The goal of this document is to give you a quick jump start on knowing what you as a content provider can do to ensure accessibility as defined by the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

If you want a thorough understanding, go to the excellent Penn State ITS guide to accessibility.  Where appropriate, this document will simply reference that.

If you are really curious -- and ambitious -- read the quick reference to W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guide.

This document is geared toward sites within a content management system and in particular Plone sites.  While there are some Plone-specific notes below, this information applies regardless of the CMS you are using.

Many of the page elements are controlled by the templates within your content management system.  If you are a site manager or developer, this document can help you build (or modify, if necessary) your site's templates to adhere to accessibility guidelines.  You should definitely read the ITS guide to accessibility referenced above and in particular, see the Advanced Web Design section of the ITS Accessibility Guide checklist.

Following are some of the things you should do.

Provide text alternatives for any non-text content

1. Images - For images, this means providing alt attributes to your image tags.  Those tags should be descriptive but concise and semantically useful.  In Plone, the title of the image you upload becomes the value of the alt attribute, so create a good title.
2. Audio and Video - Alternatives should be offered for pre-recorded video and audio in the form of captions or scripts.  In the case of video, captions are preferred.
3. Charts and graphs - Charts and graphs should have either an alt attribute or a longdesc attribute.  Longdesc enables authors to provide a more detailed explanation of the content and can actually point to a file that holds that description.  Also, beware of color coding the chart as that can be inaccessible to a user with color blindness.
4. Decorative elements - If non-text content is pure decoration, is used only for visual formatting, or is not presented to users, then it should be implemented in a way that it can be ignored by assistive technology (e.g. images that have no meaning should have an empty alt tag like this: alt="").

Use Header Tags

Use header tags (h1 ...h6) to define logical blocks of content.  In Plone, the editor gives users a heading  and one or more subheadings to apply these elements.  In addition to the formatting enhancements, these serve as indicators of information hierarchy within a document.

Links

A link should be text that describes the page to which you are linking.  Avoid "Click Here" links.

See the PSU accessibility guidelines for a more detailed explanation.

Using Tables

Table headers, the scope attribute and the caption tag are necessary to make a table accessible. The summary attribute for simple tables, but can increase the comprehension of more complex tables for people using screen readers.

Table headers help screen readers parse the data in your table.  You should include a scope attribute on the th tags (e.g. <th scope="col">) to define how the headings relate to the data.

A caption tag within the table element should describe the table contents.

A summary attribute is placed within the table tag and can clarify the organization of the table or provide a quick summary of results.

Marking up a table correctly will most likely require the content provider (or site administrator) to edit the HTML directly.  WYSIWYG editors typically won't address all of these issues.

Examples of good table markup practices

No need to worry about breaking links when changing a URL in Plone. The original link still works behind the scenes (this is called an Alias, or Redirect).

How to Shorten a URL

1. First, a couple of settings on your site need to be changed. Ask your site administrator or your friendly WebLion representative to enable Short-Name editing for you.  He or she will change settings at the following locations:
   • /@@site-controlpanel
   • /prefs_user_details in your user profile.
2. Once these settings have been changed, you are ready to edit URLs. Log in to your site, go to a content item whose URL you wish to shorten, and Edit the item. You should now see an additional field, called Short Name. 
   
   
   
   You can now shorten or change the Short Name to whatever you wish, as long as it is a well formed URL. Because it's part of the item's web address, the Short Name must not contain sp a ces, under_scores, MixedCase, ALLCAPS, or $ym%ols. These can create usability issues or just not work.
   
   Well Formed Short Names:
   • conference
   • foster-conference
   Badly Formed Short Names:
   • CONFERENCE
   • foster conference
   • FosterConference
   • foster_conference
   • foster-conference@psu
3. Once you have carefully renamed the Short Name, save your changes. Your content item will now have a new URL.

Folders and Information Architecture

Folders and Collections are two of your most important tools for setting up your site's Information Architecture and keeping it under control. Plone provides you with a number of handy tools for managing folders and the items that live in them.

Folder Display Options

Using the Display menu, you can set up a Folder to be viewed in several ways. Experiment with these to see which is the best display option for your Folder's content.

Folder Display: Summary View

The default view for Folders is Folder Summary View. It lists the Title and Description of each item, with a Read More... link leading to the item. When you are logged in, you also see who created the Folder (in this case, by admin), when it was last modified, and can view its History.

Folder Display: Summary View on Images Folder

In a Folder containing images,  Folder Summary View displays an image Thumbnail in addition to the Title, Description, and  link.

Folder Display: All Content

The All Content Folder display shows each item along with its content. This can be handy if, for instance, you have a multi-page set of instructions and you want to give users the option of viewing or printing all the instructions at once.

Folder Display: Tabular View

Tabular View arranges Folder items in a table. As a logged-in user, you see the Author and Date Modified in addition to the Title and Content Type.

Folder Display: Thumbnail View

Thumbnail View can be used for any Folder, but it is especially useful for Folders containing Images. It's an efficient display of Image Thumbnails with their Titles. Both Thumbnail and Title are linked to the Image Item.

Folder Display: Standard View

Standard View shows logged-in users the linked Title, Author, Description, and Modification Date of each Item. Nonlogged-in users see the linked Title and the Description.

Folder Display: Select a Content Item as Default View

It's common to set a Default page for a Folder so that website visitors see this page when they arrive at the Folder—rather than viewing a listing of the Folder's contents. These Default pages are also called Landing pages, or Index pages.

...Select a content item as default view allows you to select a Page or other Content Item as a Folder's Default View.

Folder Display: Select Default Item

Select the Item in the Folder—for instance, a landing Page you have created there—that best serves as the Default View.

Folder Display: Default View Serves as an Index Page

When users navigate to this Folder, they will view this Item rather than a listing of the Folder's contents.

Editing the Default View Vs. Editing the Folder

One caveat about Folder Default Views: Be careful what you're editing!

Click the Edit tab on a Folder that has a Default View, and you will be greeted with a message warning that you are about to edit the Default View, not the Container. If you want to edit the Folder itself, follow the go here link in this message.

Folder Contents View

Use a Folder's Contents tab to see Folder's Contents View:

Folder Contents View: What You Can See

The Folder Contents View provides a handy list of all the contents in a Folder:

Folder Contents View: What You Can Do

Even better, in Folder Contents View, you can perform a number of useful tasks:

• Click Show all items to see all contents on one screen.
• Select a few items. Or Select: All.
• Reorder items.
• Batch handling: Copy, Cut, Rename, Paste, Delete, Change State.
• Traverse Levels.

