Introduction
If your school, district, or organization has Post Types with a large number of Posts (such as a generic "News" or "Events" Post Type), the "Feature" function will allow you to highlight the most important or noteworthy Posts from those Post Types, and display them in an image gallery-style Post Browser.
Most sites include built-in Feature Groups, used to add featured Posts to the homepage, or create alert or annoucement banners. The first section of this tutorial will explain how to create additional Feature Groups, which can be used to highlight a specific topic of your choosing.
After you have created a new Feature Group, you can then add a Feature-specific Post Browser to any page in the site. The second section of this tutorial explains how to add a Post Browser, and set it up to display only the Posts from your new Feature Group in a gallery or image carousel format.
The third section focuses on how to add new or existing Posts to your Feature Group.
Note: For information on adding a featured post to the homepage, see "How do I Feature a Post on the Homepage?" in the FAQ section. For information on creating new announcements or alerts, see "Creating Alert or Annoucement Banners."
Creating a Feature Group
- Step 1 - Navigate to the Features Section
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Begin by clicking the "Posts" link, located in the menu at the top of your Digital Bell Dashboard. Clicking this link will bring you to a listing of your Post Types.
Next, click the "Features" link, located in the right margin. This will bring you to a list of the existing Features on your Web site.
Most sites will include a "Homepage" Feature by default - used to display selected Posts on the home page. To begin adding a new Feature, click the "+Create" button, located in the right margin.
Return to Top - Step 2 - The Add Feature Form
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After clicking the button, you will be taken to the Add Feature form. The contents of this form are described below:
Title: This will be the title of your Feature. It is used only as an internal designation, and will not appear on the public site. The title should reference the general purpose of your Feature, such as "Athletics."
Name: The "Name" of your Feature will auto-complete, based on your Title. It is not necessary to edit this field, however if you decide to change the "Name," no spaces or special characters are allowed in this field. Like the "Title," the "Name" will only be displayed internally.
Description: This is an optional field, which can be used to provide a short description of your new Feature. This is another field which will only be displayed internally.
Post Types: Use this field to select which Post Types can have their Posts added to your new Feature. The default option is "Any," which allows Posts from every Post Type to select this Feature. To select multiple Post Types, hold the "Ctrl" key when clicking the titles.
Weight: The "Weight" determines the order in which your Features will be listed, when viewing a list of all Features. The higher the number, the lower the Feature will be listed.
Active: This determines whether the Feature is available to use on your Web site. The default option is "Yes." Selecting "No" will remove the option to select this Feature when creating new Posts.
Access
The Access section is collapsed by default. If you would like to give access to additional user account, click this section to expand it.
Permissions: Here, you can use the "Add People or Groups" field to enter the names of additional users, and give them access to your Feature. After selecting a user, you can assign the "Viewer," "Editor," "Actor," or "Owner" permissions.
Viewer: This setting allows the user to view the Feature, as well as see which Posts have been added to it.
Editor: This setting allows the user to edit the properties of your Feature, as well as assign Posts to it.
Actor: This setting allows the user to assign Posts to the Feature.
Owner: This setting gives the user complete control of the Feature, including the "delete" function.
Return to Top - Step 3 - Click "Submit"
- Once you have completed the form, click the "Submit" button. After submitting the form, you will be able to select this Feature when creating or editing Posts from the Post Types you have selected in the previous step. Continue reading to learn how to select this Feature when creating or editing a Post. Return to Top
Adding a Post Browser for the new Feature Group
- Step 1 - Create or Edit your Page
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This section explains how to add a Post Browser to a new or existing page - which will be used to display the Posts that are added to your Feature Group. It will also cover how to change the layout of the Post Browser to use a gallery or carousel-style display format.
If you are creating a new page for your Feature, follow the steps outlined in the Create a New Page tutorial. After completing and submitting the New Page form, you will be forwarded to your new page's content editor and can proceed to Step 2.
If you are editing an existing page, click the "Pages" link, located in the menu at the top of your Digital Bell Dashboard. Next, locate the appropriate page, and click the Edit button (pencil icon) to the left of the page title. This will bring you to the content editor.
Return to Top - Step 2 - Adding a New Post Type Group
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In your page's content editor, click the "Post Type" link, located under the "Add Content" heading in the right margin. This will add a new Post Type Group to your page.
After the Post Type Group appears on the page, click the "+Existing Post Types" button and select the Post Types that include your "featured" posts. Multiple Post Types can be selected by holding the "Ctrl" ("Cmd" on Macs) key while clicking the Post Types.
Once you have added the appropriate Post Types, click the "Settings" link, located in the upper right-hand corner of your new group.
Next, click the "Features" tab, then select your new Feature from the list.
Once you have selected the appropriate Feature(s), click the "Variables" tab. Here, you will see two fields separated by an "equals" sign ( = ). In the left-hand field, enter "ShowNum" (without quotation marks), and in the right-hand field, enter "1" (again, without the quotation marks). This will create a single, large display window for your newest "Featured" post, however the setting chosen in the next step will determine the overall look of the element.
