SiteMasonry Tutorial

How to...Create a Marketing Landing Page

Kelly Hansen — Fri, 22 Jul 2022 18:53:08 +0000

How to...Create a Marketing Landing Page Kelly Hansen Fri, 07/22/2022 - 14:53

Whether it’s called a landing page, lead capture page, single property page, or squeeze page - the purpose of a marketing landing page is the same - prompt a visitor into completing a specific action, or ‘conversion’.

Building a marketing landing page within SiteMasonry is as simple as building a regular page. In her Quick Start Guide to Marketing Landing Pages, Kristin Heydt, OUB's Digital Strategist, explains the basics and walks through a sample SiteMasonry marketing landing page layout.

Topics

Marketing Area Page

Marketing Landing Page

SiteMasonry

Marketing

SiteMasonry Tutorial

How to...Create a Content Editor Account

Kelly Hansen — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 15:09:03 +0000

How to...Create a Content Editor Account Kelly Hansen Tue, 04/05/2022 - 11:09

Use Expressive Alt Text on Images

Add Sizzle to News Items

A perk of being a Site Owner is having the ability to create Content Editors for your managed site. Site Owners are also responsible for training and supporting their Content Editors.'

To create a Content Editor account, log in to your SiteMasonry site, then:

Click the ‘People’ tab in the admin navigation bar
Select ‘Add User’ from the dropdown menu

Fill out the form on the ‘Add User’ screen

Email Address - SiteMasonry only accepts @gmu.edu Mason email addresses
Check the box that says 'Allow User to Login via CAS'
CAS Username - Enter the user's Mason username/NetID. This will be the first part of their email address (NOT the entire email address).

QUALITY ASSURANCE MOMENT

Double check the accuracy and spelling of the CAS username and the email address!

These two fields are what allow the user to login with their Mason credentials, and must be accurate.

Username: Enter the user's first and last name. (eg: Jessica Mason)
Password: This is a temporary password used only by the system to create the account.

HOT TIP

This password will not actually be the one used, and so does not need to be memorable! Please open a text program, then type or generate a long (30+ character) string of random letters, numbers, and special characters.

Do not reuse passwords for more than one user. Always create a new one.

Status: Select 'active.'
Roles: Select only one role, 'Content Editor.' Other roles are being transitioned out of SiteMasonry.
Notify user of new account: Checking this box to send an automatically-generated email to the new Content Editor. If you are not yet ready for this user to log in and begin using their site, you may leave this box unchecked, and inform the user yourself later on.

All other form options (contact settings, locale settings, and URL alias) are used by SiteMasonry Platform Managers. Please ignore these options.

Submit the form, and the new user will be created.

Topics

SiteMasonry

Site Owners

SiteMasonry Tutorial

How to… Understand Versioning and Publication States - Draft, Published, and Archive

Kelly Hansen — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 19:21:28 +0000

How to… Understand Versioning and Publication States - Draft, Published, and Archive Kelly Hansen Wed, 02/02/2022 - 14:21

What is Versioning?

SiteMasonry's versioning workflow allows content to be modified in an unpublished Draft state without changing the publically viewable Published version of the page or content item (news item, profile, or program).

When an Editor makes content changes, SiteMasonry creates a previewable Draft version of the page or content item alongside a copy of the currently published page or content item. Each version can be viewed or retrieved on the page or item’s Revisions tab.

SiteMasonry's Publication States

SiteMasonry utilizes three publication states - Draft, Published, and Archive. The Publication State selector is located near the bottom of the page or item's 'Edit Settings' screen.

Draft

The Draft state allows an editor to make changes to a page without making content visible to site visitors. This acts slightly differently depending on whether or not an item has ever been published before. However, all drafts require a user to be logged in to view or edit. This means that should you wish to send a preview of edited content to another person, you'll need to either make sure they have an account on the site you are working on or rely on screenshots to show the changes.

New Content

If you are working on a new page or piece of content, setting a page in draft mode will let you see the page if you are logged in. However, you and visitors will not be able to see or visit the page until it is published.

Existing Content

If you are modifying currently published content, you can save changes as a draft. This will add a tab to your page labeled "latest version." The latest version will reflect your changes, while the current version is still public and viewable on the View tab. Once the page is re-published from Draft mode, all changes will become live and the old version will only be viewable via the revision log.

Published

A Published page is the most recent version of a page. It is 'live' and viewable to site visitors. You can make changes and push them as published immediately.

Topics

SiteMasonry

SiteMasonry Basics

Content Hub

Best Practices Tutorial

SiteMasonry Tutorial

How to...Add Alt Text to Images

Kelly Hansen — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 21:51:40 +0000

How to...Add Alt Text to Images Kelly Hansen Mon, 12/13/2021 - 16:51

��AV is committed to ensuring an inclusive digital experience. One essential practice to maintain accessibility is adding descriptive alt text to images.

What is Alt Text?

Alt text, or alternative text, is a brief description of an image that allows screen readers to convey the image’s content to users with visual impairments. It ensures that images are accessible to everyone, providing essential context for those who cannot see them. Alt text also improves SEO, as search engines favor pages that provide meaningful alt text for images.

Best Practices for Writing Alt Text

Be specific and relevant: Focus on what the image represents and its function within the content.
Be concise: Keep descriptions short but informative. Avoid overly detailed or redundant explanations.
Describe the purpose: If the image contains information not provided elsewhere, include that key information in the alt text.
Use context-appropriate language: Tailor the description to fit the surrounding content, avoiding technical jargon or irrelevant details.
Handle decorative images appropriately: If an image is purely decorative and doesn't add to the content, use null alt text (alt="") to signal screen readers to skip the image.

Example of Alt Text in Action:

For a photo of a tree: “A large oak tree with green leaves in summer.”
For a chart: “A bar chart comparing enrollment data from 2022 and 2023, showing a 15% increase in enrollment.”
For decorative images: Use empty alt text (alt="").

SiteMasonry CMS – How to Add Alt Text to Images

SiteMasonry offers two main ways to add images: via the Featured Image block and by embedding images into a Text Block. Adding alt text ensures that images remain accessible and compliant with accessibility standards.