NetSource Technologies, central Florida’s premier web design and hosting company, is pleased to announce the launch of www.CenterMH.org, a web site for The Center for Mental Health, a non-profit organization that provides behavioral health services to residents of western Colorado’s Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose, Ouray and San Miguel counties.

www.centermh.org

The new website features information about The Center for Mental Health’s specialized programs for children and families, adults, veterans, substance abuse, and suicide prevention. The website also provides schedules and agendas for The Center’s non-clinical programs, as well as up-to-date details on their emergency services.

NetSource Technologies is an award-winning web design, hosting, e-commerce and consulting company that has been serving Ocala and clients nationwide  since 1995. Visit their web site at www.netsourceinc.com for more information on their services and to view additional client web sites.

NetSource Technologies, central Florida’s premier web design and hosting company, is pleased to announce the launch of www.thewindowman.com, a website for The Window Man, a northern Virginia company that specializes in commercial, residential and architectural windows.

www.thewindowman.com

The Window Man serves northern Virginia and the Metro DC area from three showroom locations in Fairfax, Alexandria and Chantilly. The company features commercial products from top-quality manufacturers including Mon-Ray, H Windows, Optimum Windows, Gerkin, Universal and Keystone. Their residential product line includes Soft-Lite, Mon-Ray, H-Windows, Pollard, Fiber Frame, DeVac, Optimum, Pro-Via, Lincoln and Parrett.

The redesigned website is loaded with information intended to help consumers understand the features of different window types. The site also includes an image gallery that displays some of The Window Man’s past projects, and a blog that offers helpful insights and information about windows and doors.

NetSource Technologies is an award-winning web design, hosting, e-commerce and consulting company that has been serving Ocala and clients nationwide  since 1995. Visit their web site at www.netsourceinc.com for more information on their services and to view additional client web sites.

NetSource Technologies, central Florida’s premier web design and hosting company, is pleased to announce the launch of www.proglassware.com, a web site for Pro Glassware, a Florida-based company that specializes in providing advertising-based products to the sports bar and dining industry.

The new website promotes independent career opportunities for people interested in selling Pro Glassware’s unique advertising products. The company produces advertising-imprinted glassware and cups suitable for use in sports bars, diners and other casual dining establishments.

NetSource Technologies is an award-winning web design, hosting, e-commerce and consulting company that has been serving Ocala and clients nationwide  since 1995. Visit their web site at www.netsourceinc.com for more information on their services and to view additional client web sites.

To help you navigate your way through your new SiteSource Content Management System from NetSource, here is a basic guide of the terms and elements you’ll need to know.

Content Management System (CMS) – A Content Management System (CMS) is a web-based development platform that allows a website’s owner to manage their website without any programming or web design knowledge.  Typically, a CMS will allow you to add, edit, and delete pages on your site, upload photos, and add downloadable documents.  Some systems might have additional functionality, like allowing you to create and manage Flash slideshows, Blogs, Calendars, and more.

Menu or Navigation – A website’s main method of presenting and organizing the pages available for browsing is through a menu or navigation.  The menu is typically a block of buttons that spans horizontally across the top of a website or is stacked vertically down the left- or right-hand side.  A menu can also include fly-out or drop-down navigation that presents secondary pages under a main tab or button.  For the most flexibility, and so you can add as many pages as you like to your new SiteSource website, we recommend a vertical (up and down) menu.

Main Level – In reference to a website’s menu, the main level menu buttons are those visible immediately when the  website loads.  The main level can host sub-menu items in the form of fly-out or drop-down menus that appear when the main level button is hovered over.

Sub-Menu – a sub-menu is a secondary menu or pages organized under a main level page. For instance, the About Us page might be the main level menu item, while Our History, Our Locations, and Our Staff might be sub-menu pages displayed in a fly-out or drop-down menu under About Us.

Types of Pages in SiteSource

Home Page – The Home page of your site is the main or “first” page of your site found at www.yourdomain.com.  In SiteSource, the Home page can contain several specialized and/or custom features including a Flash Slideshow of photos, featured news, calendar, or blog posts, and specialized Content Boxes.  See below for more info on each of these special features.

Content Page – Content pages will likely make up the bulk of your website’s pages.  They contain text and photos presented and edited by you in a system very similar to a word processor like Microsoft Word.  You can add text, images, links, downloadable documents, formatted tables, and more to your content pages.

Photo Gallery – A SiteSource photo gallery allows you to present collections of related photos in thumbnail format that visitors can click on for enlargements.  You can add as many photo galleries as you like to your site, limited only by your hosting disc space.  You can also add introductory text and images to the Photo Gallery page through an interface similar to content pages. Each photo gallery can have either a single photo album or multiple albums. For instance, you might have an Events photo gallery that has individual albums for Holiday Dinner, Summer Picnic, and Day of Service.

