Working with Content on Scripps's Mega-Site

The Log in link is on the lower right-hand corner of every page of the website. It will take you to a page where you should click on “Log in using UCSD Single Sign-On” to go to a second page where you can enter your Active Directory login and password.

Your login will be set up to only let you edit types of content specific to your area.

Content on the website is set up in different content types, which are templates for different areas of Scripps, such as Education, CASPO, Scripps News, events, etc. (Email sioweb@ucsd.edu to ask for or update editing permissions.)

Once you are logged in you will see two extra ways of interacting with the website:

• A toolbar across the top with two rows of links
• “Add Content” and “Find Content” are probably the only tools you will use here. The “Style Guide” addresses basic style questions. (If you don’t see the second, gray row on the toolbar, click the arrow on the far right.)

• • Add Content lets you create blank pages to fill in.
  • Find Content lets you search for existing pages.
• Links within the content to View, Edit, Outline, etc. – but only on pages you are empowered to edit. This is the easiest way to get into your content.

Once you click “edit” on a page, you’ll be taken to the editing view.

The fields you are most likely to want to change – such as the title and the body field – are displayed by default, but other fields are hidden under other tabs, such as “Related Media,” “URL Path Settings,” and “Authoring Information.”

The WYSIWYG toolbar includes a Format dropdown menu useful for making headlines by wrapping them in H3 tags; bold and italic options; number list and bullet list options; subscript, superscript, and symbol tools; linking tools; a table-making widget and some formatting tools.

Basics of editing:

• Page titles: This is the text that displays on the top of the page and on a landing page or in a menu. It may also used for the page’s URL, so please check before changing.
• Images: Due to our responsive design, pages generally support only a single image at the top. Images created for this position should be 870x350 pixels. Make sure to include an alternate text description of what’s in the photo for the visually impaired; we’re required to make our content accessible to all users.
  • To post a gallery of images, see “Related Media” below.
• Text: Drupal likes your text to start out plain. You can copy text in from Word documents or other web pages, but please use one of these clipboard tools to Past from Word; they will clean up rogue formatting issues.
  • You can add some formatting: Bold, italic, bullet lists, numbered lists, subscript, superscript, and special characters. But you can’t control the exact layout of your text, since it will vary with the reader’s browser or device.
  • To add a hyperlink, select the text you want to be a link, click on the globe with the chain icon, and then paste in the URL.
  • Note that writing for the web tends to be different from writing for print. Readers tend to scan text for specific information, so it helps to
    • Use bullet lists and keywords.
      • Seriously, almost any list should be a bullet list.
    • Break up long paragraphs.
    • Write short.
    • Write plainly, but use terms suitable to your material that users might scan or search for.
  • URL path settings: If “Generate automatic URL alias” is checked, that means the URL to this page is tied to the page title, and changing the title will change where the page is found on the site.
  • • If the box is not checked, the path to the page has been set manually and should not be altered – but you can change the page title without fear. 

Downloads -- PDFs and Other Documents:  Most pages on the website support uploading PDFs, Word documents and other files that users can download. Files to be uploaded must be saved on your computer or be accessible for uploading from the network.

• To upload files, scroll to the bottom of the Content tab (the default page for your content), click on the “browse” button, navigate to the file, and click “Upload.”
• The file will be uploaded and a new “File Information” table will appear on the editing page.
• By default, uploaded files will display at the bottom of the page, showing the name of the file as the link text, with an icon for the file type and information on the file size. If you want to use something more reader-friendly, put a title in the “Description” field.
• You also can keep files from displaying at the bottom of the page by unchecking the “Display” box. You might want to do this if you’re linking to the file higher up in the text, such as in a bullet list.
• To put a link to a file into the body of your page, right-click on the file name under “File Information” and select “Copy Link Location.” Scroll up to your content, select the text you want to turn into a link, click on the icon of the tiny globe with the chain across it, and paste your link into the URL field. Hit “OK” and save your work.
• Note that if you do not save the page after uploading a file, the file will be deleted.

Related Media: You can add both YouTube videos and Flickr slideshow links to the right-hand rail by using the Related Media tab.

• YouTube: Pasted in a title and the “share” URL from the video’s YouTube page. Note that the system will not recognize most YouTube links, such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oR05PvuW_4&feature=c4-overview&list=UUw6_AmGqKxQ8lPhXYzAhpcg; you must go under the video’s “Share” menu and choose the plainest URL, like this: http://youtu.be/4oR05PvuW_4
• Flickr: Create a “set” of photos in Flickr (contact Communications if your department doesn’t have its own account), then copy and paste the set URL into a URL field with the appropriate title in the title field. This will make a thumbnail display on the right-hand side of your page; when users click on it, a lightbox will pop up over the page and users will be able to browse your photos without leaving the site.