Cascade Tutorials
In this section you will find resources and step-by-step instructions for making content edits or performing other tasks in Cascade, the University of Richmond's website content management system.
- Secondary page template
- FAQ secondary page template
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Step |
Action |
Result |
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1 |
Select (or click on) the folder where you would like the page to live. |
Note: This will ultimately result in the page URL. For example, if you are on the biology folder, your page URL will be biology.richmond.edu/newpagename.html |
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2 |
From the Cascade main menu, select New | secondary-template. Note: If you would like to create an FAQ page, select the FAQ Secondary Template. |
The New Page window will display in edit mode in the right pane.
Be sure to enter your new page name in the system name box. |
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3 |
Then Enter your content in the Body Copy region using the WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) section. |
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Related Content Items
Optional related content items, most often button and text promos, are displayed on the left margin of the page (in the desktop version). If you choose not to display any promo items, delete the example text from the Heading text area. Your related content should not run longer than the main body region of the page.
Adding a Text or Button Promo
A button promo appears as a gray button with white text. These buttons are used to highlight related content. Think of it as, “If you are reading this page, you may also be interested in…”
A text promo appears as a text block a gray background. This is freeform text you can input. Examples of existing text promos include: mission statements, hours of operation or interesting yet related fact.
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Step |
Action |
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1 |
While in Edit mode, scroll down to the "Related Content Item" section of your page and click it to expand the section.
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2 |
Select Button-Promo or Text-Promo from the Promo Type drop-down list.
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3 |
Enter the text to be displayed on the button in the Heading text area (for both button and text promos).
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4 |
For Text-Promos: simply enter your content in the "Short Description" region. For Button-Promos: choose your link type. Your button can link to a page within your site (internal link), a PDF file within your site or an external website address.
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5 |
You may add additional promos by clicking the ‘+’ symbol.
A new promo item will be added; displaying ‘(2/2)’. Note: To reorder your promo items use the black up/down arrows to the right of the ‘+/-‘ buttons. The ‘-‘ will delete a promo item. |
There are two types of hyperlinks: internal and external.
An internal hyperlink links to another page or asset within your site, while an external hyperlink links to a page or asset outside of your site.
Adding Internal Hyperlinks
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Step |
Action |
Result |
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1 |
While in Edit mode on your page, select the text (click and drag) that you would like to convert to a hyperlink. |
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2 |
Click the Insert/edit link button on the WYSIWYG toolbar.
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A dialog box appears.
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3 |
Be sure the Internal radio button is selected.
Note: Internal hyperlinks link to pages or assets within your site. While you may be able to view other sites, this link type is restricted to pages/assets within your site. |
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4 |
Browse for the page or asset within your site by clicking on the blue page icon.
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The "Please choose a File, Page, or Symlink" dialog box appears. |
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5 |
Navigate to the desired page or file by clicking through the folder structure. |
The path of the selected file displays in the right pane. |
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6 |
Click the Confirm button to select the page/asset.  |
The dialog box closes and the confirmed path is displayed adjacent to the ‘Link’ label. Note: If you find that this is not the correct file, you can click on the path to select another page/asset. |
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7 |
Make sure the Target field is set to Same Window. Note: Links pointing to pages from within the same site should open in the same window. |
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8 |
Click the Insert button.
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You return to the page in Edit mode with the new hyperlink visible.  |
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9 |
Scroll down and click the Submit button to save your changes. |
Your page displays with the View tab active. Here you can see how your page will appear on the web. Note: You can test your link in this mode to ensure it points to the proper page/asset. Note: This change is not visible online until the page is published. |
Adding External Hyperlinks
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Step |
Action |
Result |
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1 - 2 |
Follow steps 1 and 2 above. | |
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3 |
Be sure the External radio button is selected.
Note: External hyperlinks link to pages or assets outside of your site. |
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4 |
Enter the complete URL (including the ‘http://’) of the website that you wish to link to in the Link field.