Photo Albums – A photo album is the actual collection within a photo gallery of related photos presented with captions. As with the parent photo gallery, you can choose to include an introduction to your album, and you can define an “album cover” photo.

Calendar – SiteSource’s Calendar is presented in a traditional tabular format that resembles the familiar, print-style calendar grid.  Website visitors can scroll forward and backward through the months.  You can choose to have a single calendar or multiple, themed calendars that work together (for instance, each department might have its own calendar). Each calendar event shows up as a text link on the specified day’s calendar block.

Calendar Events – Clicking on each calendar event listing (displayed on the calendar grid as a text link) will bring visitors to a detailed description of that event. You can add links, formatted text, and photos to your calendar event description page.

Blog – SiteSource’s blog component is a simplified blogging system that allows you to get up and running making regular posts without having to learn a complicated system.  You can use your blog to post articles, make announcements, solicit customer feedback, post news and media, and so much more. You can add as many blogs to your site as you like.

Blog Comments – Visitors to your blog can post comments.  You can decide if comments get automatically posted to your site, or if comments require approval before being displayed.  The blog also has a SPAM filtering system to help cut down on illegitimate comment posts.

Page Elements

As you edit the content on your page, you will find the following main buttons and tools in the page editor’s toolbars.

Links – Links are the most basic element of the internet.  Clicking on a link takes you to a webpage by directing your browser to that page’s address, or URL. Links can be added to text or to images, and they can link you to other pages on the same site (interior links) or to pages on a different website (exterior links).  Every page on the internet has a unique address.  To find a page’s link address so you can link to it, simply look at the Address Bar at the top of your browser.

Blockquote – A blockquote is a section of text that is indented both on the left and the right.

Numbered List – A numbered list (also known in the web world as an ordered list) is an indented list of numbered items. SEO Tip: for better search engine ranking for your most important keywords, be sure to have the keyword you are trying to optimize for in a numbered or bulleted list.

Bulleted List – A bulleted list (also known as an unordered list) in an indented bullet point list. SEO Tip: for better search engine ranking for your most important keywords, be sure to have the keyword you are trying to optimize for in a numbered or bulleted list.

Headings – Headings are the bold headlines on your web pages that help you organize and present your content.  Headings are usually available for use from Heading 1 through Heading 6 (H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6), with Heading 1 as the main headline for your page and the smaller headings used for sub-categories on the page.  SEO Tip: You can rank better for your most important keywords if they can be found in your headings, in particular your H1.

Images – Images on a web page can refer to both photos or other graphic elements like logos, promotional graphics, product diagrams, banners and more.  You can add images to Content Pages quickly and easily.  You can also upload photos to your photo albums.

Tables – Tables are a useful element for presenting data sets in a tabular format.  SiteSource has an easy tool that helps you add tables and format them (borders, shading, padding, etc.).

Horizontal Lines – Horizontal lines can be used to separate two areas of a page.  They are lines that stretch from the left to the right side of the page, and you can control the color, size, and shading.

Page Properties

Each of these items can be updated and managed by you under the “Page Properties” tab of each page.

Page URL – The term URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator and refers to the “address” of a web page. For example, the URL for the Our History page on this blog is: http://www.netsourceblog.com/index.php/company/our-history/.  You can find the URL of any page by looking at the address bar located at the top center of your browser window.

Page Target – When someone clicks on a link on your site, you can decide to open a new window or tab instead of opening the new page in the same browser window.  This is a good idea when you are sending someone off of your website or linking to a PDF.  In order to acheive this effect, you would set the page target of your new link to _blank.

Menu Title – This is the text displayed on the menu button for your page.  For instance, in the interest of brevity and space use you might make the menu title “About Us” while your page title is “About XYZ Widgets in California”. Please note that your menu title will also be used as the H1 heading for your page as well.

Page Title -Your page title is usually displayed at the very top of your browser or on your browser tab.  Page titles are used for SEO purposes, and they will be displayed as your bolded link on search engine results pages. SEO Tip: Be sure the main keyword or phrase you are trying to optimize for on your page is present in your page title, at or very near the beginning. Page titles should be between 66 characters (Google limit) and 120 characters (Yahoo! limit). Finally, make sure each of your pages has a unique page title.

Meta Keywords – Meta keywords are invisible code only seen by search engines.  When you enter keywords, simply enter comma separated words and phrases.  Capitalization is not necessary.  SEO Tip: Meta keywords are ignored by Google, while Bing and Yahoo! still take them into account (sometimes).  However in all cases, your meta keywords will be useless if the words or phrases you list are not present in the actual, readable text of your page.  You should limit your meta keywords to the 6 – 10 words or phrases that are most relevant to the page you are placing them on.