Folder Contents View: Show All Items

If you want to see everything in a Folder that contains many Items, use the numbered tabs or the Show all items link at the bottom of the Folder Contents listing. Another way to see a Folder Contents listing of all Items is to place @@folder_contents?show_all=true after the Folder's URL. For instance:

http://127.0.0.1:8080/chickadees/breeds/@@folder_contents?show_all=true

Folder Contents View: Select All

Use the Select: All link when you need to make changes to all the Items in Folder Contents View.

Folder Contents View: Reorder

You can reorder Items using the slider column along the left side of Folder Contents View. Click next to the Item you want to move, and a slider crossbar will appear. You can now slide the Item up or down in the list.

Folder Contents View: Batch Handling

Check the boxes next to multiple Items that you want to modify. You can now Copy, Cut, Rename, Paste, Delete, or change the  State of these items.

Folder Contents View: Traverse Levels

You can also Copy/Cut and Paste Items from Folder to Folder. You can traverse from Folder to Folder staying in Folder Contents View by using the Up one level link.

Folder Contents View: Rename

Folder Contents View: Rename

Folder Contents View: Rename

Folder Contents View: Change State

Folder Contents View: Change State

Folder Contents View: Change State

Restricting Content Types in a Folder

By default, you can add any Content Type to a Folder. Restricting this is a simple and effective way to control what content gets created where on your site.

To do this, select the Restrictions choice in the Add new... menu:

Choose The Types You Want to Restrict

To choose the types you want to restrict from your folder, select Specify types manually, and then unselect the types you want to restrict.

You also have the option to allow certain types to be added under a More... submenu.

Restriction Simplifies, Adds Control

In addition to providing more control, restricting items that can be added to a folder simplifies the interface and can help prevent content-provider confusion.

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In the Add Portlet menu, select RSS Feed.

You will see the following screen:



In the Number of items to display field, Indicate how many Twitter posts you want to display in the portlet. You can edit the portlet and change this number any time.

In the URL of RSS feed field, place the URL you created in Step 1. For example,

http://api.twitter.com/1/statuses/user_timeline.rss?screen_name=weblion

The Feed reload timeout field indicates the number of minutes that will pass between times when the portlet will refresh data on your site. The default is 100 minutes. That means that every 100 minutes, the portlet will refresh itself and show any new Tweets posted during that time. If needed, you can shorten the Feed reload timeout so that it posts new Tweets more often.

Why is my RSS portlet title so weird? Can I change it?
If you're asking this question, you're probably still using Plone 3. In Plone 3, it is not possible to change the Title of RSS portlets -- the portlet grabs the title from part of the feed. In Plone 4, you will be able to specify a Title of your choice for RSS feeds.

• Organize content in a logical structure so that users can easily find what they're looking for.
• Plan to invest some time organizing your site.
• Visitors approach your content from many different perspectives.
• Helping visitors find what they need also helps contributors find where to share their knowledge.
• User needs may also change over time, making it important that you plan to maintain your site's organization over time.

Anatomy of a Simple Plone Site

What you see here is a map of a simple Plone site. Here's what's important about its structure...

At the top of this structure is the Home Page. The Home Page stands alone at the root of the site—that is, it does not live inside a Folder.

Next, we have three Folders, the titles of which represent the site's main subtopics.

The content of each Page within a Folder is a further breakdown of that main subtopic.

With the exception of the Home Page, all Pages and other files on this site are organized within their proper Folders.

• This is the goal: A place for everything, and everything in its place.

Organizing content in a logical hierarchy and storing files and content types in their proper places is an important part of what is called sound web Information Architecture.

Levels of a Simple Plone Site

• The Home Page and top Folders are at Level 1, or the root of the site.

Levels of a Simple Plone Site

• The Pages within the top Folders on this site are at Level 2.

This site has only 2 levels.  Adding more Folders inside of Folders will make the site deeper and more complex.  But as you continue deeper down the trail of breadcrumbs, ask yourself, "Do my users need this extra level?"  Or is there a better way to organize this information?

Best Practices for Setting Up a Structure

• Inventory content.

Conduct an inventory of manageable pieces of sample content.  Often, breaking down a single section of content will help you navigate an otherwise vast sea of information.

• Look for organizing principles.

Take some time to discover common threads, recurring themes, and organizing principles within your site's content.

• Perform card sort.

Card sorting is a common exercise that involves putting important subjects on cards, and then organizing the cards into groups.  Should any cards appear in more than one group?  Are there relationships between some of the groups?

• Look for content types.

Do any of the groups match Plone Content Types?

• Look for hierarchies, such as outlines, trees, maps.  Examples: steps in a process, events in time, places, or disciplines.. Create folder structures.

If some of the groups form a hierarchy, such as an outline of topics and subtopics, a tree of branches and leaves, or a map of areas within areas, create a structure of folders for those groups.  You may discover groups covering steps in a process, events in time, places, or disciplines, for example.

• Look for groups of ownership.  Create folders.

If some of the groups follow ownership of the content within them (such as the organization chart), create folders for those groups.

• Look for other cards & groups that don't fit into a single hierarchy.  Create tags & collections.

Do you have groups left over, or cards that fit into multiple groups?  For example, you have created a set of folders for steps in a process, but have left over groups for different audiences who all use that process.  Create tags on your content items to represent those audiences.  Use Plone Collections to display the content tagged as relevant to each audience.

Content Growth

A common request that content managers get is to "put up a webpage." Frequently what this really means is not a single Page but a whole new section somewhere on the website. When it's time to put up this new information, assess the current amount of content and its potential for expanding.

• Could this site section grow to be more than one Page? Is it already too much for one Page?
• If yes, then create a Folder.

Associated Content

When creating new content you should always ask yourself:

• How does my new content fit with that existing content?
• Should it live parallel to that content?
• Should it be a subset?
• What makes the most sense to users?
• Is this new content duplicating existing content?

Periodic Review

Conducting a periodic review of your IA is highly recommended.  Ask yourself these questions:

• Who does your organization want to find with this content and why?
• Who among your site's audiences actually need this content and why?
• Do your site analytics show that users are searching for this subject matter?

However, as content is added and subtracted, the scope of the information you are providing may begin to change, even at the highest levels of the site.  An example top-level folder shift example: chickadees (start) -> chickadee habits (after 3 months) -> male chickadee habits (after 6 months).

Your audience may change as well.  Perhaps initially your organization sought to appeal to developers in an effort to bring more talent and skills to the community.  After building some marketable success stories, your organization next wants to target administrative decision-makers for buy-in.

