Assets
An asset is any entity within Cascade CMS that can be used to generate content. Assets are divided into several groups:
Folder
A container within Cascade CMS that contains a group of related assets.
- Clicking on the folder icon or name will expand the folder view in the asset tree, revealing the assets and/or subfolder(s) inside.
- Clicking on the “›” icon next to the folder name in the asset tree will open the folder in the main viewing area.
Page
A core asset built by Cascade CMS. It represents the grouping of several items together such as content and files. Pages are the grouping of these items that a user publishes out to display new web content. Essentially, your ‘page’ becomes a new web page. Pages can represent many different types of content on a website. Pages can be frequently asked questions (FAQs), Event Calendars, news articles, faculty/staff profiles, news articles, simple content, and anything else you might find online.
File
Files are typically created by external programs and imported for use in Cascade CMS. They may be an image (.jpg, .gif., etc.), Pdf (.pdf), or Document (.doc, .xls).
External link
An asset that points to a specific URL outside of the Cascade CMS. Used when there is a need to include external page links in a navigation menu.
Reference (internal) link
A special asset that is created to represent an existing asset in another location, allowing it to be indexed in multiple folders. While a single asset appears in navigation as if it were in multiple locations, in actuality, it directs back to the original asset.
Block
A “pluggable” piece of content that can be easily substituted, with or without styling, into any page region. As the name suggests, these are the building blocks from which other blocks and pages are built.
Breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs are a type of Navigation typically used for every page except the home page. By showing a navigation trail from the home page to the current page, breadcrumbs ensure that users know where they are and how they got there. For Willamette’s website, the breadcrumbs can be viewed at the top of every page.
Dashboard
The personalized home area upon logging into Cascade CMS. The dashboard is used as a starting location, tracking information such as the history and recycle bin. It also summarizes Cascade CMS activity relevant to the user.
Drafts
Drafts are separate entities from the current page, used for content that is incomplete or needs review before officially saving over (submitting) the current page's content. If the revisions are not needed, the draft can simply be discarded, not affecting the current page's content.
History
The History drop down is available on any page in the system by clicking on the History menu item in the top menu bar. This drop down lists the 10 most recently view items. By clicking on an item in the drop down menu, you can navigate to that item's default tab; hovering over an asset will bring up the context menu as a sub-menu, so you can navigate directly to a given tab for the asset.
From any page in the system, users can click on the ‘Full History’ link on the History drop down to see a longer list of their most recently viewed assets and the site they belong to. Users may also jump to an asset listed in the history by selecting its system name.
Index Page
The default page for a parent folder. This is the automatic homepage for a folder.
Metadata
Metadata is data within Cascade CMS that describes an Asset. Common fields such as title, summary, or keywords provide quick information about the content contained inside of a particular Asset. Because the system manages all assets as XML, the Metadata that a user enters for Assets can be used for display purposes on site pages.
Willamette’s primary uses of the metadata are for display in the left navigation and titles.
Production Server
A Production Server is a web server that delivers what is often called the "live site." It is typically available to the entire web and houses the most recent version of its respective site. This is where a published product will be displayed publicly.
Publish
Publishing takes assets and copies them to the live Willamette web site. Upon the publishing of content, the information is completely decoupled from the Cascade CMS system, allowing it to operate independently in any standard environment. Essentially, this allows these assets to appear publicly.
Additionally, for assets already created that have been edited, it is necessary to publish them again. Submitting a page is the equivalent of saving the information to the Cascade CMS system. However, the changes made to the assets are not seen on the live site until the page is re-published.
Recycle Bin
Similar to a computer’s “Trash,” the Recycle Bin temporarily stores recently deleted assets (for 15 days). Assets in the Recycle Bin can be restored to their original location or purged from the system permanently either one at-a-time or in bulk.
Reference
A Reference is a special asset in Cascade CMS that represents an existing asset in another location; thus, a single asset can appear to exist in multiple locations. While a single asset appears in navigation as if it were in multiple locations, in actuality, it directs back to the original asset.
Staging Server
A Staging Server is a web server used to test the various components of, or changes to a web site before propagating them to a production server. This server is viewed by the web editor, but is not public.
Site Content listing
The Site Content listing (left column) is where your folders and all the assets in the system appear when you are viewing a site in Cascade CMS.
- The Site Content column does not show on your dashboard.
- Select a site from the drop menu or from the My Sites widget to show the Site Content column.
- The asset tree is the list of assets (files, pages, folders) that make up a section of the Willamette website.
- It is located in the left side bar.
- All assets are ordered alphabetically, and have a parent folder.
Versions
Cascade maintains a full version history on each asset in the system. As changes (specifically, submissions) are made to any asset in the system, Cascade CMS keeps track of the changes in separate copies of the asset called Versions. These are accessible through the More tab and selecting “Versions” from the drop-down.
The versions list for each asset shows a list of each version, the author for each change, including the original creator of the asset, as well as the time and date of the change and any notes available. Users may navigate through the various versions, compare them with the current version, and activate any version desired. This will replace the current version.
WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG is an acronym for “What You See Is What You Get.” Cascade’s word processing functionality is referred to as the WYSIWYG or Content Editor because as its name implies, it allows you to see basic formatting while editing in your content in the word processor (much like Microsoft Word®).
