Page Properties

This tab controls the main settings for the page. The Title should reflect what you entered when you created the page. You can then make additional adjustments as noted below, although no further changes are required.

• Title
  • Controls how this page is labeled in the browser title bar and throughout the UBCMS (e.g. in the Sites Console).
  • Sets default labels for all Title components on this page
  • Sets default label for this page in navigation and in any lists that include this page
  • Appears as the page title in search returns.
    
  • Also see Creating a New Page for general comments on page titles and names.
• Tags
  • A display lists existing tags, with a search/browse tool to add new tags -- begin typing to instantly reveal matches to available tags. Click the "X" beside a tag to remove it.
  • Read more about Tags.

• Page Type
  • This is an alternate way to adjust the page template; e.g. "with banner" exposes banner area underneath the main website navigation bar (usually reserved for an image).
  • Adjusting this setting may hide content in areas (e.g. right column) that the new page structure does permit, but that content should come back once a type is selected that supports that area.
  • These are page layout templates, and not to be confused with the design templates that are used when a page is first created.
    

• Mobile: Hide in mobile navigation menu (RWD-enabled sites)
  • Conceals this page and any child pages from appearing in a mobile device's navigation.
    
  • The page will still show in lists and searches.
  • This no longer takes effect in task and audience ('Info About' and 'Info For') sections of the mobile menu.
• Desktop: Hide in top navigation menus
  
  • Conceals this page and any child pages from appearing in the standard top navigation bar.
  • The page will still show in lists and searches.
• Desktop: Always show child pages in top navigation.
  • Requires any child pages to appear in the top navigation bar.
• Desktop: Hide in left navigation
  • Conceals this page and any child pages from appearing in the standard top navigation bar.
  • The page will still show in lists and searches.
• Desktop: Always show child pages in left navigation.
  • Requires any child pages to appear in the left navigation bar.
• Other: Hide in Lists
  
  • Conceals this page and any children from appearing in lists including searches.
    
  • The page will still show in other page navigation.
• Other: Hide in Site Map component
• Other: Hide in Google XML sitemap
  

• Preview Width (Shared Content pages only)
  
  • Width of unstructured pages can be adjusted to reflect its expected use. This works with Flexible Shared Content Template pages, but not others like the Module Container or Highlight Template.
    
  • This only impacts the display of this page in Author and is ignored when it is displayed on a host page.
  • Choose from:
    
    • Narrow center column (6-col, default)
    • Wide content column (9-col)
    • Full page column (12-col)

• Page Title
  • Overrides the page's default Title for this page and for the browser title bar. Does not affect Navigation or Lists.
  • Use a dash ("-") to not display a title in the browser title bar. However, the default "- University at Buffalo" will still show in the browser, and the dash will display as the default text in this page's Title components.
• Navigation Title
  • Overrides this page's default label in site navigation and lists. It is often shorter than the full title.
    
• Subtitle
  • NO LONGER USED
    
  • (Added a subtitle into the site's top navigation bar if enabled in the site's header configuration.)

• Site Title
  • Sets the second part of the <title> tag, like "This Page Title - This Site Title".
    
  • If blank, inherited, so usually set just on the home page.
  • Important for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
• Overview Title
  • Overrides the default '<Section> Overview' name given to the first page of each sub-section of the RWD-enabled burger menu for mobile devices.
• Description
  • Overrides default descriptive language in list and carousel teasers.
  • If left blank, teasers will be built using the initial sentence from the first Intro Text or Body Text component.
  • (If you adjust this setting, consider adding a thumbnail picture in the Image tab.)
• Use Site Title as H1
  • Choose from:
    • Add H1 to header (default for home pages)
    • No H1 in header (default for other templates)
  • All pages must have an H1 title for accessibility compliance. This setting allows the site's Header component title to be used as an H1 if you do not have another 'Heading 1' Title component on that page, and will primarily be used on site home pages. > Learn more about accessibility concerns for headings

This area allows modification of additional settings and is mostly intended for developers.

• Language
  • Specify the primary language of the page. (English is presumed.)
• Redirect
  • Use with great caution - developers only!
  • This option automatically redirects traffic from this page to another specified page.
  • When setting a redirect, links to this page will go directly to the redirect target, so you can only get back to this page in Author from the site admin tool.
  • Note: UBCMS also has a separate "Redirect" page template, which is functionally equivalent to this setting, but may be less confusing for site maintenance since this page will appear to be a 'normal' page unless you look in the Page Properties.
• CSS Classes
  • Use with great caution - developers only!
  • Add extra CSS class names to the body of this page.
• Design
  • Use with great caution - developers only!
  • Specify the location of a design file (e.g. /etc/designs/www/your-site) for this page.
  • This setting is normally set for the home page and then blank for all child pages. Adding a wrong path, or deleting the path for the home page will make it difficult to modify pages. For example, the UBCMS may no longer know which components are allowed on the page.

• Alias
  • Use with great caution - developers only!
    
  • Setting an alias gives a page and all of its children an alternative Name in addition to their actual Name as declared in the author environment. When the page has children, the URLs of the child pages will also be adjusted.
    
