Web CMS Upgrade Coming Soon

We're upgrading Site Manager to Version 7 in June, so here's a quick rundown of the improvements that make it much easier to use.

Big improvements to the look and feel

When you log on to the new version of Site Manager you'll notice a difference immediately. The layout and menus are much clearer and easier to use. You can navigate down into the section you're working on without losing your place, as it no longer refreshes the page. And there's no more Tools menu - you'll find the Media Library under the Content menu.

Improved media library

You can upload an image while you're editing text: just go to the media library from the content edit screen and you'll see a new option there.  It's much easier to find out where photos and files are being used - select a 'usage' tab in the individual media item and you'll see a list of locations.  And find media much more easily by adding keywords when you put them into the media library - you can search on them now.

Drag and drop to move sections

It's really easy to move content around: just pick up a section with your mouse and drag it to where you want it to be. All the links will update automatically.

Save as draft

You can now save a piece of content as a draft - anyone using blogging software will know how handy this is. This means draft content doesn't appear in the approvals queue, so it can't accidentally be published.

Easy to preview your content

There's now an option to preview your page from the drop down menu in the content tab, meaning you don't have to preview while editing the content itself.

We are really excited about these changes because we know they will solve a lot of problems for you.

So when is all this happening?

We are testing the software at the moment and subject to no unforeseen problems, we will work on the upgrade from 09:00 on Monday, 25 June until the evening of Wednesday, 27 June, 2012.  It's a major upgrade and the Web CMS will be out of action for three days: we're giving good notice so you can plan around it and let us know (web-office@york.ac.uk) straight away if the dates clash with a major event within your department.  During the upgrade, all pages produced by the Web CMS will remain visible on the website.  However, it will not be possible to edit content.

We're revising our help pages and training notes, so these will be available for you at the time of the launch of the new software.