Meta Description – The meta description is another invisible code on your page primarily used for search engine ranking.  However, some search engines might display your meta description as the intro paragraph for your link on search engine results pages.  Your description should be a short summary of your page’s contents.  SEO Tip: The most effective meta descriptions are 150 characters or 25 words, and they contain all or most of the keywords you are trying to optimize your page for. Your meta description should not simply be a comma separated list.

Actions

Add Page -  When you are ready to add a page to your website, click on the “Add Page” button found in the upper left-hand side of the management screen.  This will bring you to the Add Page screen.  First you’ll need to choose your Page Type from the drop-down: Content Page, Photo Gallery, Blog or Calendar. Then choose your Parent Page – if you want your new page to be on the Main Level of your menu, choose “No Parent,” if you want your new page to be part of a sub-menu, click on the radio button beside the parent page you want it to reside beneath. Then choose your Page Target (in most cases you’ll choose “Open in Same Window”). Decide if you want the new page to be shown on your menu – keep the checkbox next to Show on Menu unchecked if you want to keep the new page out of the menu. Finally, type in the Menu Title you want for you new page and click “Save Changes”.

Show on Menu – Sometimes you might not want to have a page displayed on the Main Level or even the Sub-Menus of your Navigation – perhaps you want to send a private link to a client or board members, or maybe you want to create a graphic on an existing page that links directly to the new page in order to control the flow of traffic to the page. Whatever your reason, you can click the checkbox next to “Show on Menu” during the creation of the new page. Or, you can update this setting by clicking on the “Page Properties” tab and checking or unchecking as needed.

Publish Page – New pages are not automatically published to your website, so you can have time to add, edit, and finalize your new page’s content before the rest of the world sees it.  When you are ready to make your new page available to your website visitors, click on the page’s menu title in the page tree on the left, then click on the “Publish Page” button at the bottom of the page editor window.

Unpublish Page – If you wish to remove a page from your website temporarily, you can click on the “Unpublish Page” button at the bottom of the page editor window. This action removes the page from website visitors’ view without deleting it permanently. You can choose to “Publish” the page again at a later date (handy for seasonal pages like Holiday Sales), or you can simply save the content for historical purposes.

Delete Page – If you are sure you will no longer need a page that you wish to remove from your website, you can click the “Delete Page” button found at the bottom of the page editor window.  Please note that in order to retrieve date from a deleted page, a programmer would have to manually restore your database from a previous back-up.  This is time consuming and costly, so be sure to use this button with care!

Save Changes – This is the most important button on your page editor window.  Whenever you make a change to the “Page Content” or “Page Properties” of your website’s pages, be sure to click on the “Save Changes” button near the bottom of the page screen, otherwise you will lose your changes!

Advanced Features

Photo Slideshow – SiteSource sites come with a Flash slideshow on the Home Page that displays an unlimited number of photos or graphics with stylized transitions, optional captions, and optional links.  Your lead designer will help you develop the best strategy for the size, placement, content and presentation of this element.  In order to add slides, edit captions and links, reorder slides, and delete slides entirely, simply click on the “Home” link in the Page Tree on the left-hand side of your management console.  Next, click on the “Photo Slideshow” tab at the top of the page editor window.

Site Map – A site map will be automatically generated and updated for you and will include links in a bulleted list to all of the pages on your website that are Published and are set to “Show on Menu”. Any changes you make to your menu are immediately reflected on the Site Map as soon as you “Save Changes”.

Content Box – Sometimes the display of your Home Page will be highly specialized, and instead of a single text area, you might have several block elements where text and photos can be added and edited.  In this case, you “Page Content” tab for the Home Page will have 2 or more editor boxes (one for each of the defined areas on the page).

Video – Video is an optional addition to SiteSource websites that can be customized to your needs and vision.  One popular option includes a single “Featured Video” on your Home Page.  Another option is the ability to add a video to every Content Page of your site. Yet another option creates a Video Gallery on your website, similar to the Photo Gallery page type. These additional features can be added on during website development or at any time after launch.

Site Search – Every new SiteSource site comes with the ability to add a site-wide search element. The site search will index all of your pages and files (like PDFs) on a daily basis so that site visitors can type in a keyword or phrase and get relevant page and file results.

NetSource Technologies, central Florida’s premier web design and hosting company, is pleased to announce the launch of www.bigdroofinginc.com, a web site for Big D Roofing, an Ocala-based roofing and insulation contractor.

www.bigdroofinginc.com

With more than 30 years in the business, Big D Roofing is one of Ocala, Florida’s most trusted roofing contractors. Big D Roofing, Inc. provides roofing services for both residential roofing, commercial roofing jobs and blown in insulation.  Big D Roofing, formerly known as Dunnrite Roofing, Inc., has been dedicated to premium customer service for three decades — a fact which is detailed in the website’s testimonials section.

