Pages and Content Types

Pages and Content Types

How pages happen in Cascade

If you have edited web pages before, then you are probably accustomed to having a page “template” (containing a header, banner and navigation) and a "content area" where you add content using a WYSIWYG editor.

The downside of this kind of content is that:

  • You have no control over how content looks on the page.
  • It encourages large swaths of unformatted, un-styled information, which make it difficult for your site visitors to find the information they need.
  • It encourages editors to use bad practices, such as tables, in an attempt position information on the page and break up the page visually. In turn, this kind of thing can affect accessibility and SEO.

Introducing styled, modular content

Your new SOM templates work differently. Replacing the old content area are modular chunks of styled content that can be added and reordered on your pages. At SOM you have the following content types you can include on your pages:

Article or Paragraph

These give you the old-fashioned content area. However, we encourage that you keep them short and break up the page with other visually different content types. You have the option of adding a “call to action” button to these to encourage further exploration by the site visitor.

Feature Row

These come in two varieties:

  • A row of images with links to other information.
  • A row of columns that allow WYSIWYG content

 

Carousel

Carousels provide a full-width image or a rotating series of images that can appear as a banner at the top of the page or anywhere else you like on your page.

Call Out

Call outs are full-width areas set off by a different background color to draw attention to special information. You have the option of adding a “call to action” button to these to encourage further exploration by the site visitor.

Accordion

Accordions are expanding areas of content such as the one you are seeing here. These offer a way to display large amounts of related content on one page. They are especially good for FAQs.

Here is what these look like inside of SOM:

Tabbed Section

Like Accordions, these allow you to concentrate large amounts of related information within one page. These are especially good for offering information with alternatives.

Media List

These can be used for a list of items where you want to visually differentiate between list items with an icon. In appearance, they are similar to a Twitter feed, which has the user icon next to the tweeted information.