Getting Started with Your pdx.edu Site

General Guidelines

Since pdx.edu sites are public-facing and represent PSU as a whole, additional guidelines must be followed when working on pdx.edu sites. These include, but are not limited to:

• Every site is required to have one registered site owner as the primary point of contact for the site.

• Sites must be actively managed and updated on a regular basis, at minimum every couple of months.

• All content on each site must follow applicable PSU policies, including PSU’s Digital Accessibility, Digital Privacy, and Copyright policies.

• Sites must follow brand identity guidelines, as outlined by University Communications.

• Sites are not intended for internal department content or file storage. Alternative resources, such as Google Sites, Google Drives, and other available resources should be used for those purposes.

• External vendors may not perform work on pdx.edu sites without vetting and approval from the Site Dev Team. Contact the Site Dev Team prior to starting any project that involves changes to pdx.edu beyond that which an Editor, Content Manager, or Site Owner can perform.

We reserve the right to rename, disable, delete, or modify the settings of pdx.edu sites that do not follow these guidelines. Additionally, code access to the platform is restricted to better support these guidelines.

Login and Access

Editing access to both PDX.edu sites and Syndication is only available while on campus using a PSU network or while connected to the VPN if working off-campus. Set up your VPN. Note: Anytime you open the VPN program, before you select Connect update the URL in the application to vpn.pdx.edu/full (the default is vpn.pdx.edu). That will give you the correct permissions to access our servers.

Open

Log in to your site using these instructions; check the Overview for instructions on requesting site access.

1. Navigate to drupal-admin.web.wdt.pdx.edu/YOURSITE/login to login to your site. For example, if you work on the Admissions site, you would navigate to drupal-admin.web.wdt.pdx.edu/admissions/login

   1. Do not edit your account details, including your email address. Doing so will remove your Single Sign On (SSO) access for that account, thereby preventing you from properly accessing the site.

2. If this is your first time logging in, notify the Site Dev Team so they can give you the appropriate permissions.

3. If you navigate to a page while editing your site and suddenly lose access to the admin menu, check the URL of the page you’re on. If the URL starts with www.pdx.edu/, replace that text with drupal-admin.web.wdt.pdx.edu/ and go to the new URL. Editing access is only available via the Drupal Admin backend.

Admin Menu

Provided you have editing permissions when logged into your site you’ll notice an admin menu at the top of the page. Feel free to explore the admin menu to determine the function of each area, however, there are a few tips to note:

• Toggle menu visibility by selecting Manage in the top left of the menu.

• The search box allows you to search through available functions in the admin menu.

• Toggle the admin menu between horizontal and vertical display by selecting the orientation button: ⇤.

• Select the Acquia logo, which looks like a flame, to navigate to your site’s homepage.

Accessibility

It’s both a legal requirement and best practice to ensure all content on your site is accessible to users with disabilities. With that in mind, here are a few basics to remember:

• Headings:

  • Use only for section titles to create an outline and organization of your pages; these are not for design or emphasis.

  • Structure appropriately. For example, use Heading 2 for main section titles and Heading 3 for sub-sections.

• Links and Call to Action (CTA) buttons:

  • Generic text (eg. “Learn More,” “Read More,” etc.) should not be used.

  • Verify links and CTAs make sense out of context; read just the linked text. Would you know where it goes?

  • Never use full URLs as link text unless the link is on a page intended to be printed.

• Images:

  • Add purpose-based alt text for images that provide content and information or a short description of the image if decorative.

  • Never put text in images.

• Videos:

  • All videos must have accurate closed captioning and transcripts. 

  • Videos also require sound and video controls, such as those provided by YouTube.

For additional information, review the W3C Accessibility Fundamentals, review the Digital Accessibility resources in the PSU Help Center or submit a request for Digital Accessibility Support.

Best Practices

The Site Dev Team does not provide consulting on best practices for effective content, search engine optimization (SEO), or marketing. However, there are many online resources you can use to guide your content creation.

We are including some sample resources, but do be aware that the recommendations in these resources are limited to the existing site structure. For example, you can control the content in your site’s navigation, but not the look or function of the navigation.

Writing for the Web

• University of Maryland Baltimore: Website Manual

• usability.gov: Writing for the Web

• Sprout Media Lab: Web Writing 101: 8 Best Practices

• SeattleU: Writing for the Web

Site Navigation

• Eternity: Best Website Navigation Practices

• Wix Blog: Website Navigation: Best Practices, Tips and Examples

• HubSpot: The Top-to-Bottom Guide to Website Navigation

Design and Layout

• Quick Sprout: 13 Website Design Best Practices

• WebFX: 7 Website Design Best Practices

• Digital22: The Web Page Layout Best Practices Checklist

• The Daily Egg: The Beginner's Guide to Website Design Best Practices

For additional support and resources, review the Web Communications page from University Communications.

Adding Your First Page

Use these instructions to practice making a draft (unpublished) page on your site which you will then delete.

1. Log in to your site.

2. Using the admin menu, go to Content ￫ Add Content ￫ Landing Page.

3. Enter “Test Page” into the Title field.

   • All pages are required to have a title.

4. In the Paragraph Type dropdown, choose H1 Header: Page Title, then select Add Paragraph.

   • All pages are required to have one H1 Header paragraph block.

   • A paragraph block is a section of the page; landing pages are built using multiple paragraph blocks.

5. Choose Draft in the Save as dropdown, then select Save.

   • Selecting Published will make the page publicly visible.

   • If you accidentally publish the page, select Archived to remove it from public view.

   • Changing a published page to Draft leaves the published version publicly accessible while a second draft version is edited. When the draft is ready, selecting “Published” replaces the previously published version with the new one.

6. Select Edit to continue modifying the page.

7. Add more page elements using the Paragraph Type dropdown.

   • Reorder paragraph blocks using the crosshairs to the left of each paragraph block.

   • View new changes by selecting Save or Preview.

   • If you get an error message, review the message to determine and fix the cause. Some paragraph blocks have required elements that might be missing.

8. When done, select Delete near the top of the page to delete the page.