SMSD Tech Support Center

SMSD Teacher Webpage Requirements:

Default Pages:

Class Calendar (often used for assignments and events, if not using an LMS)

Useful Links

Photo Gallery (limited capacity)

Contact Me – a virtual comment/contact mailbox

Recommended Pages:

**Home/Welcome – this page contains:

Who you are
What and where you teach
How to reach you

**Meet the Teacher – narrative or resume to describe your education and professional experiences

**Rules and Expectations – this page content proactively establishes “ground rules” before you need to enforce them

**Teacher Schedule

NOTE: The asterisks (**) denote the “recommended” pages you should create.

We also recommend that you include the following statement at the bottom of your page:

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by South Middleton School District.

Table of Contents:

Choosing a Theme, Page Options…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….3

Administrative Toolbar, Design Mode……………………………………………………………………………………………………..4

Create New Pages, Help Database, Options to Save………………………………………………………………………………..5

Images, Documents…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………6

Examples………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………7-9Page Break

Current Location Links:

To access your website, teachers should go to the staff directory for their building and click on the globe icon next to their name. You will then be prompted to log in.

Use your LDAP (Windows) credentials.

Changing User Account:

Under Update Settings, Account Settings, User Profile tab, put Job Title. (Ex. Secondary Science, Elementary Grade 2.) Next, add User Photo. If you prefer not to use personal photo, use a photo that relates to your subject area.

Choosing a Theme:

Under Advanced Options-Page Theme

Must be ADA Compliant. Dark color against light background. (Avoid the Colorful Theme under Abstract)

Page Options:

Page Properties: Contains key information about that page. Allows you turn pages on and off on specific dates/times.

Page Layout allows you to change layout of page.

Metadata: Alter header Line 1 and 2, Click Submit, Refresh page to see changes. Include your Name and title, grade/subject taught (i.e. – Line 1: Mrs. Bond Line 2: BSHS Librarian).

Page Order: Change order of pages by dragging and dropping.

Page Status: Allows you to hide pages. Choose Hide Selection and Close.

View Subpages: Allows you to see all subpages, including hidden ones.

Administrative Toolbar:

Not all options are available to all users. May change dependent on your permissions or what page you are currently on.

Design Mode:

You can toggle between Design Mode and View Mode by toggling the switch to the right of Design Mode. Design mode is where you will do the bulk of your editing.

When you activate Design Mode, you will get see another toolbar called the Portlet bar. A portlet is a web-part that divides a single webpage into unique areas of content.

Banner portlet: Allows you to create a rotating slideshow of images to display on a page. Keep it under 8 pictures or it slows down significantly.
Content portlet: A text portlet where users can add content, videos, pictures, hyperlinks, etc. Editing this portlet takes you to the WYSIWYG editor.
Tab portlet: You can add tabs which work as their own content portlet within the tabs portlet.

When you switch to design mode, a pink box will surround the editable regions on the page. There are several different options.

Edit: Click on the pencil button of the portlet to make changes.
History: Click on the clock button and certain types of portlets will allow version control.
Minimize: Minimize will hide the portlet from view.
Delete: X button deletes the portlet from your page. This is a permanent and irreversible decision!!

Page Break

Create New Pages:

Under the page you want to create, select +Page. Most of the time you will want a Content Space Page.

Shape

A Document Container Page can be very useful if you want to upload multiple resource files for your students. Make this type of page a subpage (i.e. Unit 1: Parts of Speech à Parts of Speech Resources).

Shape ?: Help Database

Contains manuals and tech support number. An online chat is included.

Options to Save:

Save Draft: This option saves your changes but they will not show on site. You can return to the editor at any time to finish your editing. Use the option ONLY if you will be making changes over a period of time that you do not want the public to see until it is finished.
Publish: Displays changes on your page.
Cancel: will not save anything.

Page Break

Images:

Shape Image Manager from inside the WYSIWYG editor. You MUST save them and upload them to the Image Manager. Do not just copy and paste from another site. Because of ADA compliance, all images must have alternative text. To add Alt Text, click on the Properties Tab.

Shape Shape The first time you want to insert an image, create a New Folder with your name (i.e. M Bond). Then upload all images (green + sign) into your folder.

Documents:

Upload PDF versions of Word Documents, PowerPoints, etc.

Document Manager works similar to Image Manager. This adds documents into a specific page.
Document Container Page/Document Container Portlet: Document Container Page is a page that has the document container portlet already built into it. Document Container is a repository of documents. This method gives the people who visit the site, access to all documents in one centralized place.

Shape

Shape Shape

The first time you want to insert a document, create a New Folder with your name (i.e. M Bond). Then upload all images (green + sign) into your folder.Page Break

Examples:

Notice the "breadcrumb trail". Whatever you add will be added at that level.

Shape

To add another page, I need to click the breadcrumb to return to my “home” page. Once Design Mode is ON, you will be able to add different "portlets", and you want to make sure it goes where you want it.

NOTE: Subpages DO NOT appear in a flyout menu like in School World so it will be difficult for people to see what your subpages are....recommendation, just add pages from your root level (Home page).

Shape When "copying & pasting" from your School World site, make sure to use the "Paste Plain Text Button" which will strip formatting. Otherwise, you may have yellow background. You will need to redo your formatting and fix any web links.

Hover cursor to see which one (second from right).

Example:

Inserting a "Horizontal Rule" will allow you to separate portlets or areas of your content.

Shape Shape

Tabs can be used in various ways, but keep the following in mind:

A Tab Portlet allows you the option to give information without a lot of vertical scrolling.

If you want to rearrange your tabs, simply click the tab and drag it to the desired location.

Note: If you have more than 4-5 tabs, they will hide, and users will have to scroll through. Instead of this, consider adding one tab portlet stacked on top of the other.

Example of scrolling portlet:

Example of stacked portlet (used to prevent scrolling):

Multiple Content Portlets:

You may want to use more than one Content Portlet if you need to change justification. In the example below, my title is a larger font and centered. Because I wanted the rest of my text to be left justified, I needed to create a new content portlet. This example shows 3 Content Portlets.

My Notes:

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