Remember, that the world around you is constantly changing, and your IA should be positioned to adapt.

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It's a container that dynamically sorts and displays content based on a set of criteria regardless of where that content may be stored on your site.

Similar to:

• Search engine returning results
• Query from a database
• Itunes Playlists

Itunes Example: Joe Satriani smart playlist. 

Each time I put in a new cd or add new music by Joe a army of trained monkeys goes and puts the songs inside of my playlist.

Trained Monkeys

Search Result

But Joe is also in multiple bands.

I want this music to be included in my Satriani's playlist so I change the search query so that it matches any of the rules.

• Get any song that has Joe Satraini as a artist OR
• Grab any song that Chickenfoot is the artist as well.

Modified Search Rule

Result:

Many attributes

There are many kinds of attributes I can search for:

• Artist
• Album rating
• album artwork
• composer
• description
• album artist
• date added
• date modified
• ......

Attributes

Song limits

I can limit how many songs this playlist can get. I can have it get the last 10 songs that was added to the playlist.

This is how collections works in plone. It is a playlist of news stories, events, latest photos...

Collections are Powerful!

They Reduce Redundancy!

They Reduce Redundancy!

• Oh, and outdated content
• Broken links, too!

Harness the Power!

Here are just a few great options:

• Categories
• Date of publication
• Type of content

Collections reduce the redundant content, outdated content, and unintentionally broken links.

Common Applications for Collections

• News
• Events
• Photos displayed by date range
• Content displayed by category

Collection Demo

Excuse me while I switch Machines...

Other Search Terms that are useful...

Dates

There are a LOT of Dates!

Date results display the results with the oldest date first, otherwise known as ascending order

• Creation Date - the date the document was made. You can't change the creation date of an object.
• Effective Date - the date when an object is published. You can change the effective date.
• Expiration Date - refers to the day that the item will no longer be publicly available.
• Modification Date- the date the object was last edited. You can't customize this date.
• Event Specific Dates - only apply to objects that are Events.
• Start Date - the date that an event starts
• End Date - the date that the event ends

Creation Date and Effective Date are very similar. They both represent a beginning point of an object. Keep in mind when choosing which one you want to use, an object can be created long before it's published. Thus you would get different results in a Collection depending on which date you used.

We recommend using Effective Date rather than Creation Date for date-oriented collections. This way, your collection shows results based on when they became viewable to the public, which is usually more relevant to the audience of your collection. Also, you can manually adjust the Effective Date to control the sort order, which you can't do with Creation Date.

The Expiration Date is also customizable through the Edit tab. By default, objects have no expiration date.

The Modification Date is the date the object was last edited. Note that this date is determined the day the object is created and will automatically change every time the object is edited. There is no way to customize this date.

Event specific dates - Start and End Dates are very effective for creating recent events and upcoming events collections that will let your audience know what your organization is doing and will be doing in the future.

Setting Dates

Setting up Criteria for dates can be confusing. They have a setup that is not like any of the other Criteria. First, you have to choose whether you want a Relative Date or a Date Range.

A Date Range will allow you to specify an exact range of dates, such as 01/02/08 to 02/02/08. The Date Range is useful when you want to create a Collection with a static date that won't change.The Relative Date allows you to construct a conditional statement. For instance, items modified less than 5 days in the past. The Relative Date can be very useful as it will allow you to create Collections that are automatically updating themselves, such as a Recent News collection or an Upcoming Event section.

Date Range

The Date Range is very easy to understand. Both a Start Date and End Date are required (do not confuse these terms with the Event Specific dates!). The Date Range allows us to enter a beginning and an end date and the display everything within that time frame. Notice also that it allows us to specify a specific time of day as well.

Relative Date

Looking first at the Relative Date option, you can see we have three options to fill out.

I want the results to include objects More or Less than Which Day, In the Past or Future.

The first option is Which Day. This allows us to select the number of days our criterion will include. One of the options is called Now. Using this will set the date range to the current day. The other two options do not matter and can be ignored when using Now.

If you are choosing one of the other two options, here is a statement you'll want to learn: I want the results to include objects More or Less than Which Day, In the Past or Future.

Keeping that in mind, the second option is In the Past or Future. This enables us to choose whether we are looking forward or backward into time.

The last option is More or Less. Here we can choose from three options. Less than allows us to include everything from now to a period of time equal to or less than the Which Day setting, either in the past or future. More than will include everything from beyond our specified number of days equal to or more than Which Day. Finally On the Day will only include things that are on the day we specified in the Which Day. Using the example in the image above if we had selected On the Day instead of Less than our Collection would display only objects that were modified (we are using the Modification Date criterion) 5 days ago.

Now, try reading the statement from above, substituting in the field options you chose.

Creator

When using the Creator criterion, we are filtering objects based on who created them. This might be useful if you want to do a featured author section, where you would only want to display content on your site that has been created by a certain author.

As you can see we have several options for our criteria type. They allow us to restrict the creator to the person currently logged in, enter the name of another user as text, or to select users from a list.

If you want to display results from multiple users, you would need to use the List of values option. Otherwise you would normally use the Text option unless the creator you wanted to select was yourself in which case you would use Restrict to current user.

Description

The Description field is essentially a search box type criterion. However, instead of searching the title and body of a page, it will only search for the text in the Description field of a content object. This criterion is only really useful if you fill out the Description field consistently for all your content objects.

Location

Using the Location criterion is much like specifying a location when you search for a document on your hard drive. By specifying a Location criterion, the results that are displayed in your Collection will only come from that location, most commonly, a folder. This can be useful if you only want to display content that is in the About Us section of your site, for example. This is also useful for narrowing Collection results when combined with other criteria.

Specify a Location

To specify a Location, simply click the Add button, which will pop up a new window showing you a directory of your site.

Put a check next to the item you want.

You can open folders to view content contained within them by clicking directly on the title of the folder you want to open. You may also use the Search box to search for the Title of an object.

Search Text

Search Text is a very useful criterion. It is similar to the search box on your site or an Internet search engine. It takes the text you specify and searches the Title, Description, and Body of all objects and returns any that have the word or phrase you specify. This is useful when you want to find objects that have to deal with a certain thing, especially if the word or phrase appears across many content types.

Related To, Part 1

The Related To field is another field, like Category, that must be specified on a content object prior to being used for a Collection. The Related Items field on an object (found in the Edit area, inside the Categories tab) lets you specify which other objects in your site are similar or are relevant to the object you created. By specifying this field, when you create an object you can create a web of related content that will reference each other (think of a "see also" kind of function).