The site provides details on Big D Roofing’s range of services, including commercial roofing, residential roofing and metal roofing. It also provides an online portfolio that displays some of the company’s recent work.

NetSource Technologies is an award-winning web design, hosting, e-commerce and consulting company that has been serving Ocala and clients nationwide  since 1995. Visit their web site at www.netsourceinc.com for more information on their services and to view additional client web sites.

So you’ve got yourself a brand-new website for your business. It looks great, delivers your business message quickly, and visitors are raving about how easy it is to find the information they need. The website even has a content management system (CMS) that lets you make changes to information and images on the site without so much as a phone call to your developer.

Depending on the type of content management tools your site uses and how they’ve been programmed to work, you can add, delete, modify and move around almost any piece of information on your website. Content management can be an extremely powerful tool — you might even say that it’s “dynamite”.

Just make sure you don’t use the dynamite to blow yourself up.

Over our 15-year history of building websites for businesses of all stripes, the developers here at NetSource Technologies have seen (and developed) a lot of websites with content management systems. Most such sites are well-maintained and informative, but from time to time we’ll encounter a true clunker where the content management system — for whatever reason — has been used not to enhance the website, but to seriously damage its value as an informational resource and marketing tool.

Of course, you want your new website to work in favor of your business’ bottom line, right? So here are a few of the most common content management mistakes and some tips on how to avoid them.

1. Don’t neglect your content management. Aside from the use of the horrendous little <blink> tag (which ought to be a second-degree felony), the most serious content management error is not to use your website’s CMS at all. There are way too many content-managed websites sitting out there with out-of-date information and dead content.

Once you’ve invested time and money into the development of a website for your business marketing, please don’t forget that it should always be something of a Work In Progress. That’s one of the principal advantages of the Internet as a medium — websites are dynamic and easy to modify. They are not stone tablets.

As your business needs change and as new information for your customers becomes available, take advantage of that CMS and update your website. If you and your staff don’t have the time to make the updates, then contact your developer and pay them for a little time to update the site for you. Otherwise, you’re letting a valuable investment go to waste.

2. Don’t cut and paste anything directly from MS Word. Microsoft Word can be a great tool for writing and creating business documents. One thing it is NOT, however, is an editing tool for website content. Every page of every MS Word document ever produced is a veritable minefield of hidden formats and coding that can destroy a well-crafted web page in seconds.

When you copy text from an MS Word document onto your computer system’s “clipboard”, the hidden formats and codes are sucked up right along with the text. When you paste all of that directly from the clipboard into a text window of a content management system, the hidden codes almost always go along for the ride. Click the “save” button and you’ve probably just swung a big wrecking ball into your website. From odd formatting that you can’t fix or get rid of no matter what, to pages of hidden code that make search engines give up indexing your page long before they hit the real text… the pitfalls are many.

Fortunately, the solution is pretty simple. Once you’ve copied your text from an MS Word document, paste it into a plain-text editing application like NotePad. This removes all of the hidden formats and codes. Then copy the text from your new NotePad document and paste that into the text window of your website’s CMS.

Note that this tip doesn’t just apply to MS Word. Other popular word-processing applications may also send hidden code along with their text, including messages sent in Microsoft Outlook — so if you’re creating ‘copy’ for your website in anything except a plain-text editor, always follow this little tip before you paste the text into your website’s CMS.

3. Be careful about image shapes and sizes. Images — photos and graphics — frequently baffle even the best content management systems. Why is that? Well, mostly because a website CMS is essentially a computer program and, despite some current conspiracy theories, computers are not yet able to read minds. They don’t automatically know what you want to do with an image. The best they can figure out is how to take the image you give them and stick it into the specifications allowed by the programming.

This is the part of content management that takes a little bit of work. You’ll need to know a little bit about your CMS in order to handle images properly. Does your system re-sample and re-size images into proper ‘web’ images, or just take your original image and squeeze it into a certain dimension — possibly “morphing” the image in the process? Or perhaps it just crops the image to fit a pre-determined size.

You’ll have the most success uploading images through your CMS if you use some sort of image editing software first to correctly crop and size your photo. Unless your site makes use of some really top-end (and usually expensive) content management, there’s no way around this step. Regardless, photos always work best on a website when they’ve been properly sized and edited before being submitted to the rigors of a CMS.

