Site Functionality
The UL Lafayette website system is developed using officially branded templates built within the same content management system. Ragin’ CMS, the content management system deployed across the University, is a system for building robust corporate and educational sites, internet portals, e-commerce site, and more.
Standard
All University sites built will include the following features.
Inside RaginCMS (viewable only when logged into RaginCMS)
Admin Permissions/User Roles
A minimum of one site administrator role will be created for each University site. The Web team will maintain “super admin” status for every site. Sites with multiple departments will be able to sequester content based on user roles.
Admin Navigation
RaginCMS- specific navigation that allows Web editors to access, edit, and create content.
Content Types
The different types of content available for Web editors to create content on their pages. Page, header image, spotlights (several different types of these), and content image types come pre-loaded into each site.
Sortable Content View Page
A Sortable Content View Page allows Web editors to view all content created for a site, sorting status (e.g. published, unpublished, promoted, not promoted, sticky, not sticky), content type (e.g. page, image, success, bio, spotlight), content category (e.g. college, department, center, or institute), title, date, and last update. The Sortable Content View Page also has a menu that allows Web editors access to update options, including publish, unpublish, and delete.
Rich Text Editor
This editor presents a “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” interface for editing site content. This allows the user to add formatting via a Microsoft Word-like toolbar within the Web form.
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is a system for organizing website content through “tagging” content with specific terms or classification. Taxonomy is used for sorting content as well as granting editing authorization for website content.
Outside RaginCMS (viewable by everyone)
Page Titles
This is the public “name” of the page, which appears at the top of a user’s browser window. The page title should always include the name of the specific page, followed by the department name, college or office name (where applicable), and then the University’s full name.
Global Navigation And Footer Navigation
Global navigation appears in the dark red ribbon on university’s site (in the red drawer labeled “Explore” at the top of every page on subsites), and footer navigation appears below content in the gray bar. Footer navigation should also contain formal contact information for the department or office particular to the site the user is visiting.
Banner
The banner should include the name of the department, college, office, center, or institute. If the department, office, center, or institute is housed in a larger unit (such as a college or office), the name of that larger parent unit should be on a second line. The title of the department, college, office, center or institute should be clickable (and should take the user back to the homepage of the site). If there is a larger parent unit title displayed, that should be clickable as well, and should take you to that parent unit’s homepage.
Left-Hand Navigation
The navigational menus appearing in the left column of a site display secondary and tertiary content.
Events/Calendar Feed
The events/calendar feed displays in the left column of the site, and shows up to three events specific to the site the user is visiting, with a link to the full calendar for that particular site.
Breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs act as a navigation aid, giving the user a way to keep track of their location within the website. They provide links back to parent page of the current one.
Content Area
The main area for content on a page. It is located in the middle column, or can span both the middle and right column of a page.
Main Header Image
A wide, horizontal promotional photo placed at the very top of a page, just below the banner (and horizontal navigation if any exists). This photo can represent a more general theme and does not necessarily have to reflect the specific subject matter of the page it appears on.
Content Area Images
Images used within the content area to support the text within the content. They can be with or without captions.
Pages Tied To Navigation
All pages designated in a client’s site map. These pages come pre-loaded in RaginCMS when the site is delivered to the client, though often void of actual copy (the client is responsible for uploading and updating their copy).
Spotlights
Promotional block-like elements that sit in the right column of the page. There are different types of spotlights for different types of promotions, which include: regular spotlight, news story spotlight, generic photo (with or without caption), fast facts, quote (with or without photo), and a link list/contact. These spotlights are created, placed on the page, and updated by the client.
NOTE: All site liaisons are responsible for reading and adhering to the University’s Web policy and Web style guide when developing and maintaining a site.