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Introduction to Content Management

Using a CMS

Web content management refers to the system and processes whereby information on a website is created, managed, published, and archived; information typically passes through this life cycle for a finite period of time. Prior to the advent of today's content management systems (CMS), traditional web content management involved website content that existed on a live web server; editing of the content was done directly on the server or on a duplicate of the content and copied to the live server. This method of managing content required fundamental knowledge of technical skills that kept it limited primarily to those with degrees in the field.

With a CMS, however, content is centralized in a database and published to one or more web servers, allowing for multiple websites to be editable from a central location and drastically reducing the the barriers of entry to website content management. Online information must be continually reviewed and updated by content editors so that other content consumers, including customers and search engines, have access to the most-up-to-date version. Additionally, CMS tools like structured data, page versioning, approval workflows, and advanced metadata encourage collaboration on richly designed sites while reducing complexity and easing the learning curve.

A content management system (CMS) provides the necessary infrastructure for multiple people to effectively contribute, manage, and collaborate on this content throughout this life cycle. A CMS typically offers:

• Easy content creation and editing for non-technical contributors
• Access rights for security
• Structured workflow processes for content approvals
• Archival and versioning of content
• Templates for consistent output
• Content check-in/check-out services for distributed users

Cascade Server is utilized via an intuitive and user-friendly interface that can be accessed from any computer with Internet access. Once you have gone through these introductory guides, you should have an overall understanding of the way Cascade Server organizes and manages web content, and the role you play in this process as a Cascade Server user.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have all of the following:

1. A running instance of Cascade Server version 6.0 or newer (a non-production instance is highly recommended)
2. Fresh default database provided by Hannon Hill
3. An administrator level user account. Verify with your system administrator that your Cascade Server user account has the 'Administrator' role.
4. Text editor (Notepad, TextEdit, or comparable)
5. At least basic knowledge of HTML
6. One hour of time

A. Login to Cascade Server

We will begin by logging in to Cascade Server:

1. Navigate to the Cascade Server log in screen using your favorite browser. Note: Cascade Server is officially supported by the latest version of Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari, but is known to work on almost every modern browser.
   
2. Supply valid credentials and click Log In.

After logging in you will be directed to your dashboard. The dashboard is personalized for each user and provides easy access to messaging, user history, outstanding workflows and drafts, any assets the user has locked and one-click access to content wizards. If the asset navigation tree is hidden, you may wish to click the red Toggle Side Bar arrow (far left side).

B. Prepare Site Template

We will create a simple template which will serve as the framework for our future pages. Templates contain one or more regions that specify areas where content can be applied. We will create a simple one-region template in a text editor and then import it into Cascade Server. Templates can also be manually created inside Cascade Server, but more often than not implementations begin by importing an existing site template, so we'll show off how this can be accomplished.

To create a new template:

1. Open your favorite text editor and type in the following HTML:
   <html>
      <head>
         <title>Intro Site</title>
      </head>
      <body>
         <system-region name="DEFAULT" />
      </body>
   </html>
2. Save this file to your desktop as an html file (e.g. template.html).

The <system-region> tag is the most basic and essential system tag that Cascade Server provides. This tag defines regions within a template where content can later be inserted. In our example, we have created a region named "DEFAULT" which we will later populate with page content. All templates should include a DEFAULT region, which serves as the primary editable region of a page. To create additional content regions, simply insert a new <system-region> tag and replace "DEFAULT" with any other word.

C. Create New Site

With our template complete, we will now create a new Site into which we will begin creating our pages. Sites, in Cascade Server, allow for segmenting content in the system and provide a way to allow a user to have different roles and access rights depending on what Site they are in. Note that when Site is capitalized in documentation, reference is being made to the Cascade Server notion of a Site; when site is lowercase, reference is being made to the more generic idea of a website.

