• Introduction
• Getting Started
  • Getting Started
  • Administration and Setup
  • Subdomain Registration
• Site Architecture
  • Site Architecture Part 1
  • Site Architecture Part 2
  • Site Architecture Part 3
• Contribute Usage
  • Contribute Intro
  • Contribute Interface
  • Contribute Basics
  • Editing Text
  • Using Styles
  • How to Add a Link
  • How to Add a Folder
  • How to Add a Webpage
  • Editing Menus
  • Add a Photo
• Going Live
  • Testing
  • Going Live
• Design Tips
  • File Names and Conventions
  • File Optimization
  • Good User Interface Practices
  • Graphic/Table Dimensions

Information Technology
Webservices
phone: 617-287-5220
helpdesk@umb.edu

Core Structure

This section discusses how this template is designed and your role in managing it.

Diagram of "yourfile.html" as seen in Contribute:

Your site is designed for maximum flexibility with minimal effort. The structure allows you to edit certain parts of your site while leaving other parts locked so as to adhere to the template design and to avoid coding and display errors. Areas that are editable will have a light blue border around it. Each directory will have at least three files: 1) _menu.html, 2) _menu_right.html and 3) yourfile.html. These are the main files that compose either the two or three column layout that you will use on your site. There must be a _menu.html and _menu_right.html PER DIRECTORY used on your site. The right menus can hold the same or different content per directory. However the left menus called "_menu.html" should hold different menu content per directory.

Anatomy of a website :

Your website is composed of a series of directories with files inside them that link to one another. There are also subdirectories inside these. The main or "root" directory has at minimum an "images" directory as well as a directory called "inc" which holds your site navigation file. You may have as many other subdirectories as you see fit. These directories as well as the root have at least three files: _menu.html _menu_right.html yourfile.html (derived from either start2col.html or start3col.html) The _menu.html file corresponds to the menu in the left navigation bar. The _menu_right.html corresponds to the menu in the right navigation bar. They are editable directly in Contribute. This diagram also shows the main files that compose either the two or three column layout that you will use on your site. The file names for these templates are called "start2col.html" and "start3col.html" and include the left and right navigation files. After duplicating and renaming these file, and fully testing your site, it's recommended you delete these starter files before site deployment.

> continute to Part 2