If you would like to add Announcements to a page that does not currently have an Announcements portlet, please contact the Site Administrator.
The Announcements section on department landing pages can display three different news items at one time. The section actually consists of two portlets:
- Content portlet ("Announcements" header and "See All" button)
- Data Summary portlet (where the actual announcements appear)
You do not need to edit either of these portlets to add an Announcement.
How to add an announcement
You will need to go to the Announcements page to add an announcement. Click the "SEE ALL" button to go to that page.
Once on the announcements page, go to +Page > News Content Page in the toolbar to add a new announcement.
You will get a pop up. Fill out the following:
- Page Name - This will show up at the top of the page. Generally, it should match the headline (see next step) for your announcement.
- Page URL - This will autofill after you enter the title. However, there is a limit to how long this can be, so you will need to change it. Click the lock icon and change the URL to something shorter. (Use underscores if including multiple words.)
- Page Owner - You shouldn't need to change this unless your department has a specific policy about who should own announcement pages.
- Category - Leave blank.
Click Create.
Complete the following fields on the next page.
PAGE PROPERTIES
- Title/Name - Should be autofilled.
- Summary - This description will show up if this page comes up in the website's search results. The search results page is the only place this content will show.
- Category/Featured Image - Leave blank.
PAGE CONTENT
- Title - This is the headline that will show up under "Announcements" on your landing page.
- We recommend keeping headlines short (5-10 words, no more than 60 characters). After you publish, review how it looks on your page in desktop and mobile view and adjust as necessary.
- Featured Image - We do not recommend putting an image here. This image will not show up in your Announcements portlet.
- If you have an image to include with the announcement, please include it in the body content of the page, where we have more control over the size and placement of the image.
- Summary - This is the brief introduction that will appear under the headline in your Announcements portlet. It will not show up on the page itself, so you may want to use the first sentence or two of your announcement.
- We recommend keeping the summary short, no more than 1-2 sentences. After you publish, review how it looks on your page in desktop and mobile view and adjust as necessary.
- Published Date - This date will show up on the portlet and on the page. Published date affects the order news items show. This does not affect when the announcement actually appears on the site. The news item will still go live when you click Publish, even if you select a date in the future. Use Release Date to schedule your announcement (see below).
- If you want an older announcement to move back to the top, update its published date to a more recent date.
- Body - This is the content of your page that visitors will see when they click "read more" in the Announcements portlet.
- Remember to Paste Without Formatting (icon with clipboard and file) if your copy and pasting in content. Don't forget to add back in links and formatting.
PAGE ADMINISTRATION
We strongly recommend setting an Expiry Date or Follow-up Task/Archive date for your announcements. We recommend a date 3-6 months in the future, unless the announcement has a natural expiration date (for example, an event or deadline that will pass).
- Release Date - Schedule a date and time for the announcement to appear on the site.
- Expiry Date - Schedule a date and time for the announcement to disappear from the site. It will no longer be accessible to the public. This can also be accomplished through Follow-up Tasks/Archive, which is recommended unless you expect to revive this announcement again in the future.
- Follow-up Tasks
- Review - Schedule a reminder email for the Page Owner if you need to come back to update or adjust the announcement at a later date.
- Archive - Schedule a date for the announcement to be archived. The page will no longer be accessible unless it is unarchived.
- Move - Schedule a date for the announcement to be moved to another area of the site. This is useful if you have an "Archived News" type of section. Please contact the Site Administrator if you would like to set this up.
Click Publish. Select Yes in the "Change page status from Hidden to Publish?" popup, unless you do not want the page to appear yet (in which case, we recommend setting a Release Date as above).
