SiteSource is the proprietary content management system developed by NetSource to give clients the control to update their own websites 24/7 without requiring HTML experience. If your website uses SiteSource, bookmark this article as a helpful how-to guide.
Manage Pages:
Add a Page – choose the page layout (free format, 2 column 50/50 and 2 column 50/50 top & free format bottom), enter the page title (keep in mind this is what the button will say in your navigation) and click the Add button. Free Format (see below), allows you to use the entire body space of the page to add blocks that are the full width of your design. 2 Column 50/50 (see below), has two equally divided block sections. 2 Column 50/50 Top & Free Format Bottom (see below), has two equally divided block sections at the top and then a full-width block section at the bottom. Keep in mind, once you add a block of content and save it, an additional block that same size will display below it so that you can add more content using that same block size.
View Deleted Pages – you can view, restore, or permanently remove deleted pages in this section. Each deleted page will have the title, date and time it was added and date and time it was deleted.
Reorder Menu – to reorder the menu, just drag and drop them into place and click the Refresh Pages button to apply your changes to your live website.
Show / Hide Menu Buttons – on the right side of each button there is an eye that will either be open or closed. If the eye is open, the button is shown in your website navigation. If the eye is closed, that button does not display in your website navigation, but it’s still an active page on your website and can link to it from text or images on any page of your website.
Adding Pages to Site Map – by default when you add a new page to your website, it will display that page link on your sitemap page (link in footer). If for some reason you do not want that page to display on the site map page, click on Manage Pages, click on the button for the page you want to edit and click the “Displayed in Sitemap” button. To add it back to the Site Map page, click the “Hidden in Sitemap” button to change it back to Displayed in Sitemap.
Page Settings
Page Path – this is what displays in the URL for that specific page (**Do not change this on your homepage.)
Title – should be unique for each page, 60 characters or less, relevant to the content, contain the best keywords for that specific page and use the most relevant keywords at the beginning of the title. Use geographic terms if local search is important.
Meta Keywords – words or phrases that pertain to the content on the individual page that should be relevant to the content and contain the best keywords for the page, no more than 15 keywords per page should be used. At this time, Meta Keywords are not an important factor in SEO, so we recommend leaving them blank.
Meta Description – this information is what is shown most often in search engine results, so the text you put here should be used to draw attention and pique their interest to click the link. The description should be 150 characters or less, unique for each page, concise and contain the best keywords relevant to the page content.
To make changes to these fields just put your cursor in the field you want to edit and start typing. When you are done, make sure you click the Save button to upload those changes to your website.
Document Library: upload documents here to use within content blocks on your website.
Files – the allowed file types in this folder are doc, docx, pdf, zip files… documents.
Images – the allowed file types in this folder are bmp, gif, jpeg, jpg and png.
Form Submissions:
This page will contain each of the form submissions visitors have sent to you via forms on your website. You will still receive those emails in the account that form is set up to submit to – these email submissions are copies.
Pencil / Monitor icon:
To the right of the Form Submission you’ll notice there is a pencil icon; this means that you are in edit mode. If you want to see what the page you are on looks like to visitors, click that pencil to switch to view mode, which will display a monitor. To switch back to edit mode, click the monitor icon.
On-page Components
Homepage:
Persistent blocks – Persistent means that these blocks of content appear in that same spot on all the pages of your website. This allows you to add common content, such as address, phone number, hours, etc., to the homepage one time and have it shown throughout your website. To edit the content with a persistent block, click on it and the editor page will appear. Make your changes and click the Save button to upload them to your live website.
Current blocks – to edit current blocks on the page, click on them and the editor will display so that you can make your changes. Make sure to click the Save button to upload those changes to your live website. You’ll also notice that each block has buttons for hide and delete in the top right corner. When you click hide on a block, it will turn it red, which means that it’s not displaying on your live website. To show it, click the Show button. To delete a block, click the delete button, it will ask you if you are sure of this action and if you click OK. This action can’t be undone; once you delete a block of content it’s gone for good.
Add block – below current content blocks, you will see a green section that says “Add Block”. When you add a block, you’ll have the following options:
- Content Editor – allows you to add text, images, links, etc. You can format it much like Word using the icons along the top. If you are familiar with HTML code, click on the Source button to view / edit the source code for that block. To get back to design mode, click on the Source button again.
- Contact allows you to add our standard contact form to any page. Decide which email address the form is sent to, what the subject should be, and add a Google map link if you’d like. The email from field should be an email that NetSource hosts, preferably at your domain. Use [email protected] if we do not host your domain email. For the reply to address, you can use the same email as the email to.
- Video Player – upload a video from your computer or paste in a YouTube URL.
- Other Blocks – SiteSource has several other block types available. Once you add the block, adding content is self-explanatory. If the blocks are grayed out, contact your sales rep for information on how to add that option to your website. Options include News, Events, Testimonials, Staff, Photo Gallery, and Employment.
- Image Slideshow – allows you to create an image slideshow with images you have saved on your computer. Click Add Block and choose “Image Slideshow.” Click the Select Files button to choose the pictures you want to upload (you can choose multiple images at once by holding down the CTRL key on your keyboard). Once they are done uploading, click the plus button below the photos you want to show. This will turn the frame yellow. By clicking on the “new image title” link, you can:
- Give each image a title.
- Specify a URL visitors go to when they click on each image in the slideshow. If it’s a page within your website, all you need to enter is the page path name, so if you want visitors sent to your homepage, you would type in “home”. If you are sending visitors to a website other than yours, make sure you enter the full URL including the https://.
- Add a caption.
On the right side of the Image Slideshow window, you’ll choose the size of the slideshow, the time between slide transitions and transition effect. Click the Save button to place or update the slideshow on your website. Important Note: if you have a slideshow on your home page, ask your designer or sales rep to provide the recommended dimensions for your images in this slideshow.
The slideshow choices are as follows:
Responsive – the images will keep the ratio of the picture while fixed to the size of the container.
16:9 – all images will form to the same ratio. (Example, if the slideshow is 800px, all images will fix to an 800×450 size.)
16:10 – all images will form to the ratio of 16:10. (Example, if the slideshow is 800px, all images will fix to an 800×500 size.)
4:3 – all images will form to ratio of 4 by 3. (Example, if the slideshow is 800px, all images will fix to an 800×600 size.)
Other Tips:
- Fly-Out Menus – Once you’ve created a page, you can organize it under a parent page. Under Manage Pages, click and drag to drop the new page into the parent page.
- Headings <H1>, <H2>, <H3>, <H4>, <H5> and <H6> – When creating or editing a page there’s a few simple rules to keep in mind:
- Use only one <H1> heading per page to strengthen your SEO.
- Your <H1> tag should include your best keywords for the page that are relevant to the specific content. If local search is a focus for your website, it is good to include geographic terms relevant to the content on the page.
- Use <H2> – <H6> headings for section subtitles, making sure to include the most important keyword for that section. They should be of decreasing importance (ex: <H3> is more important than <H4>)
- Images – When adding images to your website, make sure you add a unique title to each image so that the search engines can index them.
Feel free to contact us if you need help! 800-709-3240