When you have done this, you can use the Related To criterion in a Collection to display anything related to a specific object.

Related To, Part 2

• Remember the Related To Values list does not work based on which objects are related to content, but on which objects have another object related to it.

Setting Sort Order

Set Sort Order allows a field to sort the results of a collection. Checking Reverse causes the results to display in reverse of the default display order.

After saving the collection, the search criteria will be applied and the results displayed when the collection is viewed. You can create any number of collections for such custom views.

Also, understand that you must publish the collection for results to be visible to the anonymous user.

Setting the Sort Order, Option One:

The order that search results are displayed in a collection is determined by Sort Order.

• Text results - Results display in alphabetical order
• Creator
• Short name - in Plone speak, another name for the URL of an object
• Title

Setting the Sort Order, Option Two:

• Object property results - objects are grouped together by the specified properties
• Tags
• Item type
• Related to - limits results to only those objects that have Related To information specified on their properties
• State

Setting the Sort Order, Option Three:

• Date results - displays the results with the oldest date first, otherwise known as ascending order
• Creation Date - the date the document was made. You can't change the creation date of an object.
• Effective Date - the date when an object is published
• Expiration Date - refers to the day that the item will no longer be publicly available
• Modification Date- the date the object was last edited
• Event Specific Dates - only apply to objects that are Events
• Start Date - the date that an event starts
• End Date - the date that the event ends

Ready to See Your Collection?

Just click View!

.

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Common Content Types

Plone comes with several different Content Types. In addition, your web admin may have created some new ones. Or, the admin may have installed a product such as Faculty Staff Directory, which includes Content Types such as Person.

Having a good understanding of different Content Types, their purposes, and where best to place them on your site will help you to keep your web presence well architectured—that is, organized to best meet the needs of your users. If you'd like to learn more about web information architecture, WebMonkey has a good introductory tutorial...

Here are the Plone Content Types you will use most often:

• Event
• News Item
• Page
• Image
• File
• Link

Containers

Some of Plone's content types—see the two listed below—serve as containers for other content types. These are sometimes referred to as folderish or containerish Content Types. More about these later.

Folderish Content Types (Containers):

• Folder
• Collection

Logged-in Versus Anonymous View

Before we go into detail about each content type, you should know that what you see while you are adding and editing content is somewhat different from what anonymous users—the public—sees. It's a good idea to keep both a logged-in and an anonymous view open so that you can check back and forth. Depending on how your site is set up, here are a couple of ways you can do this:

• Open two different browsers. Stay logged out of one.
• If your site uses https, open a different browser tab. Remove the s from https in the second tab.

Event

The Event Content Type—not surprisingly—is specifically used for managing information about upcoming events. It allows you to post events without worrying about removing the information from your site once the event is over.

The Event Content Type also includes a function that allows your users to add your posted events to their own calendars, using iCal or vCal.

The Event Content Type is...

• Used for upcoming events
• Think of these as calendar items

Event: Event Folder(s)

In theory, you could add an event anywhere on your site. However, your site administrator most likely has provided a specific folder (or folders) for adding events. Plone sites have an Events Folder by default.

Event: Adding an Event

In your site's event folder(s), click Add Event.

Event: Title and Description

Provide a Title and Description for your event that is clear (and inviting) to your readers. The Title and Description also can draw in readers using search engines.

Event: Location and Dates

Add the event's Location. Be as specific as you need to be.

Add the Start and End dates and times. Your event will no longer appear in your site's listing of upcoming events once the End date and time have passed—you don't need to remember to unpost it.

Event: Attendees

Who should attend your event? Who might be interested? Is it for a certain group only? You can provide this information under Attendees.

Event: URL and Contact Info

Is there a website with further information about the event that readers could use? Add this under Event URL. Be sure to include the http:// part of the web address.

You can also add the Name, E-mail, and Phone of whom to contact for more information.

Event: Save

Be sure to Save your work!

Event: Publishing

Your Event will not be viewable by the public until you Publish it. To do this, change Private to Publish under the State menu.

Event: Published View

Your Event is now published! This is essentially what the information will look like to the public (though your site administrator may have made some styling changes):

Event: Edit

To make further changes to your Event, click Edit.

Event: Categorization

Your site administrator may have set up some Categories (also known as tags) under Event Type(s) so that you can choose the appropriate one(s).

Event: The Importance of Categories (aka Tags)

These Categories can be very important. Depending on what your site administrator has set up, Categories can influence where your Event appears on the website, whether it shows up on the home page, and that sort of thing.

Event: Publishing Date

There is another set of Dates controls that may prove useful for your Event posting. This Dates link is in the bar of links under Edit Event, next to Categorization.

Event: Publishing Date

You can specify a Publishing Date and Time when you would like an Event to be viewable by the public on your site. This is handy because it can allow you to place Event information on your site far ahead of time and set it to publish itself closer to the time of the Event—one less thing for you to remember to do.

Note that there is also an Expiration Date. When working with Events, most of the time you should leave this blank. An Event removes itself from your site's Events listings once the Event's date and time has passed anyway.

As you will see, the Expiration Date can be very useful for other content types, though.

News Item

News Items are used to post the following kind of information:

• News Stories, Press Releases
• Announcements: New Hires, Awards...
• Wrapups, Results of Past Events
• Newsletter Articles
• Job Postings

News Item: News Folder

In theory, you could add News Items anywhere on your site. But chances are, your site administrator has provided a specified News Folder (Plone sites actually have one by default). Some sites have News Folders in different site sections.

News Item: Adding a News Item

You add a News Item in the same way that you add an Event. Go to the News Folder, and select News Item under the Add new... menu.

News Item: Title, Description, Body Text

Provide a Title and a Summary that is informative and inviting for your users and that is search-engine friendly.

Place the main content of your News Item in the Body Text field.

News Item: Image and Caption

You can add an Image and Image Caption to your News Item using the fields below the Body Text.

News Item: Save

Now is a good time to save your work:

News Item: Saved Changes

Below is how a News Item's Title, Summary, Body Text, Image, and Image Caption appear in Plone once its Saved. Your site administrator may have styled your News Items to appear slightly differently.

News Item: Edit

To continue editing your News Item, click Edit:

News Item: Internal Link

If you wish to link to information elsewhere on the same site, this is called an Internal Link. To create an Internal Link, highlight the text you want to link, and click the Chain Link Icon in the Body Text editing area.

News Item: Internal Link

In the box that opens, use the Search feature in the left column to find the content to which you want to link.

