CommonSpot Introduction iMovie sits at the center of the iLife suite, integrating iTunes, iPhoto, and iDVD to help create professional-looking films with music, titles, and effects.  Although the current version of iMovie is HD-compatible, you will only be able to import and edit High-Definition Video if you’ve shot your footage on an HD camcorder.  February 2006 Colby College ITS

In This Tutorial… Content management Authoring at Colby Terms Interface Building blocks Editing your page Publishing your changes Creating a new page Managing pages February 2006 Colby College ITS

Content Management February 2006 Colby College ITS

Challenges and Solutions LESS time, FEWER people to do MORE – FASTER Information challenges include: Currency Relevancy Complexity Maintenance Timeliness Information solutions must be: Easy to learn Browser-based Based on templates and tools Consistent in look & feel Use automation In a very short while, Web technology has evolved from a dull, efficient text-presentation medium to a purveyor of dynamic multimedia displays. At the same time, the embedded formatting codes — in HTML and its successor languages — that give a Web page its appearance and interactive capabilities have grown increasingly complex and time-consuming to learn. Thanks to a suite of powerful features, with CommonSpot, the least technical of users can now go where only pros have gone before. February 2006 Colby College ITS

So, Why CommonSpot? Enduser View Meets the Goal Increased flexibility and ease of use By providing: Publish from Anywhere Browser-Based No need for client software, technical training or complex scripting Separate Design from Content Template-Driven Versatile, predefined page layout options Consistent look and feel while allowing customization of templates for departmental content Focus on Value not Quantity Quantity = How a thing is displayed; Value = What is displayed Authors concentrate on value with over 50 data formatting elements {lists, tables, images, etc.} CommonSpot empowers any and all Web site users with: •          sophisticated authoring tools, •          extensive metadata support, •          flexible formats for structuring pages, •          intuitive wizards, offering step-by-step guidance for tool usage, and •          powerful content scheduling and personalization features to deliver content based on the time of day and/or an audience’s interests, •          expiration and freshness reminder tools for delivering timely information, •          knowledge sharing and discovery tools to help users find, access and organize information, quickly and easily,  •          granular level security that can be applied at the subsite, page element or template level •          version history •          and distributed administration to allow those closest to the content manage the process, •          all this while never leaving the Web browser. February 2006 Colby College ITS

Why CommonSpot? The Development View Meets the Goal More service and support with fewer people By providing: Standards-based development Improved site compliance Direct support for publishing content to devices such as PDAs, phones, etc. Industry Standard publishing support WYSIWYG Editor Mac Support Context-Sensitive Help Content Reuse Quality Control Easy Upload of Rich Media Preview Mode  Collaborative Authoring Users do not have to learn any new software or programming languages. The technicalities of Web authoring are hidden behind commonly understood screen components — icons, menus, and wizards — that are added to the standard browser and tailored, page by page, to the role and permissions of the individual user. Individuals or departmental teams can now take responsibility for Web authoring and publishing, instead of funneling all the work to a small cadre of specialists. With CommonSpot Content Server 4.0, users can leverage the Web to its fullest extent by participating directly in the medium and communicating ideas and information with colleagues, business partners and customers without having to depend on technical HTML Web resources. No longer constrained by their dependence on Webmasters, all users can now share information from the desktop with anyone, anywhere, effortlessly and in real-time.  CommonSpot accomplishes all of this by providing benefits in the following six key areas described in detail below: empowered authoring and publishing, presentation management, content scheduling and personalization, content management, distributed administration and security, knowledge sharing and discovery.  February 2006 Colby College ITS

Authoring at Colby February 2006 Colby College ITS

Operational Requirements Remember Pop-Ups CommonSpot uses pop-up windows for dialogs Pop-up blocking must be disabled Windows Tools > Pop-up blocker > Turn off… Mac FireFox > Preferences > Content > Block Popup… Browsers Mac MUST be FireFox V1.5 Windows MUST be Internet Explorer Credentials You MUST be logged in to access authoring February 2006 Colby College ITS

Setting Up Your Environment Practice Launch your browser Log in Turn off pop-up blocking February 2006 Colby College ITS

Authoring System (1) www.colby.edu /… author.colby.edu /… Remember www.colby.edu /… Normal user view No access to authoring or publishing author.colby.edu /… Authoring view Access to authoring and publishing functions February 2006 Colby College ITS

Setting Up Your Environment Practice Type in the URL for your CommonSpot page Remember to go to the AUTHOR system February 2006 Colby College ITS

Terms February 2006 Colby College ITS

Commonly Used Terms Content well Above the fold Ghost text Area to the right of the left navigation bar where content is displayed Above the fold The part of the content well that can be seen by a user without scrolling Ghost text Grayed-out text on pages that direct the user to where content can be inserted or edited February 2006 Colby College ITS

Types of Content Pages Images Uploaded Files External Pages All sites are made up of individual pages Each page is formatted to match the underlying template of the site Images Graphical form of content Images are part of page content and are also stored in the image gallery The image gallery is a central repository of image files Uploaded Files CommonSpot can also manage non html content Users can easily upload images, PDFs, PowerPoint presentations, video clips, Flash and other rich media directly to the Web site External Pages Those not created by CommonSpot February 2006 Colby College ITS

