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Article number: 301103

Edit Page Content

This section helps you to work with the text, pictures, files, and links in your web pages.

If you are working with the Direct Editor, click this Direct Edit link for help on Direct Edit mode. (In version 9.2 and higher). If the page has zones on it (added in 11.0) the editing zone options are far more numerous and flexible. As well as the options below zoned editing allows multiple editable element to be added to a page.

When you are Editing the Content of a Page, a toolbar opens at the top of the Content box. The toolbar offers you 10 functions, as listed below (described from left to right). 

  • Content layout: This drop-down list offers you all the different templates used on your site. You can preview and select the Content Layout from this list. You can also change to zoned content layout (added in 11.0)
  • Save: will save the changes that you have made without publishing the page. Appearance and wording may vary if workflow has been configured.
  • Publish: will save and publish the page to your live website. Appearance and wording may vary if workflow has been configured.
  • Preview : opens a new tab showing your page in various screen resolutions (added in 11)
  • Compare opens the Preview window which shows the page on which you are working on the left and the published page on the right.
  • View live: opens the live page in a new window.
  • Properties : opens the page properties window note some page properties will not be editable when both windows are open.
  • History : this will open the page history window where you can view recent page changes.
  • Revert: will remove all changes to a page since the last time it was published.

While you are editing Page Content, you may wish to:

  • Select a Content Layout
  • Write or Edit Text
  • Add or Change a Picture
  • Add Downloadable Files
  • Add Internal and External Links
  • Edit Variable Blocks
  • Create a Table

Links to all these subjects can be found in the Related Links column.

   

Direct Editor

Sitekit CMS release 9.2 introduced a new Direct Editing facility. The Direct Editor has two major advantages over the full CMS Editor.

Firstly, a Content Editor using the Direct Editor facility will browse through the live site just as a visitor would do. When the editor spots a page which needs editing, they can dive straight into that page and start editing it. A boon to those editors who dislike working with the Sitekit Navigation tree.

Secondly, because the Direct Editor is using only a small subset of Sitekit CMS, editing is actually faster than with the full CMS.

The Direct Editor can be accessed in three ways, each of which has its own advantages.

Method 1

When logging in to your own site to edit it, you would normally type in mysite.net/admin, which would then prompt you to enter a name and password.

To use the Direct Editor, you simply type in mysite.net/edit, which will again prompt you to enter your name and password. Once you've entered this information you are in Direct Edit mode.

You are now looking at your live site - with one difference. Notice that some icons have appeared near the top left of your screen, as shown below.

 

When you click the Edit icon you can load the current page into the Direct Editor, and edit it just as you would normally. Clicking Logout exits Direct Edit mode and returns you to your live site.

If you are in a News Page or an Events Page, then a third Icon will appear. Clicking this allows you to work on the News or Events respectively.

Method 2

When logged on to your site and on a page you wish to edit, add the command string shown below to your address bar:
 ?x=x&editmode=direct
So for example if you were on a page called:  http://sitekit.net/Products/Sitekit-CMS-Features.html
You would add the command string, getting http://sitekit.net/Products/Sitekit-CMS-Features.html?x=x&editmode=direct
… then just hit the  return key. This will activate the Sitekit Login screen. Enter your user name and password and will be taken to the page you wish to edit in Direct Edit mode. 

This method is less convenient than Method 1 - but it does have one advantage. You can email someone a link to a specific page. (Method 1 only works with the home page).

Method 3

You can add a System Variable to the page layout of any pages which you want to be accessed by the Direct Editor. Two System Variables can be used, with slightly different behavior, namely the Edit or EditAlways system variables.

When the EditAlways-system variable is included in the Page Layout of a page, the word Edit will appear on the live page. This is a hyperlink which activates the Direct Editor. Obviously you’d want to style this link so that it was inconspicuous, since it would be visible to visitors as well as editors.

Once this has been done, Content Editors can surf their site just as a visitor would. When the editor reaches a page he wants to edit, they click the Edit link, whereupon the normal Sitekit CMS login screen appears, prompting them to enter their name and password. Once this information is entered, the Editor is taken straight to the page they wish to edit, in Direct Edit mode.

The Edit-system variable is similar to the EditAlways-variable, with one important difference: if you place the edit-variable in a page layout, then the Edit hyperlink will only appear when you are logged into the web site.  This means that the hyperlink word edit cannot be seen by visitors – only by someone who is logged onto the CMS Direct Editor.

The advantage of using the edit-system variable is that normal visitors to the site can’t see the word Edit - which they can do if you use EditAlways. Spotting this word might arouse a visitor's curiosity, and clicking it will lead to the Sitekit signon screen, which would probably confuse them.

The disadvantage is that Content Editors will have to login to the live site by using the  x=x&editmode=direct command, which is a bit awkward to type.  However you only need to type it in once in your life – on your site’s home page, say , and then bookmark it. From then on you can just use that bookmark to browse the site whenever you want to edit it.

Using the Direct Editor
When you view a web page in Direct Edit Mode it looks superficially identical to the normal Sitekit content editor. You edit content, Save and Publish just as you would normally. There are two important  differences, though, as described below:

Direct Edit mode allows you to modify the contents of Text Boxes and Picture Boxes, just as you would do with the normal content editor. New in 9.3, you can add internal and external links, plus downloadable files.

There are three additional buttons at the top left of the screen, as pictured below;
 
 
 
Close editor: When you click this you leave Direct Edit mode and return to your live site.  But you are still logged on in Direct Edit mode. So you can maneuvre around your live site and dive in to edit any page you like, without having to enter any more pass names.

Advanced: When you click this you are placed inside the full Sitekit CMS, with the current web page still loaded ready for editing. This ends Direct Edit mode.

Logout: Returns you to your live website. But you are no longer logged in (obviously), so if you wish to edit another page you’ll have to go through the login process again. 

  

 

 

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