Webmaster's Blog

Proper Content and Page Structure

Published November 10, 2017

The following tips are meant to help CMS users with day-to-day maintenance of basic content on their websites.

Paste as Text

If you paste content from a document or email into Modern Campus CMS, you will likely get a bunch of bad code added behind the scenes that will effect how your webpage will look at function. To avoid issues, try clicking the “Paste as Text” button before pasting your content or use the Ctrl + Shift + V key combination.

The negative to pasting as text is that you will have to do some formatting manually (adding bold, adding links, etc). However, this will help to ensure that your website meets brand and accessibility standards and works correctly on all devices.

Headings

Headings play a key role in accessibility requirements and general page usability. It is important to use proper HTML headings instead of bold paragraphs or single lines of text and to not use the heading styling when the content is not a heading. To apply a heading style to a line of text, put your cursor inside of the line of text and then select a heading level from the paragraph dropdown menu in the Modern Campus CMS editor. The same method working in other online applications, such as Google Docs. For text that you want to highlight that is not actually heading content, use the font styles in the Styles dropdown menu of the Modern Campus CMS editor instead.

Department Publications

Published November 1, 2017

By Megan Ross

Modern Campus CMS

Departments that produce regular newsletters or magazines can use the Michigan Tech Magazine template to digitally display their publications on their departmental website. You can refer to the Biological Sciences Newsletters as an example. Interested departments should contact webmaster@mtu.edu to get set up. Additional training beyond the regular editor training is required for all new users needing to create department publications. The department’s web liaison should reach out to webmaster@mtu.edu to request access and training for new users.

Pop-up Text Snippet

Published October 26, 2017

By Megan Ross

Modern Campus CMS

This snippet allows you to create a link or button on the page that opens a pop-up window displaying text. The pop-up can include headings, links, and images.

Image with Caption Snippet

Published October 18, 2017

By Megan Ross

Modern Campus CMS

This snippet will create an image with text beneath it. The image can be left or right aligned so body content wraps around it if it is not the full content area width or center or left aligned with no wrapping. If you have cropped an 800 size or larger of the image being displayed, the system will automatically include a pop-up of the image and caption.

Writing Good ALT Tags

Published September 6, 2017

By Joel Vertin

Alt tags (also known as Image Descriptions or alt text) are a very important for the accessibility of your webpage. Moz does a good job of explaining what alt tags are. Please take a moment to read up on what alt tags are and why they are important. Moz also provides some tips for how to write good ones.

There are many uses for alt tags. The most well-known ones are:

Screen readers will speak the alt tag of an image for users who cannot see.
If an image cannot be loaded due to some sort of network or IT error, the alt tag will display instead.
Alt tags boost search engine rankings and can help your website’s images display in Google search results.

RSS Feed Combined Snippet

Published August 23, 2017

By Megan Ross

Modern Campus CMS

Use this snippet to display a feed of news, blog posts, or events on your page. You can combine multiple feeds. This snippet includes a styled heading and the option for buttons or social media links in the heading. This is an advanced function.

Random on Refresh Snippet

Published August 23, 2017

By Megan Ross

Modern Campus CMS

This snippet allows you to enter multiple pieces of content in a region that will change on the live site each time a user refreshes the page. The content that displays is one of the cells, chosen randomly.

Updating Your Faculty Profile

Published August 22, 2017

By Joel Vertin

Modern Campus CMS

Faculty Update Form

Please access the Faculty Update Form online:

Faculty Update Form

Google My Business

Published August 18, 2017

By Joel Vertin

General Web

A free service called Google My Business lets small businesses update their search engine listing. This is particularly useful for Michigan Tech departments who focus on sales, who run promotions, who have distinct hours of operations, and/or which attract and serve tourists.

Customizable Content

Google My Business lets you customize various aspects of your business information in Google search results, including:

Address
Hours of Operation, including special hours for holidays
Phone number(s)
Photos of your business (inside and outside)
Promotions/Sales
Website

Chart Snippet

Published August 16, 2017

By Megan Ross

Modern Campus CMS

This snippet is used to embed charts on your page from Google Sheets. You can select from various chart types and include a chart title and axis titles. For accessibility compliance, Google includes a table that is read/visible only to assistive technology. For this reason, you must use specific formatting or layouts in your data sheet.