Log into
CommonSpot
Logging into CommonSpot and opening the Dashboard
Quick Reference
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Logging into CommonSpot
Open a supported browser* and
navigate to:
https://cmsauth.uwstout.edu/you
r-site-name-here/login.cfm
Tip: Bookmark or Favorite this
login page.
When prompted, type your UWStout username and password
into the fields. Uncheck the
Open My CommonSpot option
and click Login.
*Google Chrome or Firefox
UW-Stout Spring 2015
CommonSpot Entrance Tab
A small pencil icon should
appear in the upper-right corner.
It’s called the CommonSpot
Entrance Tab.
Selecting the tab will open a flyout menu from which you can
select View Page in
CommonSpot to open the
Dashboard.
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CommonSpot Dashboard
The CommonSpot Dashboard
includes two rows of drop-down
menus which include the actions
and information to update and
manage your website.
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Creating a New Page
Creating and setting up a new page on CommonSpot
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Creating a Page
In the CommonSpot Dashboard,
Select New > Page…
In the Create Page pop-up,
choose the subsite in which you
want the page to exist. The dropdown list will default to the
current subsite.
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Creating a Page (con.)
In the Template Gallery pop-up
window, select the UW-Stout
CMS Base Plus Template.
In the Create New Page pop-up
window, fill out the information
for the new page.
Category is important! Choose
one:
• CommonSpot Pages
• Media Files
• Uploaded Documents
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Creating a Page (con.)
In the Custom Properties pop-up
window on the Design Options
tab, select a Layout labeled
“Responsive” and Save.
Note: Layouts above One
Column No Menu should not be
used.
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CommonSpot
Elements
Edit, Reposition, or Copy & Paste an Element
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Add an Element to a
Page
Adding Elements to CommonSpot pages
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Work on this Page
From the CommonSpot
Dashboard, select View > Work
on this Page (My Changes) or
Work on this Page (All
Changes).
You should now be able to see
dotted boundary lines around the
elements on the page.
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Adding an Element
Select the ‘Click to insert new
element’ link at the bottom of a
container.
From the Element Gallery
window, select an element
category such as Text Elements.
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Adding an Element (con.)
Select the title of the element
you want, such as Formatted
Text Block (without header).
Note: For the right column of a
three-column layout, the UWStout Right-Column Highlight
element is the basic text box.
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Editing an Element
With the page in Work on this
Page mode, click the gear
element icon in the upper left
corner of the element’s
boundary.
To edit the element’s content;
select the first item in the fly-out
menu.
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Moving an Element
Select More in the element
menu box.
From the expanded ‘More’
menu, selecting Move Up, Move
Down, etc., will reposition the
element.
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Copying an Element
Click Copy in the menu to bring
up a Copy Element Dialog
confirmation.
Navigate to the page where the
element will be pasted and
‘Click to insert new element’ in a
container.
A Pasted Copied Element link
will appear at the top of the
Element Gallery dialog. Click
this link to insert the copied
element.
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Publishing an
Element
Publishing an element = making it ‘live’ for people to see.
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Publishing the changes
Once you have finished working
on an element, the gear icon will
turn yellow. Click the yellow
element icon.
From the expanded element
menu, select Submit (for this
element only) or Submit Page
(all changes on the page).
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Uploading a
Document
Uploading a new document or uploading a new version of an
existing document.
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Uploading a new document
In the CommonSpot Dashboard,
select New > Uploaded
Document…
In the Upload New Document
pop-up window, choose the
subsite in which you want the
document to exist. The dropdown list will default to the
current subsite.
Click either Upload Single
Document or Upload Multiple
Documents.
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Uploading a new document
(continued)
Use the Browse button to locate
the document on your computer,
then complete the rest of the
form.
Be sure to select Uploaded
Documents from the Category
drop-down list.
Tip: Before you browse for the
document, make sure it has a
short, explanatory file name. If
the document will be updated
periodically don’t use the date as
part of the file name.
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Replacing an Existing
Document with a New Version
In the CommonSpot Dashboard,
select Reports > Pages,
Templates, Uploaded Docs &
Registered URLs…
Deselect all except Uploaded
Documents and click Filter.
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Replacing a document (cont.)
Locate the document you want
to replace and select the
associated Metadata & Security
icon (first icon in Actions
column) then select Standard
Properties…from the shortcut
menu.
Verify the file name of the
uploaded file. The replacement
file on your computer must have
the same file name.
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Replacing a document (con.)
Click the Metadata & Security
icon again and select Upload
New Version…from the shortcut
menu.
Use the Browse button to locate
the updated document on your
computer then Save.