To create a new Site:

1. Select System -> Site Management from the menu bar. (The System drop-down is represented by the Cascade Server logo.)
   
2. Click Create new site.
   
3. For the Name field, type intro.
4. For the URL field, type http://introsite.com.
5. Click the Import pane.
6. Upload the html file we just created, template.html in the Template Upload field.
7. Leave the Zip Upload empty. This would be used if we had existing pages or images that we wanted to integrate.
8. When finished, click Submit to create the new Site.

After submitting, you'll notice that our new Site now appears in the Sites dropdown at the top of the Cascade Server interface. Select the intro site from the dropdown to enter our new site. In the asset tree, notice that the site importer created a new folder titled _internal. You may need to click the Toggle Side Bar arrow [just below the System Menu at the far left] to show the Asset Tree. Inside this folder are four subfolders: asset factories, blocks, formats, and templates. To follow best practices, it is recommended that these folders be used to store their respective asset types, but this is by no means required; the folder structure can be altered to suit individual needs or preferences. If used as recommended, these folders will only contain assets used internally by Cascade Server and never published out to a web server. Therefore, the New Site Wizard marks the _internal folder and all its subfolders to be excluded from indexing and publishing (this can be verified or changed via the Edit tab on the _internal folder).

The site importer also copied our template into the _internal/templates folder and created an empty page based on our new template in the _internal/asset factories folder. The site importer also created an Asset Factory based on this empty page which now appears on the menu bar as New -> Page. An Asset Factory provides an easy to use mechanism for quickly creating new pages by copying the page in _internal/asset factories and allowing end users to add content. Next, we will use this Asset Factory to create a new page.

D. Create New Page

With our folder structure, template and asset factory in place, we can now start creating pages very quickly.

To create a new page:

1. Select New -> Page from the menu bar.
   
2. In the WYSIWYG editor, type in This is my first page!. 
3. Click the System pane and type example in the System Name field, where intro currently appears. 
4. Click the Parent Folder browse icon, select Base Folder and click Confirm.
5. Click Advanced Options and verify that Start Workflow is unchecked. If checked, we would start an approval workflow upon submission. We will cover workflows in later technical guides. Any other boxes checked upon submission will start their respective content checkers.
6. When finished, click Submit to save the new page.

A quick note on Content Types: To aid administrators and simplify page creation for end users, several administrative components needed by a page are lumped together in what is called a Content Type. You may have noticed that the template we created was never attached directly to our new page. This is because the site importer automatically ties our new template (along with other items) to the intro content type. We will cover manipulation of Content Types in later technical guides.

Congratulations, you've created your first page in Cascade Server! Additional pages are a breeze, as you can use the same Asset Factory (on the New menu) to create as many pages as you like. Take a minute to create a few more pages. You may wish to visit lipsum.com and grab some dummy text to fill your pages with.

E. Create Template Header / Footer Regions

Now that we have a few pages, we'll add a couple more content regions to the template and really show off the inherent power of templates. We'll add a header region to include a company logo and a footer region to include copyright information.

To add the two additional regions to our template:

1. View the _internal/templates/intro template using the asset tree and click the Edit tab. (Note: from here on out, it is assumed that viewing assets is always done in the asset tree.)
2. Add header and footer regions to the template. The final html should be as follows:
   
   <html>
      <head>
         <title>Intro Site</title>
      </head>
      <body>
         <system-region name="HEADER"/>
         <system-region name="DEFAULT"/>
         <system-region name="FOOTER"/>
      </body>
   </html>
   
3. When finished, click Submit to update the template.

**Please note - double-check and make sure that the exact format of the system region tags, i.e., <system-region name="HEADER"/> is used as errors in format could lead to problems later on.

Our template now contains three regions: HEADER, DEFAULT, and FOOTER. Next, we will create content blocks to plug into our additional regions.

F. Create Header Block

First we will create a block for the header region. In the following steps we will download the Hannon Hill logo and insert it into a new block.

To upload the image file:

1. Select New -> Default -> Folder from the menu bar.
2. Type files into the System Name field to name your folder.
3. Click the Parent Folder browse icon, select Base Folder and click Confirm.
   
