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Edit a Page


About Editing

Editing a page involves changing the content that appears on the page.  Pages use predefined templates known as page layouts and use combinations of web parts to contain and arrange content.  Content refers to the text, images, video, links, and tables that display within a page. 

To change any of the page layouts, web parts, and content for a page, you must first edit the page.  To edit a page:

  1. Navigate to the page you would like to edit. 

  2. Click the Settings icon in the top-right of a page

  3. Settings menu will display;  click Edit page. 

  4. Page will open in an editable mode.  A yellow banner along the top will also indicate that this page is now Checked out to you.  You will now be able to change the layout, web parts, and content for the page.  Additional detail is provided below. 


Page Layouts

Each page on your Commonwealth agency website has a corresponding page layout.  Layouts determine the arrangement of content on your page (usually by identifying certain columns or zones).  To change the layout while editing a page:

  1. On the ribbon, in the Page tab, click Page Layout. 

  2. Page layout menu will display. 

  3. Click a page layout to apply it to the current page.   Please note:  some of your content may disappear if you change the page layout.  The content has not been deleted, it is just hidden.  To reveal the hidden content, reapply your previous page layout.  

  4. Once you have chosen a new page layout, click one of the Save options or CheckIn to save changes.  For more information about Save options, please see Save and Publish. 


Web Parts

Web Parts hold the content on a page.  While the Page Layouts determine the overall framework of a page,  Web Parts are the containers within this framework that hold specific content.  

Web Parts are designed to work with specific types of content.  Some Web Parts may automatically provide content based on specific settings, while others require that you manually enter content. 

There are many different types of Web Parts, but the most commonly used is the Content Editor.  The Content Editor is a versatile, general purpose Web Part that accepts text, images, video, links, and tables.  Other types of Web Parts are often for specialized purposes and may require customization to the website to work as intended.  

Content Editor Advanced Directions (PDF)


Text

Text is written content for a page.  Text is comprised of characters that form meaningful descriptions.  The most common type of text is narrative descriptions, such as what you are reading right now.  Text can also be more abbreviated, such as values placed within a table. 

Styles

All text in a web page will have certain types of styling, i.e., how the text appears.  Text will have a specific font (such as Montserrat, Arial, Times New Roman, etc.) and a specific size (16, 24, 48, etc.).  Text color and other styling details (such as bold, italics, or underline).  In addition, the placement of text (such as left-aligned, center-aligned, or right-aligned) and ordering of text (e.g., numbered and bullet lists) can also be controlled. 

The style of text can be changed using the FormatText tab in the ribbon.  This tab will appear when you are working with text in a Content Editor Web Part.   These tools to manage the look of text on your Commonwealth agency website are very similar to those found in Microsoft Office applications, such as Word or Excel. 


Headings and Paragraph

Styles of text can include Headings and Paragraph.  SharePoint is preconfigured to allow you quickly apply formatting using the Styles gallery in the FormatText tab.  It is recommended that you use the styles in the Styles gallery rather than to manually define the look of the text each time.  This will ensure consistency across your Commonwealth agency website and is a best practice for Accessibility,which is important for website visitors who may be using screen readers or other accessible devices. 

Headings 

Headings refer to the text used to denote a title or other subsections of a page.  These headings range in size from Heading 1 (largest) to Heading 4 (smallest).  Heading 1 sizes are reserved usually for the title of a web page, or for major sections of a web page that covers multiple topics.  Smaller headings should be used logically to group blocks of text.  

Paragraph

Paragraph refers to the text used for most descriptive or narrative writing of a website.  By default, the standard Paragraph text is a Montserrat font at 16px.  Additional styles ((such as bold, italics, or underline) can be applied to Paragraph text, but should be used sparingly and should not alter the meaning of the text content (i.e., someone should be able to have the same understanding of your text content with or without special styles). 

Copy & Pasting Text

Text can be typed directly into a web page through the Content Editor web part or can be copied and pasted from another source (a document, email, etc.).  However, it is recommended that any existing styling first be removed before pasting into a web page.  

This can be done by first copy and pasting the text into Notepad or similar program to strip away any styling, then copying and pasting from Notepad to the web page.  Alternatively, if your browser has a "Paste as Plain Text" or similar feature, this will also paste text into the web page without styling.  

Once text is pasted into the web page, you can then apply styling as needed.  While this may seem like an extra step, it will help ensure that your web page is using the correct styles consistently and is a best practice for Accessibility to avoid issues for visitors using screen readers or other accessible devices. 

Content Editor