College of Engineering |

After a new account has been created for you by the DECS Webmaster group, you can log into your website by adding the word user to the end of the website URL.  For example: http://www.egr.msu.edu/yoursite/user.

If you have forgotten your password you can click on the Request new password tab on the login page and a new one will be emailed to the address you provide. It will come from webmaster@egr.msu.edu with the subject line: “Replacement login information for [your username] at [your website name].” Click on the link to log in, or copy and paste the link and reset the one-time password to one of your own choosing.

After logging in you will see a narrow black toolbar at the very top left corner just above the site header with the home icon and the words Dashboard, Content, Add content and Find Content.

 

Content

You can find everything that was created for your website through the Content list. To find something specific, click on Content and choose an item from the type pull-down menu, and then click Filter.

To narrow the search, such as to see whether the content is published or not published, choose a status from the status pull-down menu and click the refine button. If you wish to search for another content type click the Reset button.

Adding new content

To add a basic page or any of the content types built for your site, click on Content > Add content and choose the type of content you wish to create. Fill in the required title field, add text / images to the body and provide content for any other required fields. (Required fields = * red asterisk) When you are finished scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Save button.

Basic Editing Tools

Edit Content

To edit any existing pages or content types, go to the page or item that you want to edit and then click on the Edit tab. If there is no edit tab on that page then the content is a dynamic content type so sort by the content type pull-down list and click the edit or the title of that particular item.

Adding Images to the Body field

1. Find the page or content type you wish to add an image to and click the Edit tab.
2. Scroll down to the Body field.
3. Place your cursor next to the text where you would like to insert an image.
4. From the toolbar click the insert image icon (a small picture of a tree).
5. A small window will appear, Insert/Edit Image. Click on the red and blue Browse box to the right of the Image URL field (see image at right).
6. A new window will appear called a File Browser, (image at right, steps 1-4), click Upload (1).
7. A smaller browse file window will open inside of this window. Click the Browse button to find the file you want to use. (2)
8. Once you have found the image file you want click Open to select the image and then click the second Upload button (3).
9. Click on the Insert File button near the top right of the window (4).
10. The file upload window will close and you will be back on the Insert/Edit Image window. On the General tab add Image Description describing the photo or image. Example: Photo of the Engineering Building. 
    
    Note: The Image Description is also known as Alternative Text and makes the image “accessible” for visitors using screen readers or other assistive devices. Adding text to the Title field will allow a visitor to see the name of the photo while hovering over the image with their mouse, similar to a caption.

Click the Appearance tab to set desired horizontal or vertical spacing and any alignment, or leave as is. Images can be resized by changing the numbers in the dimension fields. To keep proportions correct make sure the Constrain Proportions box is checked. When you are finished with the appearance settings click the Update or Insert button. Scroll down to the bottom of your page and click the Save button.

Adding Links

To add a link to an inside page highlight the text you want linked and click the Insert/Edit Link button and add the Relative Path in the Link URL field, which is everything after .edu/ such as /yoursite/about.

To add a link as a URL to an outside website, highlight the text to be linked, click the link button and add the full URL, such as https://msu.edu/. The Target drop-down gives options of the link to Open In this Window or in a New Window/Frame.

Note: It is best to use Open in a New Window (_blank) for any website that is taking you away from your own website. Provide Title text indicating where the link will take the visitor and advise them if the target will open in a new window. 

To add a link to a document or a larger clickable photo, highlight the text you want linked and follow the same 6 through 9 steps as adding an image (above). Add Title text indicating the link will open a file. For example, “Link to the Research Goals document; will open in a Portable Document Format (.pdf).”

Menu settings, Revision Information, URL path settings, Authoring information, Publishing Options

Menu settings with the Basic Page

You can add a basic page into the main menu by checking the Provide a menu link box at the bottom of the page, next to Menu settings. The Menu link title field will automatically take the title of the page and can be edited. Choose the Parent item and weight to set the desired menu order and save the page.

Revisions

All content has a Revisions tab where you can view and revert to an earlier version of the page or content type.

URL path settings

Add desired text for the page URL. For example, type about when writing an about page. Use a relative path and don't add a trailing slash or the URL alias won't work.

Authoring information (Changing the order of the rotating homepage photo feature)

The authoring information lists the creation date, time and author of the page or content type. To change the order of the rotating homepage photo features, change the authoring date and time to be before (to make it first) or after a given date/time of the other features. 

Published / Unpublished content

All content has Publishing Options in the bottom left corner of the page. If you are not ready for the content to be published, uncheck the Published box and save the page. The background will appear with a pink color to indicate its unpublished status. See also the content listing, Status column indicates whether the content is published or not.