Additionally, for "Featured" sections that should automatically scroll through their posts/images, click the "+Add" button to create a second set of fields. In the left-hand field, enter "AutoPlay" and enter "true" in the right-hand field. The following image includes an example of both variable settings.
Return to Top - Step 3 - Select the Layout
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Now that you have added your Post Type Group and selected your Feature(s), you can choose how the Posts will be displayed on the page.
Click on the "Display Options" tab, located at the top of the "Settings" window. In this tab, you can customize the way your Posts are displayed, allowing you to create an eye catching page element. Locate the "Display Image?" option and select "Yes." Next, set the "Image Size" option to "Featured."
Depending on the template used to create your Digital Bell site, you may have up to three options to choose from, in the "Layout" section.
Panels: This layout highlights the three latest posts, displaying the attached images across the width of the page. A drop-down arrow expands the Post Browser to display additional Posts, when clicked.
Tiles: This layout displays your latest post as a large, central image, with three smaller images attached to the right side.
Carousel: The "Carousel" layout, in combination with the "ShowNum" = "1" setting in the Variables tab, will display the newest featured post, within a large display window. Scroll arrows on the left and right sides of the main image allow visitors to browse the latest featured posts, and the auto-scroll feature listed in the previous step will browse through the images automatically, if enabled.
Note that the "Page Layout" feature will allow further control over how your "Featured" section is displayed on the page, through the ability to assign the Post Type Group to your preferred cell. See "Designing Page Layouts" for more information.
Clicking any of the images will forward your visitors to the content of the Post. Once you have chosen a layout, click the "Submit" button to complete the process.
You can view the completed Post Browser by clicking the "View on Website" button, located in the right margin. This will open the public page in a new browser tab. If you would like to change the layout, click again on the "Settings" link, then select an alternate layout and click the "Submit" button.
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"Featuring" your Posts
- Step 1- Create or Edit a Post
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This section will explain how to assign a Post to a Feature Group, known as "featuring" a Post. These instructions apply to Posts that will be added to an existing Feature Group and page (such as the "Featured" section of the home page), as well as Posts that will be added to Feature Groups and Post Browsers created using the preivious steps in this tutorial. Posts can be "featured" when creating a new Post, or editing an existing Post.
a) If you are creating a new Post, begin by clicking the "Posts" link, located in the menu at the top of your Digital Bell Dashboard. Next, locate the Post Type you wish to add your new Post to, then click the "Add a new post" link.
b) If you are adding an existing Post to your new Feature, begin by clicking the "Posts" link, located in the menu at the top of your Digital Bell Dashboard. Next, locate the Post Type that contains the Post you wish to edit, then click the "View the list of posts" link. Next, locate, or search for, the appropriate Post and click the Properties button (gear icon) to the left of the Post's title.
Return to Top - Step 2a - Featuring a New Post
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After clicking the "Add a new Post" link, you will be forwarded to the New Post form. Begin filling out the form, entering the title, date, content, and optionally the abstract.
Next, use the "Image" section to add a photo or graphic to your Post. The image attached here will be shown in the gallery-style Post Browser, which displays images at a size of 600 x 400 pixels.
If possible, use an image editing tool such as Microsoft Paint or Apple's Preview to crop or scale your image as close to 600 x 400 pixels as possible, to avoid shrinking/stretching. Images that are smaller than 600 x 400 pixels are not recommended, as they will become pixelated.
After you have attached your image, locate the "Feature Groups" section. Here, you will find the option for adding your Post to the Feature you created in the previous section. Tick the checkbox next to the name of your Feature, then select a date range in the "From" and "To" fields. The Post will remain "featured" during this time. Once the "From" date has passed, the Post will be removed from the Feature and will no longer be displayed. Leaving these fields blank will "feature" the post indefinitely. Multiple Feature Groups can also be selected for a single Post, with separate date ranges.
Once you have completed the form, scroll to the bottom of the page and click either "Submit" button.
Return to Top - Step 2b - Featuring an Existing Post
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After clicking the Properties button (gear icon), you will be taken to the post properties editor.
Here, locate the "Feature Groups" section. You should now find the option for adding your Post to your new Feature. Tick the checkbox next to the name of your Feature, then select a date range in the "From" and "To" fields. The Post will remain "featured" during this time. Once the "From" date has passed, the Post will be removed from the Feature and will no longer be displayed. Leaving these fields blank will "feature" the post indefinitely. Multiple Feature Groups can be selected for a single Post, with separate date ranges.
Once you have selected your dates, scroll to the bottom of the properties editor and click the "Submit" button, which will finalize your changes and forward you to the content editor. Here, you can attach a photo or graphic in the "Image" section, if you have not done so already. The "featured" gallery we will create in the next section uses an image size of 600 x 400 pixels.
If possible, use an image editing tool such as Microsoft Paint or Apple's Preview to crop or scale your image as close to 600 x 400 pixels as possible, to avoid shrinking/stretching. Images that are smaller than 600 x 400 pixels are not recommended, as they will become pixelated.
Once you have attached your image, scroll to the bottom of the content editor and click either "Submit" button.
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