Select the button next to the content in the middle column of the box (in this case, Finch Behavior Explained).

Then click Insert at the bottom of the box.

News Item: External Link

A link to another website is called an External Link. To make an External Link from your News Item, highlight the text you want to link and click the Chain Link icon.

News Item: External Link

In the box that opens, place the web address in the field under External Link.

Click Preview, and you will see the page to which you are linking in the window below the web address field. This Preview demonstrates that the link is working—that is, the page hasn't been moved or deleted.

Click Insert at the bottom of the box.

News Item: Categorization

As with Events and other content types, Categorization is very powerful. Categories can be used to make your News Item appear in different places on your site, depending on what your site administrator has set up.

News Item Tags

Select Tags (Categories) for your News Item the same as you did for your Event.

Depending on your permission level on the site, you may or may not have the ability to add New tags.

News Item: Location

You can also add a geographical Location, so that individuals doing web searches for that Location will be more likely to find your News Item.

News Item: Related Items

Add Related Items just as you did with your Event.

News Item: Related Items

Select the checkbox next to the Related Item that you want associated with your News Item.

News Item: Publishing and Expiration Dates

As with Events, you can also set a Publishing Date.

News Item: Publishing and Expiration Dates

If you want the News Item to disappear from public view eventually, specify an Expiration Date.

Page

• Your site's core content
• The main information your users need. The main tasks your users want to accomplish.
• The information's pertinence does not hinge on a beginning or end date

Page: Placement

Page: Adding a Page

Page: Structure

The following page has content with no appropriate structuring (formatting) applied. Let's make some changes so that it is more readable and search-engine friendly, not to mention more engaging to the reader...

Page: Headings

Why are we making these parts of the page Headings? Why not just bold-face the text? On the web, readers don't read; they scan. Headings help the reader scan a page's content. They also help give an understanding of the hierarchy of the content presented on the page. Headings also search-engine friendly; directing visitors using search engines to your content.

Page: Lists

Notice that the text in the last sentence of paragraph 3 is essentially a list of items. Converting this information into an Unordered List allows your readers to more easily scan the content.

Page: Pull-Quote

Right now, all the content of this page flows in a single column. That's not bad; however, placing appropriate content in a Pull Quote can make the page a bit more interesting and set off that content so that it is more noticeable for your readers.

Highlight the text you want to be a Pull Quote, and select Pull-quote from the Style menu.

Page: Pull-Quote

The text will now appear in its own area with its own appearance, depending on how your site is styled.

Page: Other Style Elements

Plone has a number of other styles available by default; your site administrator may remove some of these, however:

Always check your paragraphs to make sure they have the Style Normal paragraph.

The Literal will create a block of text in which each letter can be placed exactly. This is useful for displaying text that must be specifically formatted, such as poetry, or code.

The Call-out style creates a block of text styled in its own way so that the reader's attention is drawn to it. Its effect is similar to the Pull-quote's, but it is styled differently.

Clear floats is a style that your site administrator may use to place elements on a page. It is generally not used by content providers.

Discreet creates smaller, more subtle text.

Highlight adds a background color behind text, as though a highlighter has been drawn over it.

The Page Break (print only) allows you to insert a page break for printing purposes.

Page: Formatting Options

In addition, there are a number of formatting options available, similar to what you see in word processing software. Your site administrator may have removed some of these, also:

Page: The Last Word on Styles and Formatting

• Use styles and formatting with a light touch.
• It is very easy to over-style a web page.
• This makes the page user-unfriendly and appearing cluttered.

Image

• .jpg
• .png
• .gif

Image: Make it Web-Ready

• 72dpi
• Reasonable Dimensions
• Cropped Appropriately

Image: File Names

Plone goes a long way in making up for bad file names. However, all files uploaded to the web, including Image files, should have web-friendly names.

To make a file name web-friendly, give it a short, readable, all-lower case file name. Use no spaces or capital letters. Use hyphens (and no spaces) to parse out multiple-word file names (my-pup.png), not underlines.

Yes

• tree.jpg
• nice-tree.jpg

No

• TREE.JPG
• tree.JPG
• A Very Nice Tree.jpg
• a_very_nice_tree_in_our_yard.jpg

Image: Adding an Image

Add your images to the Images folder provided by your site administrator.

Image: Title and Description

Image: Your Recently Added Image

Image: Adding an Image to a Content Item

Now that you've uploaded an image, let's add it to a page.

To add an image to a content item such as a Page, use the Image icon in the editing area:

Image: Searching and Placing

This opens a box in which you can search for, and select your Image. Once you make a selection, a preview appears so that you can make sure you have selected the correct Image.

Image: Content-Specific Alt Tag

Note that the Image's Description appears here as well. The Description serves as the Alt Tag for the Image. You can change this Description to make it more closely related to the content of the Page, if you wish. This does not change the Image's original Description, just what the Page includes.

Image: Dimensions

Finally, you can select from several size options:

Image: Added to Content Item

Once your Image is added, you can select it and change its size, alignment, and description.

You can remove the Image from your content by selecting the image and then hitting the delete key on your keyboard.

File: Adding a File

Add a file the same way that you add an image. Go to the folder on your site meant to contain files, and in the Add new menu, select File:

File: Title and Description

Give your file a Title that matches the title of your document. It's good for your users if you add other helpful information in your title, such as indicating that it is a booklet, or a flyer, and whether it is a PDF, PowerPoint, or other file type.

Provide a brief Description that gives further helpful information about your file. Remember, a good Title and Description helps users—including yourself—find this content on your site.

Upload your file, and Save.

Files: Your Recently Added File

Once you have added the file, you can use the Edit tab to modify the Title and Description or upload a file to replace the existing one.

Links: Adding a Link

The Link Content Type can be handy if you want to add items to folder contents and/or navigation that are links to
- External Web pages
- Items in another section of the same site.

For example, in your News folder, you may want the option of listing news stories published elsewhere:

Links: Title, Description, URL

Most of the time you will want to give your Link the Title of the Web page or Item to which it is linking.

Provide a Description that will help explain what the link is about and that will aid in Web searches.

If it is a link to an external Web site, provide the entire URL, including the http://.

If you are linking to a page elsewhere on the same Web site, provide just the path in the URL field. For example, if the item's full URL is http://chickadees.footiepajamas.com/nesting/traits, the URL field should contain just /nesting/traits/ and nothing else.

Save your work once you've populated these three fields.

Links: Publishing

Remember to Publish your link when you are ready for the public to see it.

Links: Published Link

Your Published Link will appear in the Folder's listing and navigation just like any other Content Type.