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Linking in
CommonSpot
Link to a CommonSpot Page or Uploaded Document
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Linking to a page or document
In the Formatted Text Block
highlight the text for the link.
Click the chain link icon in the
tool bar.
In the Insert Formatted Text
Block dialog, select Page or
Bookmark on Page or Uploaded
document from the Type dropdown.
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Linking a page or document
Select Choose from current
subsite… if the page or
document is in the same site, or
Quick Find…if it’s somewhere
else on the UW-Stout site.
Locate the page or document
and click on it. Click Use
Highlighted Page on the lower
right to select.
The Title and URL of the
selected item will appear in the
Insert Formatted Text Block Link
dialog.
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Linking Notes
To link to a bookmark on another
page, complete steps 1-5 then
click Bookmark… and use the
fields in the Select Bookmark
dialog to complete your link.
If you are linking to an external
site or PDF document you may
want to open that linked item in a
new window.
In the Formatted Text Block
dialog, put your cursor on the link.
You will see a url in the Link
Properties area at the bottom of
the dialog box. Use the Target
drop-down to select New Window.
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Manage Pages &
Documents
Edit, replace, and delete pages and uploaded documents
UW-Stout Spring 2015Ma
Managing Pages & Documents
Use Reports > Pages,
Templates, Uploaded Docs &
Registered URLs… to view and
manage all of the pages and
uploaded documents in your site.
Use the Show checkboxes to
select what you want to see, e.g.,
only Pages checked, and then
click Filter to update the display.
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Managing Pages & Documents
Click the column headings like
Page Title to sort the results.
The Actions icon on the right
provide fly-out menus with
information about and actions to
take on the page or document.
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Uploading an Image
Uploading a new image in CommonSpot
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Prepare the image
Use your basic photo editor to
size the image for the page area
in which it will be displayed.
Use “Save As” to save it for the
web.
Image resolution should be
either 72 or 96 pixels/inch.
Maximum image sizes for each
layout are listed on the
CommonSpot Help page, under
Resources > Tutorials &
References.
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Uploading the image
In the CommonSpot Dashboard,
select New > Image…
In the Upload New Image
dialog, choose the subsite in
which you want the image
uploaded.
The drop-down list will default
to the current subsite.
Click Upload Single Image.
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Uploading the image (cont.)
Use the Browse button to locate
the image on your computer.
In the Description field, type the
filename, or if it’s a graphic
button that contains words, type
the words that are in the image.
The Description should either
match the text in the graphic or
specifically describe the content
of the image, so a visually
impaired person using a screen
reader can understand.
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Uploading the image (con.)
Select an appropriate category
for the image, typically
Department Images.
Banner categories are reserved
for the Webmaster Group.
Check the box to Include in
Public Image Gallery, otherwise
other web authors in your area
won’t be able to access the
image.
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Working with tables
Inserting and filling in tables in CommonSpot
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Inserting a table
In a Formatted Text Block click
the Table icon in the toolbar.
Insert 2x2 table or use the dropdown and drag to select a
different size.
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Add/remove rows & columns
To add or remove rows or
columns, place your cursor in a
table cell then right click.
In the shortcut menu that
appears, roll your cursor over
(don’t click) Table Operations,
and a second menu will appear
with add/delete options.
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Adding CSS Style
To style your table with
alternating color rows, place
your cursor in the table cell.
Below the editing window, you
see html tags.
Click on <TABLE> to select the
whole table.
In the No CSS Style drop-down,
select data to apply that style to
the table.
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Pasting in
CommonSpot
Pasting MS Word or email content into CommonSpot
UW-Stout Spring 2015
Copying & Hidden Code
Copying content from an MS
Word document or can create
issues because of the hidden
style codes.
We have seen where three
bullets pasted into a page
include nearly 500 lines of
hidden code, and this can cause
the page to not function
properly.
Option 1
Paste the Word content into a
text editor like Notepad or
TextEdit first to remove
unnecessary code.
Then copy and paste into
CommonSpot.
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Option 2
Paste the Word content into your
formatted text block.
Use Clean Word Markup and
Clean Inline Styles & Classes
tools to remove the hidden
codes. This option will retain the
paragraph formatting and links.
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More CommonSpot Help
For more help, see the CommonSpot Help website:
http://www.uwstout.edu/webdev/cs
or send your questions to webmaster@uwstout.edu
Questions include:
• Changing the top banner for a site
• Changing left-column navigation items
• Request buttons and other graphics:
• http://www.uwstout.edu/marketing/marketingrequest.cfm
• Setting up a Reusable Custom Text Block custom element.
UW-Stout Spring 2015