In this article, you'll learn the basics about Higher Logic's CMS, which will give you the foundation to successfully create and manage your community site's pages and their content.

Watch the videos

Online Communities: Content Management System

Website Editing Basics for Community & Site Admins

CMS and Page Designer

An important concept to understand is that "CMS" is an umbrella term that encompasses two distinct parts: the CMS and Page Designer:

1. The CMS is your community site's navigation- and page-management tool; it's what you use to add and remove pages and edit page properties.

2. Page Designer is what you use to edit a page's layout and content.

We'll learn more about using each of these tools throughout the remaining articles in this section.

Accessing the CMS and Page Designer

There are two ways to access the CMS, both from the Webmaster Links menu:

1. Click edit this page to edit the current page in Page Designer
2. OR click edit navigation to access the CMS's Navigation page, which shows your community site's complete navigation structure, with your current page selected.

CMS Navigation layout

The Navigation page is the CMS's central hub, and it comprises two main areas:

• The Navigation Tree area on the left lists all of your site's pages in a branching structure. Pages can be nested under one another to create a tiered structure, with top-level pages known as "parents" and sub-pages known as "children." Click a parent’s plus icon to view its children. In the image above, we've expanded the Main Button Bar (the parent) to view its nine sub-pages (the children). Seven of these pages are active, while the bottom two are set to not be visible in the front-end navigation, indicated by the eye icon.

NOTE: Pages configured to not be visible can still be accessed indirectly, like from an announcement or email.

• Select a page to display its Page Properties to the right. This is where you can update a page's title, add tags, set view permissions, and more.

Navigation areas overview

Pages are organized by a site's three main Navigation areas:

1. The Main Button Bar represents a site's top-level navigation. Adding/removing pages to/from the button bar is how to manage a site's main navigation options. When creating a page, you’ll typically do so under the Main Button Bar and configure it to (a) appear directly in your site’s navigation or (b) as a hidden page you’ll link to from elsewhere, like other pages, discussion posts, emails, etc.

TIP: Nesting pages in the Main Button Bar is how you create drop-down menus in your navigation menu containing additional pages:

2. Pages added to Text Links at Top display as links in a site's banner (Contact Us and Terms and Conditions are the default links), and are available across all pages.
3. Pages added to Text Links at Bottom display as links in a site's footer, and are available across all pages.

EXAMPLE: Compare the two images below to see where content added to each area displays on a community site.

CMS

Community Site

Page management options

Each page includes an ellipsis menu providing the following management options:

• Add - Create a child page under the selected one.
• Edit - Manage the page's content and edit its properties (see Create Pages for information about each page property).
• Copy - Create an exact copy of the page (including its properties and content) below the selected one.
• Send to Draft - Place the page in the Draft state, meaning it won't be accessible on the site (i.e., indirectly via links) OR visible in the navigation until it's published again. This is a great way to temporarily take a page offline to make updates. New pages are automatically in the Draft state.
• Archive - Move the page to the archive. It won't be accessible on the site or visible in its navigation unless it's set back to a draft state and published again.

NOTE: All archived pages are hidden by default in the CMS. To view them, click the filter icon above the list, select the Archived page status, and click Apply.

• Delete - Delete the page, including any children and content.

Page states

Pages can be in one of several states:

• Draft - Until published, Draft pages are not visible in site navigation or even accessible indirectly via links. New or copied pages automatically assume the Draft state; existing pages can be sent to the draft state, if you need to temporarily take a page "offline" for updates and then publish again in the future.
• Editing - When Published pages are modified, a "working copy" is created with the Editing state while the live version remains accessible and/or visible on the site. This enables you to edit pages behind the scenes and only publish your changes when you're ready.
• Published - Published pages are accessible and/or visible on your site, depending on their configuration.
• Archived - Archived pages cannot be accessed on the site and are not visible in the navigation. Archived pages also don't display in the Navigation Tree unless the Archived page status filter is applied.

NOTE: All archived pages are hidden by default in the CMS. To view them, click the filter icon above the list, select Archived, and click Apply.

Searching & filtering pages

In the Navigation Tree, click the magnifying glass icon to search for pages based on their Page Title or Page Code Name. Select a page in the resulting dialog to jump to the page in the Navigation Tree.

To clear search results, click the X in the search field.

In the Navigation Tree, click the filter icon to filter pages by Page Status and/or View Permissions. After selecting your filter(s), click Apply to list the applicable pages below. These filters make it easy to find and manage pages of a specific state and/or view permission.

To clear your filter(s), click Clear Filter in the filter menu.

Page statuses

• Draft
• Included in site nav
• Accessible on site
• Not accessible on site
• Ads in use
• Syndication in use
• Archived

View permissions

• Everyone
• Logged In
• Not Logged In
• Site Admins
• Super Admins
• Members
• Non-Members
• Member Roles
• Non-Member Roles

Undo/Redo actions

When editing a page with Page Designer, you can undo and redo actions made on the canvas, like adding, deleting, and moving content. Click the undo or redo icon at the bottom of the page to perform the applicable action.

NOTE: You can only undo/redo actions related to content on the canvas; you cannot undo/redo actions like editing content settings or updating content or page properties.