Note: It is much easier to open a new window, browse to the actual site and copy the URL from the address bar. |
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5 |
Select New Window from the Target drop-down list.
Note: Links pointing to pages outside of your site should open in a new window. |
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6 |
Click the Insert button.
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You return to the page in Edit mode with the new hyperlink visible. |
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7 |
Scroll down and click the Submit button to save your changes. |
Your page displays with the View tab active. Here you can see how your page will appear on the web and also test to see that the link works. Note: This change is not visible online until the page is published. |
When a visitor clicks on a mailto link, their default email client opens and the ‘To:’ line is populated with the email address you provide.
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Step |
Action |
Result |
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1 |
While in Edit mode on your page, select the text (click and drag) that you would like to convert to a hyperlink. |
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2 |
Click the Insert/edit link button on the WYSIWYG toolbar. |
A dialog box appears.
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3 |
Be sure the External radio button is selected. Note: External hyperlinks link to pages or assets outside of your site. |
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4 |
Enter the text, ‘mailto:’ immediately followed by the desired email address in the Link field (i.e., mailto:webserv@richmond.edu)
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5 |
Click the Insert button.
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You return to the page in Edit mode with the new hyperlink visible.
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6 |
Scroll down and click the Submit button to save your changes. |
Your page displays with the View tab active. Here you can see how your page will appear on the web and also test to see that the link works. Note: You can test your link in this mode to ensure it opens your default email client and the correct email address is populated. Note: This change is not visible online until the page is published. |
By default, pages will display the folder’s subnavigation (which now appears on the left side of the page):
To be sure a page appears in the subnavigation, it needs a display name in the page’s metadata. To edit the metadata, click Edit>Metadata in the blue toolbar. Then give the page a display name:
This feature is available only to those not involved in workflow.
Remember: If you do not un-publish the existing page before moving or renaming, that page will continue to be live and available to users. As demostrated below: This increases the chances of users accessing inaccurate data.
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Cascade |
Web Server (Live) |
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Original Asset
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Scenario if modified, but not un-published
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Move or Rename
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Step |
Action |
Result |
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1 |
Select (or click on) the page or file you wish to rename or move. |
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2 |
Click the Move/Rename tab. |
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3 |
If you wish to move the asset, click the link to the right of the Parent Folder name.
If you wish to rename the asset, skip to step 7. |
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4 |
The Choose dialog box appears. |
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5 |
Select the new parent folder from the dialog box. |
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6 |
Click the Confirm button. |
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7 |
If you wish to rename the asset, replace the text in the System Name field with your desired page name. Note: This name should contain no spaces; dashes are permitted. |
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8 |
Click the Submit button. |
Now make your page edits. Don't forget to publish your page after making your modifications.
| Step | Action |
| 1 | Select the destination folder (i.e., Where do you want this file to be stored?) |
| 2 | Select New | File |
| 3 | In the middle of the page you will see the new “drop zone” that allows you to drag files from your desktop directly into the Cascade interface. You can drag your file into the box. Or Choose the Browse (or Choose File if on Mac) button and select your file in the File Upload dialog box. Click the Open (or Choose) button on the File Upload dialog box. Note: Be sure you have renamed your file and eliminated all spaces, per asset naming conventions. |
| 4 | Click the Submit button to upload and save your file. |
| Step | Action |
| 1 | Select the file you wish to replace. |
| 2 | Click the Edit tab. |
| 3 | In the middle of the page you will see the new “drop zone” that allows you to drag files from your desktop directly into the Cascade interface. You can drag your file into the box. Or Choose the Browse (or Choose File if on Mac) button and select your file in the File Upload dialog box. Click the Open (or Choose) button on the File Upload dialog box. |
| 4 | Click the Submit button. The “Edit Successful” message displays. |
| 5 | Click the Publish tab and click the Submit button. The “Publish message sent successfully message” displays. Note: Cascade Contributors that use workflows should forward the workflow to a manager to have the new file published as they will not be able to see the Publish tab. |
If you are a publisher in Cascade (not in workflow), you have the option of previewing your web edits online prior to publishing to your live website.
