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University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Adding content

Guide to web writing

Is it acceptable to abbreviate the university name?  Not sure if a word should be capitalized or not? Or if "webpage" is one word or two? See the Guide to Web Writing for writing resources and style tips, including commonly confused words and phrases, appropriate PDF usage, and how to properly use punctuation.

Locking out content

When closing out of content, be sure to hit Cancel or Save/Save Changes, and NOT the "Back" button on your browser.  Hitting the "Back" button on the browser can lock the content so that others cannot access it.

Content is added onto pages in blocks. These blocks are already formatted by the web development team for the content to be correctly placed onto the page - our users simply need to insert their own copy and images.  As a user, you decide how many and which kind of content blocks you need to add onto your page.  The arrangement of your blocks of content can also affect in which order the content appears on the page.

A website is comprises of blocks of content built on top of one another.

Each piece of content gets stacked, typically in the order it appears the page.  There are some exceptions based on how certain content types are coded. (eg. a Right-column: contact will also appear in the right column, no matter where it appear in the content list).

There are several ways you can add content onto your pages. 

  1. Select the section that you are going to add content to. From the section Action Menu, select Create Content.
Create Content from the site structure

The blue Action button is on the same line as the section where you would like to add content.

  1. You will then be asked to choose a content type to add the content to.
  1. Once you are in the section that you would like to edit, go to the Content tab.
Create content from the section

The Content tab is the second tab in the section, and where you will likely spend most of your time editing content.

  1. Click the green Add Content button. You will then be asked to choose a content type to add the content to.
Add content button when creating content from a section

Add content button when creating content from a section

  1. Go to Content > Create Content in the left menu.
Create content menu

You can find the Content tab in the main T4 menu.

  1. A window will appear. Choose the section to add the content to.
Create content window

Browse through the folders of the site structure by expanding them.

  1. If necessary, expand the site structure by using the plus (+) icon to the left of the name to see more sections. Select the name of the section you want to add content to.
  2. You will then be asked to choose a content type to add the content to.
  1. When you have specified the section that your content will be added to, you will choose the content type. 
  2. Click the green + Insert button and the editor will appear.

Learn more about editing content in Direct Edit mode or simply reference T4's documentation.

Choose a content type in direct edit

Choose your content type for your section.

Content Types

When you are adding content, you must choose the content type that the content will use. When you have specified the section that your content will be added to you will choose the content type.

Most content will use one of the following Content Types.  (These are the most common, so if you don’t see these, please reach out to webdevelopment@umassd.edu and we will enable them for your section.)

Main Content

The most common content type. It is used to begin a section's main content area.

The main content content type consists of five (5) content blocks that have corresponding image, video embed, and caption fields.

Images

Images should be entered using the Image element's Select Media button. Do not use the Image element to enter in documents. Images can be several filetypes: jpg, gif, png. Images should not be entered where you enter in your content. More about adding images to your page

Documents

Documents, like PDFs, can be entered where you enter in your content using the Insert file link or image button in the text editor. More about adding documents to your content

Videos

Videos and images share the same spot, so if you upload both, video will take priority and will display in place of the image if there is a video’s embed code in the Video embed code field (for example, the code in the “Video embed code 3” field would overwrite any uploaded into the Image 3 spot). If you wish to show both an image AND a video on the same page, be sure that they are not in the same corresponding field (For example: fields Video embed code 2 and Image 3). More about adding video to your page

Here is a side-by-side of how T4 content is translated onto a live page: Main Content Helper Guide. (PDF)

NOTE: Element names and order are subject to change.

Right-column: contact

For adding contact information to a right-column. This contact block will leverage the directory for staff contact information ensuring accuracy and consistency. The Web team, in coordination with CITS, developed contact content types to obfuscate email addresses to protect your contact information from being picked up by bots.

Right-column section

You may find your contact info block is not on your page but is being pulled from a child section named right-column. This allows for your contact info to be displayed across all your pages from a central location without the need to manage them individually.

Right-column: content

For adding additional content to the right column. Displays under Contact information. This can also be mirrored across pages or leverage the right-column child section method.

More from this section

Getting started

Additional guides

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