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Page functionality

Familiarise yourself with the different content features listed in this section and follow the guidelines on how to use them.

We’ve included screenshots of most of the content features as they display on desktop devices. Many content features display differently on mobile devices, so aways check how your content looks on mobile before publishing it.

These guidelines focus on how to present content correctly on our website.

URLs

  • URLs are automatically created for each page based on the page title and parent item.
  • To create a URL, the page title is transformed into lower-case, words are separated using hyphens and short words are omitted.
  • It may be possible to change a URL to make it more readable. If you would like to do this, please contact the Web Team. 
  • Please also contact the Web Team if you would like to create a vanity URL or need additional support with URLs.

Changing the URL

  • If you change the name of the page, the URL slug will change automatically and a redirect from the original page will be created.

In-page navigation

  • The in-page navigation bar automatically appears at the top of most pages. It provides users with useful links to the different sections on a page.
  • You can define the sections that are featured in the in-page navigation. Within each content block:
    • Open the navigation settings.
    • Create a section title.
    • Check the box to add that section to the in-page nav.
  • Use sentence case when labelling section titles – e.g. How to apply not How To Apply.
  • The page title is automatically used for the top of the page link. You should usually change this to read Back to top.
  • Don’t overcrowd the in-page nav. Ideally use six section headings or fewer – including Back to top. 
  • Keep each section heading concise.
  • If you include more headings than will fit in one row, some of your headings will be accessible via dropdown menu – this appears automatically.

Titles

  • Webpage titles should clearly indicate what the page is about – e.g. Undergraduate Open Days, Library opening times, Festival of Research. 
  • In most cases the page title does not need to reflect the name of the section, as this is normally referenced in the breadcrumbs. So a page whose URL is salford.ac.uk/salford-business-school/contact should have the title Contact us, not Contact Salford Business School. 

Teaser image

  • You won’t see the teaser image on your page, but you still need to set this as it will be used on: listing pages; when your page is featured on another page; and when the page is shared on social media.
  • You should usually use the same image in both the banner and teaser image areas.
  • You should usually use a photograph in this space. 

Formatting banner and teaser images

  • Avoid using photographs that incorporate text or other graphics.
  • Don’t use obvious filters.
  • Just use one image – don’t merge several images together to form one.
  • Always choose high-quality, unstaged and well composed images.
  • If you are adding an image to the media gallery to use as a banner or a teaser image:
    • First crop the image so the width is 1500px and the height is approximately 500px (plus or minus 100px is fine, as long as the image remains in landscape format with an approximate width:height ratio of 3:1)
    • Downsize the image to 72 dpi
    • When you save the image, make sure the file size is less than 1MB. Images larger than this can’t be uploaded to the website
  • The focal point of your image should always be in the centre (this is particularly true for banner images). After saving your page, check it on a mobile device to make sure your image displays properly.

Please contact webteam@salford.ac.uk if you need help resizing your image.

Site sections

  • These are defined sections within our website, such as Clearing and Research. 
  • Pages within site sections display breadcrumbs – these help web users to navigate across our site. 
  • To add a new page to a site section, simply allocate the right section to your page when you’re creating it and ensure the page is located under the appropriate section landing page. (A site section landing page must be set up before sub pages can be added to a section.) 

Introduction

  • Most content pages have a mandatory introduction field. 
  • Keep the copy in this area this short – ideally no more than 100 words. 
  • If you are copying text from Microsoft Word or Outlook, please read the guidelines on the right. 

Cleaning HTML

Copying text from Microsoft Word or Outlook to use on our CMS is something we do every day. But unless you ‘clean’ the text before pasting it, you risk adding unwanted and messy code to our site, which can spoil our SEO and accessibility ratings. 

To prevent this, make sure you clean copied text use the paste without formatting keyboard shortcut:

  • Windows: Shift + Ctrl + V
  • Mac OS: Shift + Command + Option + V