  • With an alias, BOTH the original and alias URLs work equivalently.  
  • Any word or series of hyphenated words can be used (no blanks or unusual characters please).
  • Make this setting on the top level page and activate that one page, and to undo this change, remove the Alias from the Page Properties settings and re-activate that page.
  • With an additional server redirect, the original URL can even be redirected complely to the new alias URL. For example, the UB Reporter uses the alias “ubreporter” so that its pages appear to be www.buffalo.edu/ubreporter even though its pages in the author environment are under /content/www/reporter.
    
  • You can only have one alias, so be careful before you assign it -- if you change your mind later, any bookmarks or shared links using this alias name will bounce.
    

• ShareThis.com Publisher ID
  • While the Share and Print component is primarily part of the Related Content Container and included by default on many page templates, this setting allows site managers to set a tracking code found in the <script> tag provided with registration at ShareThis.com.
  • This ID is inherited, so best to set at the highest level possible.
• Related Links Reference
  • Designates a Related Links file to appear in the left navigation on this page.
    • These files are traditionally located in the Site Configuration area
      e.g. /content/www/your-site/config/related_links/some-links
    • Specialists may create additional Related Links files.
  • When added to a page that is in a site’s top navigation (a section home page), the Related Links will also show in the top navigation menu.
  • This Related Links Menu will also show in the left navigation for all child pages..
    
    • unless a different related links list is selected for the child page.
    • unless a dash is added to child pages “-” to break the inheritance.

• Jumbo Top Nav
  • These settings only work when Jumbo Top Navigation is turned on in the site header's Top Navigation component, and only if this page has child pages. 
  • Fourth Column Module
    • Switch from default four columns to three columns plus a shared content module.
      
    • Must provide a path to shared content flex module, or a Highlight Template page.
  • Column Teaser Text
    • Provide additional text that is displayed above any navigational links to child pages.

• Vanity URL
  • Use with great caution - developers only!
    
  • Allows you to have a shorter and more expressive URL. The entered path will be directed to this page you are editing. The path does not have to be for a real page.
    
  • Click the "Add Item +" button to add one or more paths (e.g. /content/www/gazebo).
  • Note: this will redirect another page to this page, but it will not impact any children of that other page.
  • Read more about Vanity URLs in the UBCMS.
• Redirect Vanity URL
  • Select this to overwrite the Vanity URL with the URL of the final page.

• Authenticated Published Pages
  • Authentication Required
    • Turn on authentication for this page and any child pages.
      
  • Allowed
    • Optionally choose one of these pre-set groups: All users or All faculty/staff
      
  • Additional Users/Group
    • Add one or more UBITNames or LDAP groups.
      
  • Read more about secure pages in the UBCMS.

• Google Analytics
  • Analytics Type - Optional, select a Google Analytics method to run IN ADDITION to UB's standard GTM- code.
    
    • Inherit from parent page (default)
      
    • None - Do NOT apply a tracking code even if the parent page has one. The UB's standard code is still applied.
      
    • Google Analytics 4
      
    • Tag Manager
      
  • ID / Snippet - Optional, paste in your own tracking code; e.g. UA-1499965-40
  • UB Analytics - Permit, or turn off UB's standard Universal Analytics GTM-T5KRRKT tracking code.
    
    • Track this page (default)
    • Do not track this page [or any of its children]
      

• Segments
  • Segments are not currently in use for UBCMS.
• Server Caching [this choice is not offered on shared content]
  
  • Enabled - Allow or prevent the page from being cached on the server. (Flush triggers are not necessary if the page is not cached.)
    • Enable server caching (default)
    • Prevent server caching
      
  • This is generally discouraged becauses it severely impacts page and server performance -- never prevent server caching on a high-profile or high-use page such as a home page.
  • Flush Triggers - Specify page(s) that will refresh the main server cache when they are modified.
    • Add one or more triggers by clicking the Add Item + button.
      e.g. /content/shared/www/your-site/some-page

What is a flush trigger?

Changes to your own site's pages and shared content update the server cache when they are published, but this does not apply to content that is pulled in from external sources; e.g. news stories in university-wide shared coontent. Changes to pages listed here will trigger the publishers to flush this page from the server cache so the latest version is immediately visible on the published site. Otherwise it may not appear until the next day. Flushing one page of a site generally flushes all pages of the site.

• Head Content
  • Head HTML
    • Add additional meta-data code to the page's Head HTML element. HTML content will be included just before the end of the <head> section of this page.
      
    • For example, we have used the following for the UB homepage:
      • <meta name="Description" content="The University at Buffalo is the largest campus in the State University of New York system and New York’s leading public center for graduate and professional education. Our more than 29,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 400 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, UB is a member of the Association of American Universities." />
    • Please note: head metadata is ignored by Google and our own Funnelback search engine, so it does not influence search engine optimization (SEO).
• Site Visibility
  
  • Siteimprove-Only Block (only visible to system admins)
    
    • Normally applied to the home page when a site is first created. Used for pre-launch accessibility testing and normally removed when a site launches.
      
