooser to navigate through your website’s file system and find the image you want to add. Once you’ve chosen an image, select Insert. If the image isn't in the file system, you will need to upload it. More help on that on the Creating Content page.

5. Fill in the Description field describing what is in the image.

   • This is mandatory for accessibility reasons.

6. You can also alter the dimensions of the image or add a class attribute from the dropdown.

7. The Appearance tab lets you further alter the image. To affect the vertical space, horizontal space, and border width fields, type a number into the field and then click outside of it. Additional formatting can be entered in the Style field as well.

8. Once you’re done, click Save to place the image on the page.

I can't see my images in preview!

When you first upload images to Omni CMS, they are on the staging server and not the production server. This means you will not be able to see them in the preview tab of your page. We cover the different ways to publish your images and other files in the Creating Content section but in short if you publish the page with the dependency files section checked, your image will show up.

Inserting a Video

To place a video, or other media files, on a page:

1. In an open editable region, place your cursor on the page where you want the video to be placed.

2. In the toolbar, click the Insert/Edit Media button.

3. To insert a video file that has been uploaded to Omni CMS, select the file chooser button in the Source field and browse for the video.

4. Once you have found the video file, click Insert.

5. To embed a video from an external source (such as YouTube), paste the URL in the Source field.

6. Other fields include,

   • Alternative source, where you can enter a backup file in case the video doesn’t

     display properly;

   • Poster, where you can upload a thumbnail;

   • Dimensions that you can edit (Universal pages can contain a video up to 820px in width); and

   • The Embed tab, where you can directly paste the embed code for the video.

7. Click Save to place the video on the page.

   • While in edit mode, you’ll only see the video as a gray box. Save and exit the editable region to see how it will display on the published page.

Reusable Content

Assets

Assets are files created and managed separately from pages; when you place an asset on a page, you cannot edit the content. However, when an asset file is edited, every page containing that asset is republished to reflect that change. Assets are useful for placing the same information across multiple pages, such as a university address or phone number. This way, if the information changes, the original asset only needs to be modified once, as opposed to editing it on each page it appears.

To insert an asset:

1. In an open editable region, place your cursor where you want the asset to be placed.

   

2. Click the Insert Asset button in the toolbar.

3. Select an asset from the file chooser.

   

4. Once you’ve chosen an asset, click Insert to place it on the page. While in an editable region, the asset will display as a striped box, to indicate you cannot edit it.

   

5. To see how the asset will look on the published page, save and exit the editable region.

Snippets

Snippets are predefined content that you insert onto a page and can then edit without changing the original file. The snippet provides the styling and you fill in content when it is placed on the page.

To insert a snippet:

1. In an open editable region, place your cursor where you want the snippet to appear.

2. Click the Insert Snippet button in the toolbar.

3. Choose a snippet.

   • You can see a basic preview of what it will look like on the right-hand side.

4. When you’ve selected one, click Insert.

   

5. Now that the snippet is placed on the page, fill out content in the appropriate areas.

6. To add another row to the table for certain snippets like the accordion snippet: Set your cursor inside the snippet table by clicking on a row within the table. There will be a menu that pops up at the top and at the bottom. Use those buttons to add another row to the accordion. It will add another row before or after whatever row your cursor is currently in depending on what button you choose. 

7. To see what the snippet will look like on the published page, save and exit the editable region.

There are multiple types of snippets, but the main two are general snippets that can be placed on any page and full-width snippets which can be placed on landing pages and college pages. For reference, we have created a gallery of the snippets that can be placed on universal pages here: general snippet gallery. For most users, the snippets in the general snippet gallery will be the ones they use most often.

Editing Page Properties

Some information on a page is edited via properties, rather than through the WYSIWYG editor. Find page properties in the page actions toolbar, as long as the page is checked out to you. You can also find the file in the Pages list view, click the More Actions menu , and select Edit > Properties (again, this will only appear if you’ve checked out the page).

Note: Depending on your user settings, you may not have access to properties.

There are three items under Properties:

• Parameters: This includes metadata about the page, such as title and description, as well as different configuration options.

• Reminders: You can set scheduled and stale Reminders for a page, to notify you either at a certain date/time or when a page has gone unedited for too long.

• Log: Tracks all the changes that have been made to the page.

Editing Page Parameters

Page parameters is divided into two sections. The first is Title and Metadata. The Title and Description fields are displayed when the page comes up as a result on a search. Tags are used within Omni CMS to organize and sort files; your administrator will probably have specific guidelines for tagging content that they want you to follow.

The second section, Custom Settings, can vary from page type to page type within your implementation of Omni CMS. These often include the header image for the page, whether to display right and left columns, and other options for configuring content outside of the editable regions on the page.

Setting Reminders

There are two types of reminders you can set in Omni CMS for a page. A scheduled reminder sends you a notification on the specified date and time, with the option to repeat the reminder. A stale reminder is triggered if the page has not been edited within the specified period of time.

Versions

While working on a page, you may want to back it up before making any changes, so you can revert to a previous version if you don’t like the changes you’ve made. To save a version of a page, make sure the page is checked out to you, and click the More Actions menu in the page actions toolbar. Then click Save Version. You can enter a description to indicate what changes were made since the previous version or other useful information.

You can also view all versions of a page by selecting Versions from the page actions toolbar. Click the More Actions menu for the following:

• View: See what that version of the page looks like.

• Compare: Compare that version of the page with the version you’re currently working on.

• Revert: Change the version you’re currently working on to the highlighted version.

There is also the option to Compare to Live, in the top-right corner, allowing you to compare the version you’re working on to the page on the published website.