Creating a site
To create a public-facing website that makes full use of content items and SOA, it is easiest to copy an existing Quick Start Site, such as Member, and change it to meet your needs.
Important! If adding a new URL or domain name, you must contact ASI Hosting to assist with getting the website live.
When you copy a website, iMIS duplicates the site navigation and content records for the new site.
- Go to RiSE > Site Builder > Manage websites.
- Select a website from the list of websites and review the following fields before you proceed:
- (Properties tab) Make sure the folder selected for the Website-specific parent content folder field contains the content unique to this website. Only the content in this site-specific folder will be copied. Any content shared with another website should be placed in a separate, shared folder.
- (Look and feel tab) The Folder containing template content is normally a sub-folder of the parent folder. If the template content (footer area, header logo, and so forth) is stored in a different folder, select that folder instead.
- Copy a website:
- Select Organize > Copy.
- Select the folder where you want to paste the new website.
- Select Organize > Paste.
- Enter the Name of the new website, for example, MemberCopy. Do not use special characters or punctuation.
- Click the Click to collapse/expand icon in the Status area, and enable the Is this website active? option.
- Publish the website. Select the website and click Publish.
- Publish the new website’s content.
- Go to RiSE > Page Builder > Manage content.
- Select the copied website’s content folder.
- Click Edit.
- For the Default Website (for search) field, click select.
- Select the website for which you want searches to always include the content records within this content folder.
- Click Save and then close the window.
- Publish the website’s content folders. Select the content folder of the copied website.
- Select Publish. As each folder and content record publishes, the status will change from Publish Pending to Published.
- If the website is hosted on a separate web server, publish the Core Content folder.
- Go to Page Builder > Manage content.
- Select the Core Content folder.
- Click Publish and choose the Publish All Items option. As each folder and content record publishes, the status will change from Publish Pending to Published.
- After all content folders are published, log off and close the browser.
Note: When creating a copy of a sample website, the copied website’s content will not be included in search results until the content has been published and the Default Website (for search) has been selected for the copied website’s content folder.
Note: If you need to set up specific payment method sets for your various websites, see Payment Method Sets for more information.
Note: If the website you copied contains URL shortcuts, be sure to review those shortcuts in your new website to determine if you need to create fresh shortcuts. For example, when you select the iMIS logo in the Member Responsive site, the page redirects to the shared Member Home content record. When you make a copy of the Member Responsive site and you select the iMIS logo from the new site, you will be redirected to the same shared Member Home content record. To resolve this, create a fresh shortcut that will point to your new Member Home content record.
After copying a Quick Start Site, you can further customize it by creating a new website template, or making a copy of an out-of-the-box template and modifying it. All out-of-the-box templates are stored in the Samples folder, which populates the Template (master page) drop-down in the format WST – Publish file name.
To make a copy of an out-of-the-box template, do the following:
- Go to RiSE > Theme Builder > Website templates.
- Select the Website Templates folder.
- Select New > Website Content Folder to create the folder where you will store your template copy.
- Enter the Title (this populates the Folder Name field), and make any further selections you wish on the Properties tab.
- (recommended) On the Workflow Management tab, choose an Authority Group. This restricts editing privileges to specific users.
- Make the relevant selections for the remainder of the options for your authority group.
- (recommended) On the Access Settings tab, configure your Security Set and associated options.
- Save your changes.
- From the Samples folder, make a copy of the NaturalHeritageSitesResponsive template and paste into your new folder.
- Open the template copy and make your modifications. Rename the template copy.
- Ensure that the template's Access Settings is set to Everyone Read.
- Save & Publish when you are done.
- Navigate to RiSE > Site Builder > Manage Websites, and select your website copy.
- Click the Look and feel tab, then click Advanced Options.
- Choose your template copy from the Template (master page) drop-down.
- Save your selection, and then Publish your site.
Note: It's recommended that you first create a new Website Content Folder for custom templates. This is so that template edit permissions can be restricted to users specified by you. See Restricting edit permissions for website templates and layouts for more information.
You can rename any website, including copies of Quick Start Sites, but before you do, you must rename the related content folder. This is because the website properties contain references to the content.
For this example, we are going to rename the CurrentSiteName website to NewSiteName.
Do the following to rename the website:
- Rename the content folder:
- Go to RiSE > Page builder > Manage content.
- Select the CurrentSiteName content folder and click Edit.
- Change the Title to NewSiteName.
- Change the Folder Name to NewSiteName.
- Leave the Default Website (for search) as CurrentSiteName. The Default Website (for search) will automatically update when you rename the website in the following step.
- Save and Publish the content.
- Rename the website:
- Go to RiSE > Site Builder > Manage websites.
- Select the CurrentSiteName website.
- Change the Name/Title of this website to NewSiteName.
- Change the URL name of this website to NewSiteName.
- Verify that the Website-specific parent content folder field is pointing to the NewSiteName content folder.
- On the Look and feel tab, check that the Folder containing template content is pointing to the NewSiteName content folder.
- Save and Publish the website.