Components: how to create content for aalto.fi?
Get to know the aalto.fi components for creating versatility and visuality when delivering your content.
How to create and edit an article page at aalto.fi
Easy steps on how to create and edit your own articles at aalto.fi. An article page can be used to present almost any type of information or content. Some elements in the video tutorial may be out of date, whereas the text is up-to-date.
Create a new article
Start by logging in to the system by clicking on the button in the top navigation.
Then, hover your mouse over "Content" in the upper left-hand corner and select "Add content" from the drop-down menu, then "Article".
Fill out the basic information
- Content owner*: Content is the person responsible for this content. Click "Select profiles" and search for that person by their name. There can only be one content owner per content. Only aalto.fi editors can see the name (in the tab Content owner).
- Language*: Choose the primary language (editing language) for the article (English / Finnish / Swedish). You can create other language versions later.
- Title*: Give a headline for the article/page. Start with the most important keywords and summarize the content. Since nowadays many links are shared online without people reading the actual article, make sure to catch the readers eye immediately in the title.
- Summary*: Write a short introduction about the article (this will be shown when the article is lifted up somewhere across the aalto.fi site). The summary should complement the headline 鈥 tell the most important points in the beginning. Avoid jargon and difficult terminology. The recommended maximum length is 140 characters.
- Lead text*: The lead text is an introduction to complement the headline, the most important content in the beginning and the necessary background information towards the end. Avoid jargon and difficult terminology, explain if needed (e.g. all abbreviations need to be explained when mentioned for the first time on your page). Please don't copy to the lead text the exact same text as you have in the summary. This will have a negative impact on search engine optimisation and thus to the findability of your content. Lead text can be 1鈥4 sentences, or a short paragraph.
- Main image: Add an appealing main image for the article (don't use a picture that includes text, for example, an infographic). Choose a picture that supports the article content and makes it more enticing. File size of 1 MB is sufficient, as the image quality (in pixels) is what counts. Always use horizontal images as the main image.
Get the best possible reach for your article
Utilise the metadata fields so that users can find your page more easily.
Adding content with components
You can use various components for creating articles:
- Choose Text paragraph component to write the actual article.
- Continue with the components of your choice (you can always benchmark the structure of great article pages).
Publish the article and add translations
If this article page is for Aalto community/Aalto ID only, choose "Role restrictions": Aalto Autentikoitu.
If it's public for everyone, leave this field empty. You may also restrict only some components on your page for Aalto community. In that case, leave this field empty at the end, and instead select Aalto authenticated on the components you want to restrict.
Finally, save the article by clicking on "Save". Your page is saved, but still unpublished, and not visible to others.
When your page is ready, just click on "Publish" button on the far right.
Create translations for the article by using "Translate" tab above the article.
Top 3 tips for article writing
- Catch the reader's interest with the title and lead text.
- Write clearly and to the point.
- Utilise photos and/or images which support the content and make your article more enticing.
General writing guidelines for articles in English
How to write and edit English-language press releases and news.
Find an existing article
If you want to find pages that you have created or edited before, you can search for them in Drupal.
Follow this guide on how to find content authors and editors
Reverting your page to a previous version
Every time you or someone else edits a webpage at aalto.fi, a new revision is created. The revisions are found under the Revisions tab in the editor menu. By clicking it, you can see when and by whom the page was edited. If you wish to return the page to an earlier design, you can do so by reverting it.
Find the revision you want to go back to in the list (you can view old revisions by clicking the time stamp in blue on the left) and then click the button that says Revert on the right side. Once you do, a new page will appear asking if you to confirm the reverting. Here you can also choose to check the box to 鈥淩evert content shared among translations鈥 if you wish.
Even after reverting the page to the earlier edition, later revisions still exist in the list.
Find more instructional content
Drupal: Aalto.fi website
Here, you can find instructions on how to make the most out of aalto.fi to visualise your pages and make your content findable. This page is also for the latest Drupal news and events.
All Drupal instructions
This page compiles all Drupal instructions. Drupal is the content management system of the aalto.fi website.