    • When set, your live site can only be seen by the SiteImprove platform. People and crawlers will see a 403 server error.
    • Choose from:
      
      • Only siteimprove can see site
      • Site is visible to everyone (default)
  • No Index
    • Normally applied just to a home page, once activated, this page and all child pages (the entire site) will not be indexed by search engines. This will also mean the site will not be returned in internal searches. (Read more about site searches in the UBCMS.)
      
    • Choose from:
      
      • Site will not be indexed by search engines
      • Search engines can index site
        

Using these settings, Publishers can control when content displays in a list, and schedule page activation and deactivation  (compare to Publish/Unpublish Later).

Feature Time

• These settings can automatically push content into a list over time.
• When Enable Scheduling is selected in a list's properties, only pages whose Feature Time is current will be displayed.
• Scheduled lists can be previewed for a given date and time by right-clicking the list and choosing 'Schedule Preview'.
• Unlike Delayed Activation or On/Off Time, Feature Time does not affect the page’s visibility elsewhere on the site; it is still visible in navigation or by direct link.
• Pages with Feature Time set must still be activated.
• Examples of uses for list scheduling:
  • Push select 'hot' items into a special featured list on your main page.
    
  • Hide an application form link after a deadline has passed.
  • Switch from one featured image to another in a slideshow (set the start time of one item to the end time of the previous).

On/Off Time

• These settings control visibility of your content on the published site.
• If the time is in the future, activation (or deactivation) is triggered automatically.
• If the time is in the past, you must activate the page to push the modifications over to the live site.
  
• For a scheduled On Time:
  • Using these settings, a new page will be added to your live site, while an existing page will continue to be on your live site. However, the page will now be completely hidden until the On Time is reached.  When the On Time is reached, the setting triggers an activation and the page will become visible on your live site.
• For a scheduled Off Time:
  • Using these settings, a new page will be added to your live site, while an existing page will continue to be on your live site. The page will be visible until the Off Time is reached.  When the Off Time is reached, the setting triggers a deactivation, and will thus be hidden from view on your live site.

• Upload / Select Image
  
  • Use this option to embed an image into the page's meta-data that will appear in "teasers" in lists and carousels, but will not be visible on the page itself.
    
  • The image may be uploaded from your desktop or dragged from the DAM.
  • If left blank, the first Photo component on your page will be used instead, which may not always be desirable.
  • (If you adjust this setting, consider adding a Description in the Basic tab.)

• Alt text: Add a description of the image for users who may have difficulty seeing it.
  
  • Alt text is required by New York State policy for most images.
    
  • Blanks or a carriage return are not in compliance and will be blocked.
  • A period and space are now added at the end of any alt text that does not already end with punctuation. (This is not visible in the dialog box.) This increases the clarity with which a screen reader reads the page.
  • See webaim.org for tips on writing alt text.
  • If you change the image, you will be reminded to check the alt text for accuracy.
• This image does not require alt text: If your image is purely decorative and does not aid in navigation, check this box instead of entering alt text. The image will be ignored by screen readers.
  
  • Checking this box nullifies any alt text that was already entered. The alt text is grayed out in the component within Author, and can be retrieved by unchecking the box, but is not included on the published page.

• Background
  
  • This option allows authors to override the parent site's default background color and image.
    • inherit background from the parent page (default)
    • use this color and image (leave blank for default)
• Background Color (enabled when 'use this color and image' is selected)
  
  • When 'use this color and image' is selected, optionally set a background color.
  • If an image is loaded, it will cover the background color.
• Upload Images / Select Image (revealed when 'use this color and image' is selected)
  
  • When 'use this color and image' is selected, optionally upload or select an image from Assets.
  • If an image is loaded, it will cover the background color.

Adjust these optional settings to guide future authors in maintaining this page. These details will be visible in Page Reports.

• Reference Number
  
• Steward UBIT Name (person responsible for  the page)
  • Values can also be a full email address.
  • For purposes of Notification, multiple values are allowed, separated by a space or comma or semicolon.
    
• Steward Name
  • Also used for steward Notification.
    
• Steward Department
• Steward Division/School
• Site Manager UBITName
  • Also used as the From field in steward Notification email.
  • If not specified, is inherited from the parent page.To declare for whole site, set in home page.
    
• Authoritative Source (contact who is knowledgable about the page's subject)
• Source References

• Authoring Notes
  • Displays a full-width banner at the top of the page, with key instructions for all authors.
    
  • Choose from: Hide Notes (default) and Show Notes.
  • Read more about Authoring Notes.
• Review Date
  • Set an intended date (and time) to guide future maintenance. We encourage a site-wide standard, either of the intended future date, OR the actual date the page was last reviewed.
• Notification: 'Email steward on review date'
  • Enable automated email notification to page's Steward on specified Review Date.
    
  • Must also fill in Steward UBITName and Review Date fields (date and time).
  • Any Stewardship Notes will be included in the email.
  • Site Manager will be used as the email's From field.
• Review Frequency
  • Define an arbitrary interval (e.g. monthly, quarterly, by-semester, annual) for maintenance.
• Date Approved
  • Indicate the last date (and time) the page was signed off on.
• Stewardship Notes
  • Additional comments to guide future authors in maintaining the page content. Consider using in conjunction with Annotations.