Interface February 2006 Colby College ITS

CommonSpot Page Layout 1. Title Bar The text at top of browser window Activation Status When you want page published Breadcrumbs “You are Here…” Title The text at top of page Table of Contents Left navigation list Content Well Information you want on the page Above the Fold Visible without scrolling 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. February 2006 Colby College ITS

Icons Status Bar Menu Icons Published Page Activation button Activation interrupt Menu Icons Display menu Role menu Page menu Published Page No status bar 1. 2. 3. a b c d e f February 2006 Colby College ITS

Icon Menus You will use these the most Knowledge Maps View Modes Knowledge Maps - The first of these icons, the Knowledge Maps contain CommonSpot’s knowledge sharing and discover tools.   These powerful tools enable authors to value-add to the content they publish, and to begin to leverage all the collective knowledge of an organization.  Users can now access the relevant and valuable information they need, when they need it, in a format that reflects how they work. •          View Modes - The second icon, View Modes, controls the different modes in which a given user can view the page.    A given user may have rights to read, author, approve or edit modes.  Each view mode gives a user different options for interacting with the page content. •          Page and Template Management - The third icon, Page and Template Management, allows contributors to interact with properties and settings of the page itself.   Page and Template management offers functionality such as page properties, page and template creation, renaming and moving pages, etc. Knowledge Maps View Modes Page and Template Management February 2006 Colby College ITS

Knowledge Maps Used to manage pages See module “Managing Your Site” February 2006 Colby College ITS

View Modes What you can do on a page Read Author Edit Version History Cannot change anything Used to test look and feel and link displays Author Where you will do most of your work Allows creation and deletion of elements Edit Allows only editing of existing elements Version History Displays previous versions of the page You can “go back” to another version if you need to View Modes February 2006 Colby College ITS

Getting Into Author Mode Practice Click on the View Modes icon Click on Author February 2006 Colby College ITS

Page and Template Management Page-Level authoring tasks Most commonly used: Create New Page Creates a new page from current template Rename Page Changes the name of the page Delete Page Removes page My Pages Lists pages on site that you have created Page and Template Management February 2006 Colby College ITS

Viewing Your Pages Click on the Page and Template Management icon Practice Click on the Page and Template Management icon Click on My Pages Click on the + icon in front of My Pages and My Uploaded Documents February 2006 Colby College ITS

Ghost Text CommonSpot provides directions and pointers on the page itself Grayed out text will tell you where to click to insert elements Called Ghost Text February 2006 Colby College ITS

Building Blocks February 2006 Colby College ITS

Elements “Chunks” of formatted information Template-driven Most common Text Titles Paragraphs Lists Images Pictures Charts, illustrations Hyperlinks Links to other pages or documents February 2006 Colby College ITS

The Elements Selection Form Practice Scroll to the bottom of your page Click on Ghost Text to insert new element Click elements to open and close expanded lists Click Cancel February 2006 Colby College ITS

Editing Your Page February 2006 Colby College ITS

Publishing Your Changes February 2006 Colby College ITS

Creating a New Page February 2006 Colby College ITS

Creating a Page (1) Display the Role Menu Display the Page Mgt. Menu Click on “Author” Display the Page Mgt. Menu Click on “Create New Page” February 2006 Colby College ITS

Creating a Page (2) Click “Next” to create the page directly “under” your home page February 2006 Colby College ITS

Creating a Page (3) Select: Colby | Generic Templates If your department has specific templates listed, select your departmental template listing February 2006 Colby College ITS

Creating a Page (4) All generic templates display Click on a template that best suites your needs for this page February 2006 Colby College ITS

Creating a Page (5) Name Title URL-appropriate Lowercase, no spaces Title Display name on page Click on orange arrow to populate remaining information Enter keywords for search Set confidentiality Optional Publication date Expiration Reminder Click “Next” 1. 2. 3. 4. 6. 5. 6. 7. February 2006 Colby College ITS

Creating a Page (6) Leave this dialog as is Click “Finish” February 2006 Colby College ITS

Creating a Page (7) Your new page is created Note the green status bar Uncheck “Activate when published” Add content February 2006 Colby College ITS

Managing Pages February 2006 Colby College ITS

Managing Pages (1) In the Page Mgt Menu “My Pages” displays Click on “My Pages” “My Pages” displays Pages Uploaded documents Action buttons February 2006 Colby College ITS

Managing Pages (2) Cancel Move Delete Stops whatever action was underway Move Reopens the Create Page dialog You can only move pages to sites you have permission for Delete Deletes the selected page Inactive Page Indicator Work in Progress Indicator Edit this page February 2006 Colby College ITS

Managing Pages (3) Click on “My Pages” to expand the list Click on a page to open it in a browser window OR Click on the action icons OR Click on an action button February 2006 Colby College ITS

Questions. Comments. Contact: Mel Regnell Mel. Regnell@colby. edu ext February 2006 Colby College ITS