Publishing to QA enables you to view your website edits without affecting your live website. Here’s how it works:
1. Select your page and initiate a publish job by clicking the Publish tab. You will be presented with a list of publishing destinations.
2. Uncheck the cmsweb1 and cmsweb2 check-boxes; leaving only the QA option selected.
3. Click the Submit button. Your job will publish to:
http://qasitename.richmond.edu/folder/page.html
4. Use this URL to check your page content or form functionality, but keep in mind this will only work on the University network. If you want to view a site in QA off campus, you will need to use a VPN. When you're ready to publish your changes to the live site, publish your form as usual (being certain that all three check-boxes are selected).
Once you click the Lock tab on an asset, Cascade will automatically lock the asset. This prohibits more than one user from editing any one asset at the same time. Soon after exiting Edit mode (either by clicking off or clicking the Submit button), the asset is made available for editing by anyone with write permissions.
Here is how you manually lock an asset to keep other Cascade users from editung the asset even while you are logged out of Cascade:
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Step |
Action |
Result |
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1 |
Select the asset from the left asset tree. |
A preview of the page displays in the right pane. |
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2 |
Click the Lock button. |
The Actions for the lock displays. |
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3 |
Click Check-out this asset |
You will receive a green, ‘Operation successful’ message in the right pane. |
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4 |
Confirm your lock by clicking the Home button, which will return you to the Dashboard. |
You will be able to see your lock(s) in the My Locks section of the Dashboard. |
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5 |
You may choose to log out of Cascade or edit your page as you see fit. |
All others will not be able to edit this page until you remove the lock. |
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6 |
Select Break Lock in order to unlock the asset. Now the asset is available for other users. |
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7 |
When you are ready to commit your changes, Click the Lock button and select Commit changes. |
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Each time you click the Submit button, Cascade creates a new version of your page. Versions are useful in instances where you must roll back to a previous version. They can also be used to quickly change the copy on a page.
For example, if your page should read one way in the spring and another way in the fall, use versions to quickly switch between the two versions of the page.
Viewing Versions
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Step |
Action |
Result |
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1 |
To view previous versions of any page, you must first select that page. |
A preview of the page will appear in the right pane. |
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2 |
Click the More tab and select Versions.
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A list of versions will be displayed in descending order by date. You will also see columns indicating the last modified date/time, last modified by and any comments added to the version. |
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3 |
Select a version from the list by clicking the hyperlink (reads as the absolute path in Cascade).
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The version will display in the right pane.
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Options for viewing versions
You will see a set of options available at the top of your preview pane. These options enable you to view additional versions, delete, activate or even compare versions.
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Step |
Action |
Result |
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1 |
Clicking the Newer option will allow you to move one version up on the list that we saw in step 2 above. |
The version will display in the right pane. |
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2 |
Clicking the Older option will allow you to move one version down on the list that we saw in step 2 above.
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The version will display in the right pane. |
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3 |
Clicking the Current option will allow you to view the last saved version of the page. This is the version you see when you first select the page in Cascade and may even be the page visible on the live website. |
The version will display in the right pane. |
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4 |
Clicking the Activate option will make the version you are currently viewing the active (or current version). It will move to the top of the list.
Note: A newly activated page is not live and must be published to display on the live website.
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5 |
Clicking the Delete option will remove the version you are currently viewing from the versions list.
Note: Remember, a new version is created each time the Submit button is clicked. Deleting versions may be helpful when trying to eliminate noise from your versions list.
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6 |
Clicking the Compare with Current option allows you to compare the selected version with the current version.
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Markings similar to those of track changes in Microsoft Word will display on the page. |
