Labels can be used to categorize and filter Posts, Pages, and Content Elements.

In the Digital Bell, it is not required to add Labels to Content Elements (i.e. Text Blocks). For example, if you're a Teacher, your content will be assigned to you through Permissions (and no one else) and therefore there is no reason to label it. In general, only Pages need to have Labels. There are exceptions but this holds true in most cases.

Below are the Labels required for common Page types:

  • Teacher Page: Department, Faculty Name, and Faculty Type
  • Class Page: Course, Department, Faculty Name and School Year

Again, this only applies to the properties of the Page itself. Once your page is created and Labeled correctly, you won't need to make changes again unless something changes (i.e. school year). The content that appears on these pages will not require Labels. So, you can skip right over Labels and get your new content up quickly.

So, if I don't need to label my Text Blocks or Images, why should I use Labels on Pages?

Labels can be a powerful organization tool. Certain pages on the website are configured to dynamically display a list (called a Page Browser) of all pages that meet certain criteria (i.e. Page Type and Labels). For example, on the Math Department page, there may be two page lists: Faculty and Classes. For the Faculty list, it is probably set to display all (and only) pages of Page Type "Faculty" with the labels of Department: "Math" and School Year: [current].

On a Teacher Page a similar Page Browser is added. Let's assume you are teaching a class and the Page for that class is labeled correctly for this school year (i.e. "2012-2013"). The Page Browser is set to automatically pull in all Pages of Page Type: "Classes" and Labeled with Faculty Name: [your name] and School Year: [current]. Next year, all you need to do is add the label "2013-2014" to your Class Pages. This is true for new classes and classes that you will be teaching again. Then, update the Page browser on your Teacher Page (under Settings) to display the classes for the new school year. It will then automatically adjust to show the new classes accordingly.