Questions?

Build Your Own Forms

Here's what's great about the add-on product PloneFormGen:

• Create online forms anywhere on your site
• No programming required

Adding a Form Folder

To create an online form using PloneFormGen, first add a Form Folder where you want the form to reside on your site.

Adding a Form Folder: Title and Description

Provide a Title and Description, just as you do with any Content Type. The Title and Description are what users will see in your site's navigation.

Adding a Form Folder: Further Customization

Next, customize some of the basics of your form.

Do you want to show a Reset Button that allows users to clear all their data and start over? If so, check the box next to this option and indicate what Label you want users to see next to this button.

By default, you get a Mailer Action Adapter with your form. This allows you to e-mail data collected by the form to one or more recipients. You can add other Action Adapters later if you need them.

You also get a Thanks Page in your Form Folder by default. This is the page that users are sent to once they submit the form. You can edit this Thanks Page or add a new one. You can also opt to not have a Thanks Page.

If the form needs to be submitted by SSL (Secure Socket Layer) for security reasons, your sysem administrator will need to configure your server so that you can select the Force SSL connection option.

Adding a Form Folder: Prologue and Epilogue

Add the Form Prologue text that you want the user to see above the form fields, and the Form Epilogue text that the user will see after the form fields, and Save your work. You can change any of these settings later if you need to.

Basic Form

You now have a basic form with three default fields: E-mail, Subject, and Comments.

Editing Basic Settings

To change any of the settings you just created, click the Form Folder's Edit tab.

Adding More Fields

Use the Add new... tab to add more fields to your form.

Common Field Types

• String
• Text
• Select
• Multi-Select
• Checkbox

More Field Types

• Lines (List)

• Rating Scale (Multiple Radio Buttons)
• Rich Text
• (Whole) Number

• Date/Time

• File Upload

• Password

String

String Fields are simple one-line text boxes; they're extremely common in forms. Use a String Field for data such as First Name, Last Name, E-mail, Phone, and the like.

In the Field Label field, indicate what information the user should provide. You can explain this further and provide instructions in the Field Help field.

Check the Required box if you want the user to have to provide the information.

Check the Hidden box if this field is being prepopulated and it's not necessary for the user to see it (for instance, if the form is for logged-in users and is automatically collecting the e-mail and user name).

String: Default, Max Length, Size

Use the Default field if it makes sense to prepopulate the form field with information that you would like to suggest to the user.

Make sure the Max Length is large enough to accommodate the information users will provide. For instance, you wouldn't want a phone number field that is 5 characters in length.

Size controls the size (in numbers of characters) of the field that the user sees. Make the size large enough so that the user can see most, if not all, of the information they are typing.

String: Validator

The Validator menu is immensely useful. You can make sure that the user enters a valid e-mail address, phone number, zip code, website address, and so on. Adding Validators ensures that you will collect more useful data.

Text

A Text Field is similar to a String Field, except it's larger, and the user can add several lines. Text Fields are good for comments and other single-paragraph kinds of information.

When adding a Text Field, you may choose the number of Rows the field should have and the Max Length, or maximum number of characters the user may input -- be careful not to throttle this back too severely, thus limiting the information you get and frustrating users.

You can also Reject Text with Links to help prevent spamming.

Select

The Select Field gives you the option of presenting items as a Selection list, Radio buttons, or in a Flexible format that switches from radio buttons to a selection list if the number of items exceeds three.

Select: User Interface

The Select Field allows users to select one item.

Multi-Select

If you want users to be able to select more than one item, use the Multi-Select Field. You can opt for a Selection list or a Checkbox list.

Checkbox

You can also add individual Checkbox fields. Adding individual checkboxes gives you more options: You can make an item Required; check or uncheck the box by Default; add a Validator to alert the user if the box was left checked or unchecked; and replace the "0" and "1" in the Display Strings with "Yes" and "No," "True" and "False," "I plan to attend the Carrot Festival" and "I will not be attending the Carrot Festival," or whatever you like.

Lines

Lines Fields are good for inputting simple lists, such as job titles, names of individuals attending an event, that sort of thing. You can specify the maximum number of Rows, or Lines that the user can input.

Rating Scale

Using the Rating Scale Field, you can set up evaluations or surveys. Place one question per line (for example, These trainers are insanely brilliant) in the Questions field, and adjust the Answers to suit your needs.

Rating Scale: User Interface

Users will see a horizontal Rating Scale for each Question, and a Radio Button for each Answer.

Rich Text

Provide a Rich Text Field if you want users to be able to style and format their information and include links and media.

Rich Text

The Rich Text Field provides users with the visual editor on your Plone site, so that they can format their content and add images, video embeds (if you allow these), and hyperlinks.

Whole Number

The Whole Number Field requires the user to enter a whole number, such as 1, 9, 243, and so on.

You can specify the allowed number range (Minimum Acceptable Value and Maximum Acceptable Value) -- useful for collecting information on the number of family members planning to attend an event, for instance.

You can also limit the size, or Max Length, of the field.

Date/Time

The Date/Time Field allows you to Show Time Selection Options (as opposed to just the date) and indicate a Starting and Ending Year. Leave the Ending Year blank and indicate one or more Future Years to Display if you want the Ending Year to always be in the present or future (this saves having to update your form as years come and go).

Date/Time: User Interface

This gives the user a simple Date/Time Field:

File

The File field allows users to upload an image, pdf, or other file type. It's generally a good idea to specify a  Maximum Upload Size (in megabytes) so that users do not upload inappropriately large files.

File: User Interface

Users get a simple browse-and-upload form field.

Password

The Password field is a string field, but it displays ********** as the user types, thus obfuscating the inputted information. This is useful for passwords and other sensitive data.

Your Form Data

Being able to build an online form this easily is great. But what about collecting the data? Plone FormGen has two built-in ways to collect and save your data:

• Mailer Adapter
• Save-Data Adapter

Mailer Adapter

Whenever you create a FormGen form, you get a Mailer Adapter automagically. You will see the Mailer Adapter in the Contents view of your form folder. Click on it to view and edit.

Mailer Adapter: Default Settings

In the Default settings, you can indicate the Recipient's full name and Recipient's e-mail address. This information is very important: It is the name and address of the person who will receive the data whenever your form is submitted.

You also can change the Title of your Mailer Adapter, though there's usually no reason to do so.

Mailer Adapter: Addressing

The Addressing section allows you to make further customizations to the Recipient's e-mail.

Extract Recipient From: Leave this as None ... unless you want to override the Recipient's E-mail Address in the Default settings.

