content creation guide

Content Creation in CommonSpot

Revised for CommonSpot 5.0

July 23, 2008

Seton Hall University 7/28/2008

of 15

Table of Contents

Log On to CommonSpot.................................................................................... 3

Explanation of New Page Icon Buttons for Commonspot 5.0 ....................... 5

Authoring of Content directly on a page ........................................................ 6

Authoring Icon ..................................................................................................... 7

Changing Content in the Rich Text Editor ...................................................... 10

Submitting your changes ................................................................................. 11

Content Creation Dashboards ........................................................................ 15


of 15

Log On to CommonSpot To make any content modifications to the Seton Hall University website, you will be required to login using your provided login and password. You may login to ANY page managed by Commonspot by adding “login.cfm” to the URL. For instance, follow the link below to access the Arts and Sciences sub site on the CommonSpot authoring server. http://www.auth.shu.edu/academics/artsci/index.cfm To login, replace the “index.cfm” in the URL with “login.cfm” http://www.auth.shu.edu/academcis/artsci/login.cfm


of 15

The user will be presented with the login dialog. Enter your “User Id” and “Password” as provided by Web Development. Click “OK” to continue.

If the “Show Pending User Actions” checkbox is selected, the user may be presented with a list of pending actions in a dialog window. Click “Close” to continue.

Following this dialog, the originally requested page will be displayed with the new “Action” icons at the very top of the page, above the page content. Page mode is indicated at the far left.


of 15

Explanation of New Page Icon Buttons for Commonspot 5.0

- Tools & Information (formerly Knowledge Maps)– provides access to information such as Current document information, page search, page finder, image gallery, referring pages, etc.

- Page View (formerly View Modes) – provides access to “Read”, “Author” and “Edit” modes on the current page. Also provides “Login” and “Logout” and “User Profile” information.

- Properties & Actions - (formerly Page and Template Management) – provides access to create new pages, upload new documents, clearing page cache, show “my pages”, “my tasks” and pending actions. Modes of Operation - The top left of the browser window, indicates the current “mode” of the content contributor. Read mode is indicated by “Read” being displayed. Conversely, Author mode is indicated by “Author” being displayed in this area.


of 15

Authoring of Content directly on a page

To access the Authoring functions of the page, click on the Page View icon (eye glasses ) (1.) and then on the “Author” text (2. ).

This will open up the “modifiable” areas of the page. Additional icons will be displayed adjacent to the areas of the page where content changes can be made.

Content icons in “Author” mode. (circled in red)


of 15

Authoring Icon The new version of Commonspot (5.0) has simplified the icons for editing and made understanding the editing process easier for the user.

By mousing over the content area and it’s editing icon , the type of Commonspot element will be displayed in a pop-up dialog type display, telling you the type of element and it’s current state.

To access the editing features and menu, click on the icon. This will open the menu. This menu may vary depending upon access authority.


of 15

Clicking on the “∇ more” icon, will display the full list of options available on the element being edited. These options will differ depending upon the type of CommonSpot element and the user’s access authority.

Expanded menu options for Factoid


of 15

The above image shows the four areas on the Presidents main page that are available for modifications. Notice that the Seton Hall branding is not

modifiable. By clicking on the Edit Icon ( ) adjacent to the content, the appropriate dialog will open for the user to begin modifications. The user can no longer click on the body of the content to enter the edit dialog. The user clicks on the “Text” icon in this example.


of 15

Changing Content in the Rich Text Editor

The dialog for the Rich Text element is very similar to the common MS-Word utility that most are familiar with, in that most options like bolding, italics, numbering and indenting are available on the top of the dialog. A simple “mouse over” of the icon will display the function when clicked. The body of the content, as well as images (if desired), are entered here. Image sizes should be limited to 200 pixels wide with a variable height being acceptable. The use of photo images is suggested rather than “clip art” type images. If an image is needed and you don’t have one, contact the web development team for help. After making the content modifications, click on “Finish”. The CommonSpot spell checker will run and scan your content for spelling errors.


of 15

Submitting your changes After your content is scanned for spelling errors, etc., the user will be presented with the “Work in Progress” icon in place of the “Edit Icon”. This indicates that further action is necessary to move the content through the process.


of 15

By clicking on the yellow icon ( ), additional publishing options are made available.

Publication Options Submit – submit only this current change for publication. Submit Page – submit this and all other changes on this page for publication. Discard Change – discard this current change from publication. Compare – compare this change to the previous version. Select the “Submit” text for only submitting a single change.


of 15

After making your selection, the “Submit for Change” dialog will be presented. Modification comments are required to keep a running history of changes to the page and to allow fall back if necessary. Enter appropriate comments about your content modifications and click “OK”.

After submitting the content, the “Pending Approval” icon ( ) will be displayed. This indicates that additional approvals are necessary prior to the content going “live” on the web site. An e-mail was also generated and sent to the content approver, that requests approval of the content change that you just made. Once you content modifications are reviewed and approved, your modified content will be available and published to all site users !


of 15

Expanded Pending Approval Menu

To see what the Content Approver process is and what they see when a content change is made, please refer to the “CommonSpot Approval Process Guide”.


of 15

Content Creation Dashboards Most of the content elements available in the CommonSpot Content Management system are manageable at the individual page level, meaning that you can add a new element (Fast Fact, Quick Quote, News Item) from the individual page. However a more efficient way to manage the elements was created at a sub site level. The “Content Creation Dashboard “ was created to manage the elements available to a Content Contributor in a one stop location. For most sub sites, a custom content dashboard has been created for this purpose. As an example, for Arts and Sciences sub site, use the link below.

http://www.shu.edu/academics/artsci/dashboard.cfm

If the content contributor is not logged in, they will be required to do so, prior to be able to use this dashboard. Refer to the “Login to CommonSpot” section of this document for further information.

Content Management Dashboard

Individual content elements can be accessed by clicking the name in the “Manage Elements” links in the left navigation. The requested element data will then be listed in the datasheet view.

content creation guide

Documents