4. When finished, click Submit to create the new folder.
5. Visit hannonhill.com/downloads/cascade.png and download the Cascade Server logo to your desktop.
6. Back in Cascade Server, select New -> Default -> File from the menu bar.
7. Upload the image we just saved in the File Upload field by clicking "Browse" in the upload field and selecting the image.
8. Click the Parent Folder browse icon, select files and click Confirm.
   
9. When finished, click Submit to create the new file.

To create the block:

10. Select New -> Default -> Block from the menu bar.
11. Select XHTML Block from the list of block types and click Submit.
12. In the WYSIWYG editor, click the Insert/edit image button and verify that you are on the Internal tab.
13. Attach the logo by clicking Image browse icon, selecting files/cascade.png and clicking Confirm.
14. Type Cascade Logo into the Alternate Text field and click Insert. (Note: alternate text on an image is required for accessibility compliance)
15. Back in the WYSIWYG editor, press enter and then click the Horizontal rule button, select 50 for the width, and % from the width dropdown, and click Insert.
    
16. Click the System pane and type header into the System Name field.
17. Click the Parent Folder browse icon, select _internal/blocks and click Confirm.

When finished, click Submit to save the new block.

For organizational purposes, we first created a new folder called files to house our image File Asset. If this site were to grow larger, we would use this folder to house other items like javascript and css files. Like the _internal folder, however, this is only a best practice; Cascade Server does not require that files be stored in any specific location.

G. Create Footer Block

Next we will create a block for the footer region. In this block we will include copyright information.

To create the footer block:

1. Select New -> Default -> Block from the menu bar.
2. Select XHTML Block from the list of block types and click Submit.
3. In the WYSIWYG editor, type Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
   
4. Click the System pane and type footer into the System Name field.
5. Click the Parent Folder browse icon, select _internal/blocks and click Confirm.
6. When finished, click Submit to save the new block.

We now have our header and footer blocks created, but if you go back to any of our existing pages, you still only see content in the DEFAULT region. This is because we haven't associated these blocks with their respective template regions. Next, we will edit our template and plug these two blocks into the regions that were created for them.

H. Assign Blocks to Regions in Template

Now that we have the header and footer blocks created we need to plug them into the template regions that we created earlier.

To assign the blocks to the template regions:

1. View the _internal/templates/intro template, then click the Edit tab.
2. Click on the Regions pane (directly below the Edit tab). This is where we apply blocks and formats to our content regions. Formats are used to transform pages using XSLT or the Velocity Template Language and will be covered in later technical guides.
3. Click the Block browse icon in the FOOTER region, select _internal/blocks/footer, and click Confirm.
4. Click the Block browse icon in the HEADER region, select _internal/blocks/header, and click Confirm.
5. When finished, click Submit to update the template.

Our three-region template now contains content in all regions. Navigate to the page you've already created (or create new pages) and you'll notice that that the content blocks in the header and footer regions are now displayed. Once a template is created and populated with blocks, making small changes to every page in a site is very simple. Say you wish to add a navigation menu to this site; you could simply create a new region, make a navigation block and assign the block to the new region. The menu would then appear on every page using that template.

The proper use of templates is extremely useful and can drastically cut down on the time it takes to make a change to every page in your site. The same can be said for block usage. One change to a block, results in that change being made anywhere the block is in use. The modular nature of blocks also allow them to be used on multiple templates or even multiple times in the same template.

Now that we have completed our site, albeit a rather small one, our next step is to publish it out to a web server or wherever you wish it's final resting place to be. Next, we will setup the components needed for publishing and then publish out the entire site.

I. Create Transport for Publishing

Transports are the mechanisms that move content from Cascade Server to the content's final, published location; generally a web server or database. Transports can push content out via FTP/SFTP or to a filesystem like a local hard drive, mapped network share, or other mount point. Transports can even publish content out to a MySQL database for use by separate applications.

If you wish to publish out your site to a filesystem, follow the "Create Filesystem Transport" section below. Alternatively, if you wish to publish out your site to an (S)FTP server, follow the "Create (S)FTP Transport" section below.