Add as many CC Recipients and BCC Recipients e-mails as you like, separated by commas.

Mailer Adapter: Addressing

Extract Reply-To From is set to collect the e-mail address of the individual filling out the form (the Your E-Mail Address field). If you change this to another field, make sure to activate e-mail address verification on that field.

Mailer Adapter: Message

Under the Message tab, you can customize the e-mail's subject, body, and form data.

Subject: It's a good idea to change the default "Form Submission" to wording that is specific to your form. This makes it easier for recipients to sort and filter the incoming e-mails. You also have the option to extract the subject line from a field other than Subject.

Body (prepended): This is text you can provide at the beginning of the e-mail, displayed before the sender and subject lines.

Mailer Adapter: Message

Body (appended): This text is displayed after the sender and subject line and before the form data.

Body (signature) is displayed after the form data, at the end of the e-mail message.

Check Include all fields if you want all of the form's data to be displayed in the e-mail message. Or, you can use  Show Responses to choose which ones to display. Check Include empties if you want to show which fields the user left blank.

When you are creating your form, it's a good idea to set yourself up as the Recipient at first so that you can try these different settings and see what the e-mail message actually looks like.

Mailer Adapter: Message

Mailer Adapter: Template

Tasks under the Template tab require a knowledge of HTML, TALES, and Python programming. If you have knowledge of these, you can customize the Mail-Body Template. Learn more about customizing this template at plone.org/products/ploneformgen/documentation/tutorial/customizing-ploneformgen/customizing-the-mailer-template.

Mailer Adapter: Template

You also can indicate whether you want the body of the e-mail to be rendered in HTML (useful if you want to have the extra styling and formatting that HTML offers) or to be in plain Text.

Your site administrator would be the one to make any adjustments to HTTP Headers -- these headers carry lots of useful information about the the client browser, the requested page, the host (server), and other data your site administrator might want to capture.

Mailer Adapter: Encryption

Mailer Adapter: Overrides

Mailer Adapter: Overrides

Save-Data Adapter

The Save-Data Adapter allows you to save form data in either a comma-delineated or tab-dileneated list. You can view this data online or download it to save in a spreadsheet or database.

Save-Data Adapter

Once you add the Save-Data Adapter, you will find it in your form folder contents.

Save-Data Adapter

Under the Display menu, you can choose either the Tabular View, which displays your data in a table, or the Record View, which shows the data as a list. The Download View gives you a link for downloading the data as a file.

Save-Data Adapter

Use the Click here to get the saved input link to save your data file. You can then open the tab-delineated (.tsv) or comma-delineated (.csv) file in a text editor, or in spreadsheet software.

Overrides

The Overrides tab offers even more possibilities for customization.

Overrides

Requires Coding

• HTML
• TAL/TALES
• Python

Portlets are areas you create to add and display content. Portlets can be added to the left and right of the center body area and can contain myriad content ranging from news, events, calendars, RSS feeds, collections, plain text, and more. Also, you can set properties and policies for showing the portlets.

Think of a portlet like a bucket!

Why Use a Portlet?

• You have content you want to have special focus, like news.
• You need to specify the configuration data for an item. - i.e. number of entries to show.
• You want to give the content editors a choice about when and where to display content.
• You'd like to show it only to some groups or users.

Portlet Hierarchy

When managing portlets sitewide, keep in mind that they are inherited:

• Portlets set up at the Site Root propagate down through the entire site.
• Portlets set up at the Folder level propagate down through that entire Folder.
• Portlets set up on a single noncontainer Content Item do not propagate.

Blocking Parent Portlets

• If you want a different set of portlets or order of portlets for a particular section, you must use the Block/unblock portlets controls, to "block" the parent portlets. When you block Portlets, you must explicitly add all the Portlets that you wish to see on the child page.

Here is an example of Plone's portlet hierarchy:

You can see that the Navigation portlet propagates down through the entire site. Recent Items is visible through the first and second level, but has been blocked in the third. Documentation has added a Collection portlet, and Tutorials and Videos have added Search.

Managing Portlets

To start creating and editing portlets, you must click on the Manage Portlets link. Usually, this is found at the bottom of the left and/or right columns. Under Manage Portlets, you can create new portlets, remove portlets, rename, and rearrange portlets.

Once you click the link, you'll see:

Plone's Portlet Control Panel

Adding a Portlet

Click on the Add Portlet drop down box and choose the type of portlet you would like to add. We discuss the different options available in a moment.

Understand that you have the ability to work with portlets on both the right and left side of the page. This is because there are left and right columns. Portlets will only appear on the side(s) that you add them.

Also, there is no limit to how many times you can use a certain type of portlet or an individual portlet, or a limit to how many total portlets can be on a page.

Portlet Types shipped with Plone

• Calendar
• Classic
• Collection
• Events
• Login
• Navigation
• News
• RSS Feeds
• Recent Items
• Review List
• Search
• Static Text

Calendar Portlet

This simple, non-customizable portlet displays a small calendar of any events on the site.

Classic Portlet

A Classic Portlet is...

• In the manner of older versions of Plone
• Created by your site administrator using a page template in the Zope Management Interface (ZMI)
• Handy when you want a simple custom portlet that can be used anywhere on the site
• For example, the Need Help Now? portlet at weblion.psu.edu/documentation

Collection Portlet

A Collection Portlet displays a Plone collection. Collection portlets can be used for jobs such as:

• Displaying topic-related news or events in different sections of your site
• Creating custom navigation
• Creating those below-the-footer displays of links, features, etc. Like at agsci.psu.edu

Portlet Header and Target Collection

Give your Collection Portlet the title of your choice in the portlet header field. Then search for and select the Target collection—that's the collection whose results you want displayed in your portlet.

Limit, Randomization, Link, and Dates

In the Limit field, you can specify how many items you want displayed in the collection portlet—if you do decide to limit the display, you may want to check the box next to Show more... link so that users can get to the rest of the items in the collection.

You can randomize the display by checking the box next to Select random items.

If you want the publication dates of items to be visible, check the box next to Show dates.

Collection Portlet Display

When you save your changes and click Return, you should see your collection portlet display. If you do not see your portlet, check your portlet settings, and check the original collection to make sure it is displaying items.

Events Portlet

An Events Portlet displays upcoming events. You can control how many are displayed as well as which workflow state to show. For instance, if you choose Published, only published Events will show up in the portlet. If you want only certain events to show up, use a Collection Portlet instead.

Login Portlet

Selecting this adds a non-configurable Login Portlet. Don't be confused if you do not see the login portlet once you add it. Only anonymous users can view the portlet.