It doesn’t matter much what imaging editing application you use. From professional programs like Photoshop to free, web-based editors like Pixlr.com, most of them will get the job done for you.  The importance of this step goes beyond making sure your website looks as polished and professional as possible with high-end image rendering. If you inadvertently upload a massive picture that simply gets “squished” into a constrained spot, your actually doing damage to your web page’s loading speed, which has recently begun effecting Google rankings.

In closing

Keep in mind that your content management system is a tool, while a web designer or consultant is a resource.  Even if you’ve decided to maintain your website on your own with CMS tool, remember to refer back to your designer as a useful resource for tips and advice as you learn.  At NetSource we’re just a phone call away when that pesky image looks all wrong or you can’t get that red, bullet point text to disappear.

NetSource Technologies, central Florida’s premier web design and hosting company, is pleased to announce the launch of www.esteswoodworking.com, a web site for Estes Construction & Woodworking, a producer of custom handcrafted furniture, cabinets, and woodworking based in Ocala, Florida.

www.esteswoodworking.com

The new web site features information about the company’s ownership and history, their areas of expertise and detailed examples of some of their completed custom woodworking projects. The site was developed on the WordPress blog platform to allow administrators at Estes to easily and quickly update their website content and portfolio.

Owned by Donald Estes and founded in 1983, Estes Construction & Woodworking specializes in the design and construction of wood cabinetry and wood furniture that is customized to the exact requirements of their customers. Operating from a 6,400 square-foot facility in Ocala, Florida, the company produces custom woodworking both for remodeling project and for new construction.

NetSource Technologies is an award-winning web design, hosting, e-commerce and consulting company that has been serving Ocala and clients nationwide  since 1995. Visit their web site at www.netsourceinc.com for more information on their services and to view additional client web sites.

NetSource Technologies, central Florida’s premier web design and hosting company, is pleased to announce the launch of www.vrellc.com, a web site for Virtual Realty Enterprises LLC, a Missouri-based limited liability company that has managed more than $500 Million in assets.

www.vrellc.com

The site features information about Virtual Realty Enterprises’ management portfolio, programs for loan acquisitions and loan originations as well as the qualifications and experience of the company’s key individuals. The staff at VRE can easily manage and update their website through NetSource’s exclusive full-site content management system, SiteSource.

Virtual Realty Enterprises, LLC seeks to offer solutions to lenders who wish to improve the overall balance of their institution’s loan portfolio by divesting of commercial real estate loans in a fair and expeditious manner. VRE buys commercial real estate loans from banks and other institutional lenders. VRE also provides originations of first mortgage loans and mezzanine loans to developers. Additionally, VRE’s structure allows flexible and creative solutions to quickly close without contingencies.

NetSource Technologies is an award-winning web design, hosting, e-commerce and consulting company that has been serving Ocala and clients nationwide  since 1995. Visit their web site at www.netsourceinc.com for more information on their services and to view additional client web sites.

SiteSource is an amazing tool that gives RV Dealers the ability to manage their own websites. Updates are easy, fast, and require no HTML or programming knowledge. In fact, if you have ever used a word processor (such as Microsoft Word), then many of the functions will be very familiar.

To see just how easy it is to maintain your own website, check out the RVUSA SiteSource Demo and log in using our guest account:

Login URL: http://sitesource.rvusa.com/demo/manage
Username: ssguest
Password: 2009

This is a guide  for using the SiteSource Tool to edit your website. Feel free to bookmark this page and use it as a reference.

How do I log into SiteSource to edit my website?

There are two ways you can log in to SiteSource:

1. Go to your website’s homepage. (e.g., http://www.yourwebsite.com)
2. Type /manage at the end of the domain. (e.g., http://www.yourwebsite.com/manage)
3. You should now see your login page for SiteSource. Enter your username and password. (If you do not have your login information, contact your RVUSA representative)
4. The SiteSource toolbox will appear in the top left corner, which gives you options for editing your website.

OR

1. Log in to RVUSA’s MMC at http://members.rvusa.com/.
2. Under “Manage Website,” click on the link for “Jump to Website Mgmt.”
3. You should be redirected to your login page for SiteSource. Enter your username and password. (If you do not have your login information, contact your RVUSA representative)
4. The SiteSource toolbox will appear in the top left corner, which gives you options for editing your website.

Can more than one person be logged in?

More than one person can be logged in to SiteSource, but only one person can edit a page at a time. This is to prevent conflicts from multiple changes being made to the same page at the same time.

How do I add a new page to my website?

1. Log in to SiteSource. (How do I log in?)
2. Click the Add Page link in the SiteSource Toolbox.
   
3. Enter the page name. This is the name that will appear in your menu as a button.
4. Click the Add Page button.
5. You will now see a page where you can add text and images to your page. (For more on editing a page, read the How do I edit a page? section)
6. Click the Save Changes button.

