Site Footer

• Every UBCMS site has a footer that is displayed at the bottom of every page.
  
• This footer is set at the bottom of your home page in an 'Inherited Paragraph Reference' (like a Shared Content Reference), and then inherited by all child pages throughout your site.
• Specialists can manage this content by editing the 'footer' page in your site-wide configuration folder (e.g. /content/www/abc/config/footer).
• The footer is automatically visible in the Author environment, but must be published to be displayed on your live pages and republished after any changes.

Footers can hold select regular components plus special components developed just for their use. Available components will be listed when you are editing the page.

Please be very carefully making changes as they will be reflected throughout your site.

Your website's footer supports our strategic identity by including a trademarked lockup with the UB logo and university name, which are pre-linked to the UB homepage. Additionally they contain your unit's formal name, which has been established by the university.

Since only official university logos or marks may be displayed in a UB website header, if you wish to acknowledge a formal relationship with an external agency, their logo, along with a suitable positioning statement (e.g. “co-sponsored by” or “a member of…”), may be shown in the body of your website or in the footer.

Open the Footer page to see a mini page with just your footer elements. The Components Browser will show any applicable items including components designed specifically for this page.

Here you can modify the elements in your site's footer, including the main unit title, parent affiliation(s), and additional navigational links for key tasking, special audiences, and your social media channels.

If you add or modify any of the links, please follow these best practices:

• For internal navigation, always use references ("/content/...") using the link chooser tool instead of absolute URLs ("https://...").
• For links to external sites, leave them as absolute URLs ("https://..."). This includes the "UB", and "University at Buffalo" links in the brand lockup as well as the Privacy and Accessibility links.

All of these features are housed in the Fat Footer Container. This supports several layout options (simple to advanced), with additional space for links and content.

Adjusting this Fat Footer Container, sites can have a 'simple' or 'enhanced footer,' plus an optional 'fat footer,' with the simple or enhanced footer displayed at the bottom of the page just above the mandatory UBCMS system-wide footer.

The 'simple footer' holds identity and contact details, while the 'enhanced footer' holds those same identify and contact details, plus some additional elements (usually links). The optional 'fat footer' allows multple columns that typically link clusters and a groups of social media buttons.

Developers may wish to explore adding custom code to their website, such as using an HTML Snippet to tweak the CSS or to add additional Google Analytics. Placing this code on a footer or header page will then apply it to every page in the site.

Please proceed with great caution and contact the DCT Help Desk if you are considering a custom footer.

• Custom code can significantly impact page performance.
• Custom code may interfere with the function of your pages.
• Custom code may create accessibility issues.
• Custom code must be maintained by your unit (and assessed for every code deployment and system upgrade).