Editorial and CMS guides

Step by step: creating content

Web rules and best practice 

The LSE website was redeveloped in 2009 after extensive consultation and research with stakeholders. Web Services guides and supports web contributors to ensure the website delivers what our visitors need: to find information easily. We also set the standards to follow to ensure the quality of the site is maintained.

The following guidance will help you write and present your content appropriately. If you want advice on how to develop your content further eg information design, different layouts or editorial advice, contact Catherine Bellamy.

Who is your target audience?

The seven personas

In redeveloping the LSE website we interviewed LSE's target audiences (internal and external). After analysis we created 'personas' - a description of seven of our target audiences and their stated information needs.

You should use these personas as a reference checklist when creating content. Read the profiles of each persona from page 45 of the web review report  here: Web review: report and recommendations|. These will be put online shortly and will updated from time to time.

The seven personas represent: 

• potential students
• media
• business
• LSE academics
• LSE academic support staff
• LSE students
• alumni

New content - where should it go?

In adding new content (as opposed to just updating existing content) we must agree on the best place for it in the current structure, which may not be where most of your content is already. We do not create sections based on which division is providing the information. This eliminates duplicated content and improves 'findability'.

If you are creating new pages for the corporate website, or think you need a completely new section, please contact the managing editor, Catherine Bellamy on c.bellamy@lse.ac.uk|

It is the responsibility of everyone who works on the website to support the current structure, processes and standards and to alert the managing editor of future development requirements in advance so they can be assessed and planned. Our focus is to create a good user experience.

Ready to add content? Six basic rules:

To maintain the quality of the website there are some editorial standards to observe:

1. Edit, proofread and preview before publishing - keep your paragraphs short, create useful headings for people to scan... and use the LSE web style guide, it's short, it's helpful and it is required knowledge. If it doesn't cover what you need to know, just contact c.bellamy@lse.ac.uk for advice.
2. Never rename any pages or folders - contact Web Services if this is something you need to do and if you need to reorganise content.
3. Use the CMS 'How to' guides [now in Moodle]. These are comprehensive notes with illustrations about using the CMS.
4. Images: Advice is available on copyright queries etc from Catherine Bellamy. LSE copyright images can be found in LSE image bank  and all these already have permissions. Also there are photos in Flickr: LSE - a history in pictures. It may be a condition of use to credit a photographer occasionally if you source your images elsewhere - copyright credit is only put in the alt text. Only use images for which you either have permission from the photographer and/or where those depicted have given the appropriate consent, where relevant. 
5. Take note of, and implement, instructions from Web Services. This includes correcting broken links within 24 hours that are highlighted in the SiteCheck reports sent weekly to a nominated contributor in your section.
6. Adding content to templates: follow the rules detailed below on what goes where in the CMS templates.

Using the templates correctly will improve usability for our visitors

There are two basic templates in which to place your content:

1. Landing page template, which is only used as the first page of a channel and has a built in large image at the top and a different layout and design from the standard template.
2. Standard page template, for all pages beneath landing pages - these can be enhanced in various ways using drop-in templates and images.

Several drop-in templates are available to drag onto the two basic templates to create a different layout for different types of information:

• right hand column – 'promotion' boxes
• left hand column – 'How to contact us' box
• central column – tabbed content (these must be requested) See Careers service 
• a 'four boxes' layout - see Executive education

There are rules about what can be used where, explained below.

Elements that make up a page and how to use them:

Landing page

Left-hand column:

• Navigation menu: this is generated and placed automatically. It cannot be altered. 
• 'How to contact us' box: This is generated and placed automatically for a landing page. The content can be altered but not the title and it can't be restyled. If you don't have a general contact point, provide instructions instead eg "See contact details in each page", or add links to each relevant who's who page.

Central column:

• Quote/image banner: This occupies the full width of the central column. They can only be altered through Web Services.
• Introduction text box: It has a 219 character limit (including spaces) that is equivalent to three full lines of the central column. Use this to describe the channel the landing page represents. This is a fixed part of the landing page
• Highlights/news text and images box: These have text + image boxes and you can add a couple more yourselves. Large image is 113 x 148 pixels; small image is 62 x 86 pixels 

Standard page template

Left-hand column:

• 'How to contact us' box:  you need to add this to every page that isn't a landing page so visitors always have a way of contacting LSE.

Central column – for a standard template

• Page contents: Page contents at the top of each page should be removed (highlight each H2 heading and choose 'template no page contents' in the Style drop down) - see the CMS Handover Notes|. If you have a scrolling page, this should be edited down or cut into several new pages and linked from the left hand menu.
• Editorial support is provided to advise on how to achieve this if it seems impossible. We now run editorial surgeries on a Wednesday afternoon from 1.30 pm to 3 pm but please call ahead to book. There are a very few instances where page contents should be showing, please contact us if you want to discuss this. [We are working to make 'no page contents' the default].

The following drop-in template is permitted for both landing pages and standard pages:

• Tabbed box: This is generated and placed by Web Services on request. It avoids long scrolling pages and is best used when you have several important messages you don't want people to miss. 
• It is only suitable for certain types of content and the headings have to be very short. It is useful for content that is organised into a sequence (eg 'Step 1', 'Step 2', etc) or where content of different types require equal prominence (eg 'News', 'Events', etc). See Summer School| for an example, or to pick out particular target audiences. It is only suitable for certain types of content and the headings have to be very short. It is useful for content that is organised into a sequence (eg 'Step 1', 'Step 2', etc) or where content of different types require equal prominence (eg 'News', 'Events', etc). See Summer School| for an example, or to pick out particular target audiences.