Create Filesystem Transport

To create a new filesystem transport:

1. Click Administration on the menu bar.
2. Select Transports in the side bar.
3. Click New Transport in the Transports section.
4. Select Filesystem for the Transport Type and click Submit.
5. Type "Local Filesystem" into the System Name field.
6. You will fill in the Server Directory field differently depending on what type of system Cascade Server is installed on:
   • Windows: C:\CascadePub
   • UNIX: /tmp/CascadePub
   • Mac OS X: /Library/WebServer/Documents/CascadePub (or use UNIX settings if you are comfortable with command line)

   **Please Note - if you are unfamiliar with the system Cascade Server is installed on, contact your system administrator, or, consider creating an FTP Transport, explained below.

   
   
7. When finished, click Submit to create the new transport.

Create (S)FTP Transport

To create a new FTP or SFTP transport:

1. Click Administration on the menu bar.
2. Select Transports in the side bar.
3. Click New Transport in the Transports section.
4. Select FTP and SFTP for the Transport Type and click Submit.
5. Type FTP Server into the System Name field.
6. Fill in all fields as they correspond to the server you wish to publish to. If you are using an SFTP server, you'll need to check the Use Secure FTP checkbox. If your FTP server is not on the same local network as Cascade Server, you may need to check the Use Passive FTP checkbox.
   
7. When finished, click Submit to create the new transport.

We have now created a transport that will provide the means to move data out of Cascade Server and to the final, published location. Next, we will create the second component needed for publishing, a Destination.

J. Create Destination for Publishing

Destinations simply serve as an intermediary between Transport and assets that need publishing. This separation allows for the reuse and easy maintenance of Transport. Without Destinations, a change to the server being published to would require updating every Transport that published to that server. These changes could be a credentials change, server host name, port number, etc. By using Destinations as an intermediary, then a change to a server would only require one change to its Transport with no need to modify the various Destinations.

This separation is also useful when publishing to different directories on the same server. In this case, only one Transport is created for the server, but multiple Destinations are created each containing a different directory path; and once again, should any change be made to the server, only one change would need to be made to the transport.

Lastly, Transports can be shared between Sites, so a common repository of transports can exist in one Site for use across all Sites in the system. In this setup, only Destinations need to be created for all your Sites and they would use Transports from the common repository.

To create a new Destination:

1. Click Destinations in the side bar.
2. Click New Destination in the Destinations section.
3. Type Staging Server into the Name field.
4. You may leave the Directory field blank if you wish the Destination to use the same directory specified on the Transport. (You may also fill in a relative path that does not begin with a slash (or backslash on Windows) to publish to subfolders of the Transport's folder.)
5. Click the Transport browse icon, select the Transport created in the last step, and click Confirm.
6. Verify that the Enable destination checkbox is checked.
   
7. When finished, click Submit to create the new destination.

You can now use this Transport / Destination combination to publish out pages from the intro site.

K. Publish Intro Site

We will now publish out the intro site to the filesystem

To publish out the site:

1. Click Home in the menu bar.
2. Click the Base Folder in the side bar.
3. Click on the Publish tab. Note: individual assets can be published, but for this exercise we will publish out the entire Site by publishing the Base Folder.
4. Verify that the Staging Server destination is checked.
   
5. When finished, click Submit to publish the site.

To check the publishing progress, select System -> Publisher -> Active Jobs from the menu bar to see the current and queued publish jobs. Check your filesystem or FTP server and verify that all the pages we created published out correctly. You'll notice that none of the assets in the intro/_internal folder published out. That is because those are internal assets only used by Cascade Server and are never needed by the final web server.

Congratulations! You have created a site entirely from scratch and published that site out to a web server! Hopefully this guide laid a proper foundation for understanding Cascade Server and increased your confidence and abilities to get things done quickly. Subsequent guides will increase depth and breadth and show off even more of the powerful features built into Cascade Server. We hope you found the introductory portion of this primer helpful, if you'd like to progress to more advanced topics, see Phases 4-7 of our Cascade Server Technical Primer.

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