Editing Content in Terminal Four
Content Types and Best Practices
Terminal Four (T4) is the Content Management System we use to edit the main Fisher website, www.sjfc.edu.
Content Types
A content type is structured content. It has entry fields where the user can enter content so that it can be displayed in a consistent and reliable way on our website. There are many content types available in T4. This training will cover General Content and Accordion content, which are most often used by content contributors.
General Content
General Content is the most common type of content on our website. The first piece of content on your page should almost always be a piece of General Content. The first piece of content follows different field usage rules than any additional pieces of content. These are not clear from the “required fields” indicators in the content.
First Piece of General Content
Field Usage Rules
- Title - required
- Subtitle - recommended
- Body - required
Additional Pieces of General Content
Field Usage Rules
- Title - do not use
- Subtitle - do not use
- Body - Required
Accordion Content
The good thing about accordion content is that it lets you put a lot of information on the page while keeping the page compact. The bad thing about accordion content is that the user can’t skim, can’t find the relevant information on the page without opening the accordion. Sometimes they are a great solution but be thoughtful about the user experience when you choose them.
WYSIWYG Fields
A WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) field is not a content type but it exists as a special field in many content types. It’s here that you need to pay extra attention to heading hierarchy and other web best-practices because you are making more of the decisions about how things will be displayed. In a simple text field, you just add text.
Headings
Headings come in six sizes - H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6. By default, the page title (generated by the text in the "Heading" field of the first piece of General Content on the page) is an H1 (and should be the only H1 on a page).
Think of headings as the table of contents for your page. The content on your page should be broken up into scannable chunks of content, with descriptive headings to make the scope of the information presented easy to grasp with a quick look.
After the page title, your main headings should be H2s. If the content that falls under an H2 needs additional subheadings, use H3s. If the content under an H3 needs additional subheadings, use H4s, and so on.
Links
A link is a promise. Link text should be clear; it should be obvious where a user will end up if they click the link.
General Tips for Links
- Avoid linking headings.
- Avoid generic links such as "click here" and "read more."
- Link text should make sense when taken out of context.
Document Links (pdf, doc, etc.)
Links to documents should always include the file extension in brackets (ex. [pdf], [doc], etc.). This tells the user they are about to download a file or open a pdf in their browser window.
Email Links
Email addresses should always be active links. This allows a user to click or tap the email address and have their email application open automatically.
Lists
- Capitalize the first word in each bullet.
- Most lists should be bulleted lists; use numbered lists only when items in the list must be completed in order.
- If you use a period at the end of one bullet item, use a period at the end of all bullets.
Contributor Resources
- Content Contributor Guide
- Site Improve Training