Right-hand column

Rectangle 'promotion' boxes: 

You may not put any 'raw' text in the right hand column. Any content in here must be a promotion or an image. There are three to choose from. In order of priority:

• image box with title - images for these should be 238 x 105 pixels. Three to a page only.
• image box with caption - images for these should be 238 x 105 pixels. There is no title at the top, just room for a caption underneath an image. Please use sparingly to explain image content, list names etc and keep caption short.
• image only - 238 x  suggested maximum 315 pixels!

Right-hand column

Rectangle 'promotion' boxes: 

You may not put any 'raw' text in the right hand column. Any content in here must be a promotion or an image. There are three to choose from. In order of priority:

• image box with title - images for these should be 238 x 105 pixels. Three to a page only.
• image box with caption - images for these should be 238 x 105 pixels. There is no title at the top, just room for a caption underneath an image. Please use sparingly to explain image content, list names etc and keep caption short.
• image only - 238 x  suggested maximum 315 pixels!

Renew these at different times of the year, to keep people's interest in returning to your pages, with new, timely and important promotions. Catherine Bellamy can advise.

Don't worry if you don't have any content for the right-hand column on a lot of pages, you can use some relevant corporate promotions in the top level folder: eg LSE Experts Directory, 'Podcasts and videos' etc. There is a corporate promotions folder in the CMS with images you can use.

Avoid lists of 'related' or 'useful links' in the right hand column as these tend to be symptomatic of problems with information architecture rather than being a solution. There is a special box you can use if it is a very short list, very relevant to the page so ask about this. Often better is to put a 'Useful links' sub heading at the end of a page and add a couple there if, for example, you want to add a PDF relevant to the text on the page or an external link that is particularly important or useful to follow up. 

Useful links should only be used to link to content that isn't part of your section but is particularly relevant to the visitor as a follow-up to the content of the page on which they appear.

In general

• Please warn your web visitors of external links if it is not obvious by the link itself by putting  [external]  next to the link.
• Please warn your web visitors if you are linking to a PDF by putting  [PDF]    next to the link.
• Never make links open in a new window unless it is to an external website.
• If linking to another LSE website page, never copy and paste the url into the link box, always navigate to it through the folder structure and drag the file onto the page to create the link.
• Never link to a page with the words 'click here' or 'read more' the LSE web style guide is very clear on this. Linking this way makes the page less accessible for sight impaired visitors using special technology to read the page. It also prevents visitors from scanning the page for useful links. The link should be the title of the page (or publication) it links to or a recognisable abbreviated version of the title.

Site checks for broken links

Finally, a weekly report is sent to nominated web contributors in each division giving a list of any broken links. It is presented in a very easy format, with a link to the page with broken links and showing a frowning face next to the broken link. These reports must be checked the day they arrive and links fixed within 24 hours or less. Broken links are one of the most irritating things for web visitors but if you keep on top of it, your list will be at zero or very few each week making it an easy task. It also gives an instant indication if there is a bigger problem due to a page or folder being accidentally moved, so well worth the 15 minutes required to review it.

Again, if you have any questions about this, contact c.bellamy@lse.ac.uk|

Publishing

Publishing doesn't happen instantly - even if there isn't a long queue of publishing from other contributors it still takes a little time for the elements of a page to publish live.

Comments, corrections, clarifications

Please let me know if I have broken any of the rules on this page, or if you want me to add further information, by using the ' Comment on this page' at the bottom of the page. This link is on every page.

Web Services offer the following services to support you in building useful web content the web surgeries are times we dedicate to helping web contributors - please don't hesitate to make use of this:

• CMS web surgeries- the production team run these on Mondays 3pm - 4.30pm and on Thursdays 11am-1pm, in room W301, Tower Three.
• Web editorial surgeries - web editorial surgeries are booked in advance and can run on Wednesday afternoons from 2.30pm to 4.30pm usually. At these you can get advice on:
  • your overall web presence and what is available to improve it
  • editorial best practice including editorial management
  • quick fixes for editorial conundrums
  • best use of templates to promote your key messages
    an action plan for further work
• Web stats - contact Catherine Bellamy, c.bellamy@lse.ac.uk.
• Site check report - regular automated reports detailing broken links for web contributors - contact Catherine Bellamy, c.bellamy@lse.ac.uk
• Video and audio web surgeries - these are run by Tom Williams and are available on request, please email web.richmedia@lse.ac.uk . At these you can get advice on:
  • Publishing video and audio in your CMS website 
  • Featuring your content on the video and audio pages, iTunes U and LSE YouTube channel
  • Video and audio production

Personal pages

Please note that LSE personal pages is a service run by IT Services (ITS). LSE personal pages is a provided service: no training nor support is available for this service. Please direct enquiries to the ITS help desk, email: IT_Help_Desk@lse.ac.uk|. Enquiries concerning society web space should be sent to su.comms@lse.ac.uk|.

CMS 'how to' guides and CMS web surgeries

The production team produce CMS training guides, now in Moodle| which capture the training given to the lead contributor in each division or department/centre. The lead contributor should use these when cascading the CMS training to other contributors in their section.

All contributors working on the corporate website must have had training to use the CMS – either the two hour 'handover' training from production, or from a colleague who has had this initial full training session.

Web editorial surgeries and guidance

Contact Catherine Bellamy for advice and guidance on developing your web presence and information design. See the Services tab for more information or email c.bellamy@lse.ac.uk|.

A tutorial, 'Writing for the LSE website' is being created to support all web contributors in their day to day web work which will be rolled out to all contributors during 2012 after the CMS has been upgraded.

Video and audio guidance and web surgeries

Tom Williams, rich media web producer, produces the web.richmedia@lse.ac.uk, ext 7952 (020 7955 7952).

A more comprehensive video and audio guide is being created.