Navigation Portlet

The Navigation Portlet provides a structured navigation tree of the site or folder.

You can title the navigation portlet to reflect its location, or simply call it Navigation.

Next, indicate the Root Node, or folder on the site that you want the portlet to navigate. If you want it to map out the entire site, leave the root node field blank.

If you select Include Top node, your navigation portlet will list the Title of the site or folder at the top of the navigation tree.

Current Folder, Start Level, Depth

You can indicate whether you want your navigation portlet to list only the items in the current folder.

When setting up site-wide navigation, you can indicate the Start level, that is, the number of folder levels below the site where you want the navigation to begin displaying. If you indicate 0 as the Start level, the navigation will appear at the top of the site and everywhere below. 1 means it will not appear at the top of the site. And so on...

You can also control when the navigation tree should stop. A navigation tree depth of 0 means that there is no limit. A navigation tree depth of 1 indicates only the root folder, and so on.

You can edit your navigation portlet as many times as you need to until you get the navigation just right.

Navigation Portlet Display

News Portlet

The News Portlet is much like the events portlet. You can chose the Number of items to display and the Workflow state. If you want to display only specific News Items, use a Collection Portlet.

RSS Portlet

With RSS Portlets, it's simple to collect RSS feeds and display them on your site.This is a great way to post material from blogs, news portals, social media, and the like.

Choose a Title for the feed, the Number of items to display, provide the URL of RSS feed, and in the Feed reload timeout field, specify how frequently you want the feed to refresh on your site.

RSS Portlet Display

You get a More... link for free, which leads to the full content of the item.

Recent Items Portlet

The Recent Items Portlet displays a list of items on your site with recent modification dates.

You can specify how many items to display in the Recent Items Portlet. An All recent changes... link leads to the full list.

Search Portlet

The Search Portlet provides a search box. If you enable Live Search, users will see live results of their searches (if JavaScript is enabled on their browsers).

Search Portlet Display

The Search Portlet will search titles, descriptions, and body text of your site's content.

Static Text Portlet

The Static Text Portlet allows you to add content just as you would on a page. Along with a Title (Portlet header) and Body Text, you get an optional Border, Footer, and Details Link.

Static Text Portlet Display

Use Static Text Portlets for content that you cannot provide using the other portlet types. Static Text Portlets also are best for content that does not change frequently and content that doesn't get reused in various places on the site.

Editing an Existing Portlet

To Edit, Reorder, Hide, or Show portlets, be sure you are at the site level where the portlets actually were added.

To edit the properties of an existing portlet, click on the name of the portlet. Each type of portlet will have different configuration options available to it.

Rearranging Portlets

To rearrange your portlets, simply click the blue up or down arrow. This will affect the order your portlets are displayed on the page.

Removing Portlets

To remove a portlet, click the "X" next to its name.

Hiding Portlets

In Plone 4, you can show/hide portlets using the associated show/hide links present.

Showing a Portlet

When you're ready to use the portlet again, click Show.

Beware the Default View

When you set about creating Portlets that you want to propagate, be careful to that you are creating the Portlet at the Site Root or Folder and not at the Default View:

• my-site.edu/front-page is not the Site Root. my-site.edu/ is.
• my-site/cheeses/cheese-home is not the Folder Level. my-site/cheeses/ is.

Check the URL

When setting up Portlets that you want to propagate through an entire folder, look at the URL after following the Manage Portlets link. If the default view is visible in the URL, remove it before adding the portlets. In the example below, tasty-suet-cakes is the Default View for the Folder /feeding/. Simply shave /tasty-suet-cakes off the URL, and you're good to go.

• You're at the Default View: http://chickadees.org/feeding/tasty-suet-cakes/@@manage-portlets
• You're at the Folder: http://chickadees.org/feeding/@@manage-portlets

Blocking and Unblocking Portlets

Your content inherits Portlet Settings from the Parent container—the Folder that the content lives in, not folders farther upstream.

You can Block these portlet settings:

In Plone 4, users can now see what's being blocked and what's being inherited.

Blocked Items are Grayed Out

A blocked portlet will be grayed out on on the portlet management screen:

Which Portlets to Block

When blocking and unblocking portlets, understand what those three different pulldown menus are about:

Parent Portlets

• Affects all portlets, including Group and Content Type Portlets.
• But, settings for Group and Content Type Portlets can override for these two portlet types.

Group Portlets

• Created by your Site Manager for Groups of Users.
• Block and Do not block override parent settings.

Content Type Portlets

• Assigned in the Plone Control Panel to specific Content Types by your Site Manager .

• Block and Do not block override parent settings.

ContentWellPortlets

ContentWellPortlets is a very handy add-on Plone product that allows you to place portlets above the main content, below the main content, and in the footer area.

ContentWellPortlets Controls

You can add up to six portlets in these areas.

next...

• Anonymous
  
  • Those who cannot log into Your Plone Site.
• Logged-In (or Authenticated)
  
  • Listed as Users in Plone Control Panel.
  • Their default Role is Member.

Groups

• A set of one or more Users.

Roles

• Global Roles: Apply to Entire Site. Can see these listed in Plone Control Panel.
• Local Roles: Apply to a Section of the site.

Permissions

• Roles come with Permissions
  
  • The ability to Edit, Publish, Delete, and so on.

Granting Roles (and Therefore Permissions)

• You can grant Roles to individual Users.
• But it's usually better to grant Roles to Groups.

Sharing

• A Local way of granting Roles and Permissions.
  
  • Share a Folder, Page, Collection, etc. with a Group...
  • ...and can grant the Group Permissions on that item.

Example

• You have a folder on your site called Training.
• Authenticated User Rose Pruyne needs to add and edit content in this Training folder.
• You, the site manager, create a Group called Training Content Providers.
• You add Authenticated User Rose Pruyne to the Group Training Content Providers.
• You Share the Training folder with this Group.
  
  • You grant Add and Edit privileges to this Group.

Why Groups Instead of Individual Users?

• Who can do what?? Where??
• Keeping track of Groups is much easier.

Recommended Practice

• Assign Users to Groups.
• Assign Groups to areas of the site, using Sharing.
• Do not assign Roles to individual users.
• Do not assign individual Users to areas of the site.

Exercise

• Add a new Folder on your site and call it Documentation.
• Add a new User to your site.
• Create a Group called Documentation Content Providers.
• Add the new User to this Group.
• Give this Group Add and Edit permissions
• Open your site in another browser and log in as the new User. Try to add a page to the Documentation Folder.