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PageManager Help

Welcome to the PageManager support area. In this section you'll find general information on using the PageManager administrative functions to create and manage your web site content.

Logging In
You may access the administration functions at: https://oakland-is.net/pagemanager/admin/list.php. The first time you access the application during a browser session you will be asked to enter your user name and password (The user name and password are issued by the system administrator. Contact technical support if you do not remember your user name or password).


On logging in, you will be presented with the Article List page. This page functions as both the current article listing and the administration menu.


Managing Your Content

Adding An Article
To add an article simply click on the "add new" text link at the bottom of the Article List page. You will be presented with a form where you can enter in your article content. There are several default page types that you may select from:

  • Page Content
  • Press Releases
  • Announcement
  • Newsletter
  • Archive


You may use the default format for displaying each page type or we'll work with you to produce custom layouts. For more information on customized display, contact technical support.


In addition to "Type", the following fields are available:

  • Title -- The page header.
  • Sub-title -- Displays below Title in smaller text.
  • Content -- The article content.
  • Closing Text -- Used to add a tag line or set off some information from the body of the article.
  • Contact -- Contact information such as a by-line, sales telephone number etc.
  • Category -- Used for custom page displays.


The category information is included for use with custom programming. You may add data to this field, but it will not affect the default display. Category information might be useful for organizing content on a page. To customize page display, contact technical support. None of the above fields are required. This can be useful in several ways:

  • You can start an article with only a title and come back later to fill in the content
  • Based on the particular content, certain fields may not be relavent. For example, not all pages may require sub-titles or closing text.
  • Populate certain fields based on the page type. For example, you might include contact information only on press releases, but not on newsletter items.


Note that it is possible to leave all the fields blank. In this case, PageManager will assign the article a unique identifier and will display a blank page.


After entering your content, simply click on the "Add" button to save your article.



Modifying Your Article List
Once an article has been added, it will appear on the Article List. The Article List includes the Title, followed by the create or modify date. Directly below the Title will be "Edit" and "Delete".



Edit Articles
To edit an article, simply click on "Edit". You will be presented with a form where you can edit your article content, much as you did when adding an article. Feel free to modify any information on the form. On saving your changes, note that the modified article now appears at the top of the list on the Article List page. Entries are sorted by create or modify date on this page.


You may also view the article content using the edit action without saving changes. Note that clciking "SAVE" without making any changes will affect the modify date and affect the sort order on the Article List.


Delete Articles
To delete an article, simply click on "Delete" directly below the Title. Note that you will not be prompted to confirm this action so make sure you have selected the correct article.


An alternative to deleting an article is to archive it. This is done by changing the Page Type to "Archive" when editing the page. Archived pages are displayed on the Article List but are not presented to visitors to your web site by default. However, you may choose to directly link to any article in the PageManager database, regardless of Page Type.


Displaying Your Content
The active articles in your database (i.e. those not flagged "Archive") will be available through several default layouts to your users. Default layouts include "Press Releases", "Newsletters", "Announcements" and "Page Content". You may combine categories or modify your page categories by contacting technical support.

 


Linking Directly to Articles
Although page content has it's own default layout, this display is not very useful. In most cases, you will want to directly link to a page from a graphical menu, jump menu or text link from elsewhere on your site.


To link directly to an article, simply view the page you want using the default layout, then copy the url from the browser's location display. Use this url to link to a page just as you normally would:

http://oakland-is.net/pagemanager/display.php?id=8


Security
PageManager functions invoke a Secure Socket Layer, or SSL, connection. SSL is used to encrypt all information transferred from the browser to the server (where the PageManager application resides) and from the server back to browser. This prevents information from being intercepted en route. Additionally, the PageManager administration screen (Article List) is password protected and employs SSL as well. SSL is used in conjunction with a shared digital certificate issued by Thawte to ensure that the site is properly identified to the shopper. Please note that a non-shared certificate is available. Contact technical support for more information.


Headers and Footers
PageManager screens will all include your site logo (a default logo is available for those that prefer it). The footer sections include additional navigation links. Oakland Internet Services copyright information may not be removed from administrative screens.