How do I delete a page from my website?

1. Log in to SiteSource. (How do I log in?)
2. Navigate to the page you wish to delete by clicking the link in your website’s menu.
3. Click the Delete This Page link in the SiteSource Toolbox.
   
4. A dialog box will appear that says “Are you sure you want to delete this page?” Click OK.
5. The page will now be removed from your website, and will be moved to your Trash Can.

Can I “un-delete” a page?

Yes, you can! Here’s how:

1. Log in to SiteSource. (How do I log in?)
2. Click the Trash Can link in the SiteSource Toolbox.
   
3. The next page will show you a list of your recently deleted pages. Click the checkbox to the left of the page you wish to un-delete.
4. Click the Un-Delete Checked Pages button to un-delete the page.
   
5. The page will now re-appear in your website menu.

Can I re-order my website menu?

Yes, you can! Here’s how:

1. Log in to SiteSource. (How do I log in?)
2. Click the Reorder Main Menu link in the SiteSource Toolbox.
   
3. The next page will show you a bullet list of the pages in your menu. Hover your mouse over the name of the page you want to move. Your cursor will turn into a cross with four arrows pointing outwards.
   
4. Click and hold the left button on your mouse. Drag the name of the page up or down to move the page where you’d like.
   
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the menu is in the correct order.
6. Click the Save Changes button when you are done. Your menu buttons on the website will now update to the order you specified.

How do I change the name of a page in my website menu?

1. Log in to SiteSource. (How do I log in?)
2. Navigate to the page you wish to change by clicking the link in your website’s menu.
3. Click the Edit This Page link in the SiteSource Toolbox.
   
4. Click the Click To Edit Advanced Options link. Additional fields will appear.
   
5. Next to Page Name (shown on menu), type your new name for the page.
   
6. Click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page. Your new page name will appear in your website’s menu.

Can I create a page that doesn’t appear in the website menu?

Yes, you can! Here’s how:

1. Log in to SiteSource. (How do I log in?)
2. Click the Add Page link in the SiteSource Toolbox.
   
3. Enter the page name. (this name will appear in your menu as a button)
4. Before you click the Add Page button, click the Click to Edit Advanced Options link. Additional fields will appear.
5. The Show in Menu checkbox is checked by default. Click the checkbox to unselect it.
6. Now you can click the Add Page button.
7. The page has been created, and you will see that it has not been added to your website menu.
8. You can now add text and images to your page. (For tips on editing a page, read the How do I edit a page? section)
9. Since this page will not be in your menu, be sure to write down the URL of this page (http://www…) so you don’t forget how to find it later.
10. Click the Save Changes button.

What areas can I edit?

Every SiteSource website has a main content area where you can add you own text, links, and images. Here a few of our EZ-Site Designs, showing where these content areas are:

The homepage of a SiteSource website often has additional information surrounding the content area, such as featured units, a RV search form, and a list of brands that you carry. However, the secondary pages are a blank slate, which gives you plenty of room to add whatever info you’d like to the page.

Some areas of the website you cannot edit through SiteSource:

• Featured Units – You can select which units to feature through RVUSA’s Member Management Console.
• Search Forms – Your search form cannot be edited through SiteSource.
• Contact Information – Your contact information is listed prominently in the header, footer, or below your website’s menu. This information will be set up by your website designer, and cannot be changed using SiteSource.
• Contact Page – You are able to add text, photos, and links above the contact form, but you will not be able to edit the contact form.
• Website Tools – If you have some of RVUSA’s website tools added to your website, you will need to edit those pages using RVUSA’s Member Management Console. These pages could include: Testimonials, Events, News, Tips, Employment, and Staff pages. You can still add text, images, or links at the top of these pages using SiteSource, but the main content is maintained through the MMC.

How do I edit a page?

1. Log in to SiteSource. (How do I log in?)
2. Navigate to the page you wish to edit by clicking the link in your website’s menu.
3. Click the Edit This Page link in the SiteSource Toolbox.
   
