Based on our training experiences with Cascade CMS, we’ve found that the publishing process has been one that has generated some confusion, and rightfully so. The process is in contrast with that of many other familiar content management systems, such as WordPress. That said, the goal of our first series of tips is to help users gain a better understanding of how the publishing process works within Cascade.
What is publishing?
Publishing is the process by which content within Cascade is sent to the live Millersville website. Think of it as if you are working on a document on your computer. Simply saving the file would not provide you with a physical printed copy of the document. Publishing your pages in Cascade is a lot like printing them, but instead of the content displaying on a physical piece of paper, it’s being“printed” to the Millersville website.
To expand upon this metaphor – The more pages being printed, the longer a printing job will take. If you are publishing multiple pages, or if many other users are publishing at the same time, it will take longer to see your content on the live version of the webpage. When you hit the “Publish” button, your assets are placed into a queue (placed in line), where they will be published in the order by which the requests were made.
What can and can’t be published?
Another common point of confusion is existence of both publishable and non-publishable assets within Cascade.
Publishable assets include pages, images and documents.
Non-publishable assets include shared blocks and quick links. These non-publishable assets are typically pieces of content with the ability to be included on multiple pages.
An example would be a block containing contact information that is included in the sidebar of your site. When editing the contact information within Cascade, your edits would be made in the “contact” shared block. When you want to apply the changes to the live Millersville website, however, each page that includes this contact information will need to be published. Publishing the entire site will ensure that all of your changes are reflected on the live site.
Common publishing mistakes
It is important to remember that changes made to one asset may have an effect on others, creating broken links or inconsistent content. Here are a couple examples of common publishing and unpublishing mistakes:
Deleting, moving, renaming or unpublishing a page without republishing the site
Most pages on your site are included in the side navigation. If you delete (and unpublish) a page, that navigation item becomes a broken link on any page that includes the navigation menu. If you navigate to any of those pages within Cascade, you will no longer see that page in the navigation menu, however this change will only be applied to the live site when all of these pages have been published. The best way to avoid such problems is to republish your site after making any change that affects the navigation menu.
Creating a new page
The same principle applies when creating a new page. Republishing the site after adding a page ensures that your new menu item will appear consistently in the navigation throughout the site.
Changing the content of a contact block without republishing the site
If an address is modified, a social link is added, etc., all pages that include the contact block should be republished. Any pages that are not will still display the content that was previously published for this area.
In review: Republish your site when:
- Renaming a page
- Moving a page
- Deleting a page
- Unpublishing a page
- Creating a new page
- Updating the Display Name for a page
- Reordering the navigation
- Updating your contact block
How to prevent assets from being published
There are times when users will utilize Cascade as a drafting area, to begin to layout or edit a page which is not yet ready to be visible on the live Millersville website. It is important to be aware of the potential for these pages to be published. Another user on your department’s site may publish the site, in addition to rare occasions that your site may need to be published during sitewide maintenance or upgrades.
Though it is a lesser-known feature, there is a way to exclude pages and folders from publishing.
When editing a page, you should see tabs labeled “Content” (This is where we typically work.), “Metadata” and “Configure”. Click on the “Configure” tab. To prevent the page from being included in any publishing jobs, uncheck “Include when publishing”. Next, simply preview and submit your page.
Please note, this does not remove the current published version of the page, and the checkbox will have to be checked again before you can publish the page.
The content of this blog entry was accurate at the time of publication. You can find the most current information about publishing and other Cascade-related topics in our Cascade wiki documentation.
Up next:
- Adding a Contact Block to your website
Upcoming training sessions:
- Thursday, June 20 @ 10 a.m.
- Wednesday, July 24 @ 1:30 p.m.