4. You will now see a large text area where you can type, and a few rows of buttons along the top. To learn what each of these buttons are for, hover your mouse over the button. The name of the button will appear after a few seconds. Here are just a few of the buttons that will be most useful:
   • Source – Click this button to edit your page in HTML. To switch back, click the button again.
   • Bold – Click this button to make your text bold.
   • Italic – Click this button to make your text italic.
   • Underline – Click this button to underline your text.
   • Strike Through – Click this button to create a line through your text.
   • Subscript – Click this button to type a subscript below the baseline, like this: sample_text.
   • Superscript – Click this button to type a superscript above the baseline, like this: 1^st place.
   • Insert/Remove Numbered List – Click this button to create a numbered list. Hit the enter key to go to the next numbered line. When you have typed the last line in your list, hit the enter key again and click the button again to turn it off.
   • Insert/Remove Bulleted List – Click this button to create a bulleted list. Hit the enter key to go to the next line. When you have typed the last line in your list, hit the enter key again and click the button again to turn it off.
   • Left Justify – Click this button to align your text to the left side of the screen.
   • Center Justify – Click this button to align your text to the middle of the screen.
   • Right Justify – Click this button to align your text to the right side of the screen.
   • Block Justify – Click this button to align your text to the left side of the screen, but spaced out so all lines are the same length.
   • Insert/Edit Link – Highlight a portion of your text and click this button to add a link. (More at How do I add a link?)
   • Remove Link – Highlight a link and click this button to remove the link.
   • Insert/Edit Image – Click this button to add an image. (More at How do I add an image?)
   • Insert Horizontal Line – Click this button to add a horizontal line.
   • Insert Special Character – Click this button to select special characters with accents, or other unusual characters such as © or ™.
   • Font – Use this drop-down to change your font.
   • Size – Use this drop-down to change your text size.
   • Text Color – Use this button to change your text color.
   • Background Color – Use this button to Highlight text by setting a background color.
   • Maximize the Editor Size – Click this button to view the editor in full-screen mode. Click it again to turn it off.
5. When you are finished making your changes, click the Save Changes button to save.

How do I add a link?

1. Log in to SiteSource. (How do I log in?)
2. Navigate to the page you wish to edit by clicking the link in your website’s menu.
3. Click the Edit This Page link in the SiteSource Toolbox.
   
4. In the large text area, type the words that you wish to make into a link.
5. Highlight the words and click the Insert/Edit Link button.
   
6. A new window will pop up where you can enter your link information. In the URL field, type (or paste) in the URL that you want to link to. (http://www…)
   
7. If you are linking to an external website, you may want the link to open in a new tab/window so your visitors do not leave your website. To do this, click on the Target tab and select New Window (_blank) from the drop down menu.
   
8. Click the OK button to close the pop up window.
9. Click the Save Changes button to save.

How do I add an image?

1. Log in to SiteSource. (How do I log in?)
2. Navigate to the page you wish to change by clicking the link in your website’s menu.
3. Click the Edit This Page link in the SiteSource Toolbox.
   
4. Click in the text area where you want to place your image.
5. Click the Insert/Edit Image button.
   
6. A new window will pop up where you can enter your image information.
   
7. Click the Browse Server button to select the image you want to display. Another window will open that shows what files you have already uploaded to the website.
   
8. If you want to use an image that you have uploaded in the past, skip to step 10. Otherwise, you will need to upload your new image first.
9. Click the Browse button and select your image, then click the Upload button in the bottom right corner. Your new image will appear in the list of file names.
10. Click the filename that you wish to use. The window will automatically close so you are back at the Image Properties window.
    
11. Now that you’ve selected your image, you can add additional information.
    • Alternative Text – A short description of the image that will display if the image doesn’t render.
    • Width and Height – Set the width and/or height in pixels.
    • Lock Ratio -  By default, if you increase the width, the height will also adjust proportionally so the image doesn’t stretch. If you wish to adjust one dimension and not the other, click the blue lock button to turn it off.
    • Reset Size – To reset the size of the image back to its original dimensions, click the circular arrow button.
    • Border – Type a number in this box to set a border (we recommend a value between 1 and 4).
    • HSpace – Type a number in this box to add space to the left and right of your image (we recommend a value between 5 and 20).
    • VSpace – Type a number in this box to add space to the top and bottom of your image (we recommend a value between 5 and 20).
    • Align – Use this dropdown to set the alignment of your image. Aligning to the right or left will wrap text around your image.
12. Click the OK button to close the Image Properties window.
13. If you wish to edit the image later, just select the image by clicking on it and click the Insert/Edit Image button.
14. When you are finished making your changes, click the Save Changes button to save.

How do I get the text to wrap around my image?

1. To add an image, follow steps 1- 10 of How do add an image?
2. In the Image Properties window, you will need to set the alignment of your image.
   
3. To have the image aligned to the left with your text wrapping around the right side, select Left from the drop down menu. To have the image aligned to the right with your text wrapping around the left side, select Right from the drop down menu.
4. In the preview area, you will be able to see a preview of how the text is wrapping around your image. If you have a large image and can’t see the text in the preview area, just re-size the window so it is larger by clicking and dragging the bottom-right corner.
5. If you want to add a little space around your image, just set the HSpace (horizontal space) and VSpace (vertical space) by adding a number to those boxes.
6. Click the OK button to close the Image Properties window. You will now see your image with the text wrapped around it.
7. Click the Save Changes button when you are finished editing the page.

How do I link to a PDF document?

1. Log in to SiteSource. (How do I log in?)
2. Navigate to the page you wish to edit by clicking the link in your website’s menu.
3. Click the Edit This Page link in the SiteSource Toolbox.
   
4. In the large text area, type the words that you wish to make into a link.
5. Highlight the words and click the Insert/Edit Link button.
   
6. A new window will pop up where you can enter your link information. But first, we want to upload your PDF document to the website. Click the Upload tab.
   
7. Click the Browse button to select the PDF file you wish to use. Click the Send it to the Server button to upload the PDF file.
8. A window will pop up that says Your file has been successfully uploaded. Press the OK button.
   
9. You will now be sent back to the Link Info tab, and the URL to your PDF will be automatically entered for you.
10. Click the OK button to close the  pop up window.
11. Click the Save Changes button to save.

Can I edit the meta information for each page?

When your website is first created, your designer will discuss keywords and key phrases with you and set up optimized page titles, keywords, and descriptions for all of your pages. Once the website is live, you can update this information whenever you wish, and enter meta information to new pages that you’ve created.

Editing meta information on an existing page:

1. Log in to SiteSource. (How do I log in?)
2. Navigate to the page you wish to change by clicking the link in your website’s menu.
3. Click the Edit This Page link in the SiteSource Toolbox.
   
4. Click the Click To Edit Advanced Options link. Additional fields will appear.
   
5. You can edit/enter your meta information in these new fields. There are also other advanced options that you can edit here.
   • Page Name – The name that will appear in your website menu.
   • Open Page In – Sets whether the link in the menu opens in the user’s current window, or in a new window.
   • Page Title – This is the HTML title tag (<title>) that will appear at the top of the browser, as a link in search engine listings, and as the title of the page when it is bookmarked.
   • Meta Keywords – The meta keywords for the page.
   • Meta Description – The meta description for the page. The meta description will display in search engines listings under your page title.
6. Click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page when you are finished.

Please note that when you make changes to your existing meta information, you previous settings will be overwritten.  If you wish to keep a record of your previous titles, keywords, and descriptions, you should be sure to save these in a separate file for future reference before you save changes.

Adding meta information to a new page:

1. Log in to SiteSource. (How do I log in?)
2. Click the Add Page link in the SiteSource Toolbox.
   
3. Before you click the Add Page button, click the Click to Edit Advanced Options link. Additional fields will appear.
4. You can enter your meta information in these new fields.
5. Click the Add Page button to start entering text and images to the page.
6. Click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page when you are finished.

A lot of time and effort goes into setting up a website when it is first created, but once the website is launched, the work is not over! Think of your website as a constant work in progress. Every day is a new chance to make a great first (or second, or third) impression.

How often you update your website should be based on how often you expect visitors to return. If you have a blog and want people to come back every week, make sure that you have new articles every week. If you have a simple, service-based website that people don’t need to visit that often, then just check back once or twice a year to make sure the information and links are still accurate.

Here are six reasons why you should be updating your website content on a regular basis:

1. Visitor Retention

If the information on your website never changes, why would anyone visit more than once? Having fresh content on the website gives your visitors a reason to return to your website more often to see your latest news or special deals.

2. Boost User Confidence

Having fresh content on your website shows your website visitors that your information is recent and accurate. If it’s June and your homepage is still showing a banner about Fall Savings, it raises some questions: Is that sale from last year, or three years ago? Are these prices accurate? Are these products still for sale?

Showcasing recent information about your new products, services, and current sales boosts user confidence in the accuracy of your website.

3. Getting Your Money’s Worth

Implementing a content management system into your website can save you money in the long run. Instead of paying a designer for each update, you are able to change text and photos on the website yourself.

If your website already has a content management system, start taking advantage of it! This is a great tool that gives you the freedom to update your website whenever you like, and the more you use it, the more you will benefit from it.

4. Promote New Products and Services

Does your business have a new, great product or service? Are you currently having a sale or other type of promotion? Why not list that on your website! Your website is more than just a way for people to find your business online, it is a tool for you to advertise the products and services that you want to promote.

5. Get Your Webpages Indexed Faster

Search engines use web crawlers (also called bots, spiders, or robots) to browse the internet to find new and updated pages to add to their search engine index. The more often the content on your website changes, the sooner these crawlers will come back to re-index your website.

6. Catch Outdated Information

If your website hasn’t been updated in quite a while, you probably have some information that is inaccurate and/or links that are broken. Updating your content regularly will ensure that your website is presenting the most up-to-date information about your products and services.