The systems are user-friendly. New web pages can be added whenever you want and targeted emails composed and sent as needed. You do not need a dedicated server or special software and there is no additional charge per page once the CMS is in place, only an annual fee for page hosting and system licensing.

All you need is an IBM PC and Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher with cookies enabled. When published to a website, your pages can be viewed with Netscape or Explorer.

Demonstration Website

We have set up a demonstration website. Go to: http://www.compad.com.au/clients/demo/

Ignore the demo site graphics. Installed on your site, it would produce pages in your own design.

This demo site is produced with two CMS systems - one for Products and the other for Latest News & Back Issues. Every page on this site except the Home page and the Subscribe Form has been created with one of these two systems.

Making the web pages was mostly a copy/paste exercise from a formatted Word document into the CMS Workstation. It's very quick that way. In Word, you can spell check, set up auto-formatted tables, format text, etc. Then, when you copy/paste it, there is very little else to do (other than inserting any page pics.) before it is ready to publish as a web page.

In our demonstration site the systems are used to create and add new Back Issue directories or new Product Range categories and pages of information whenever you want. In practice, they can be adapted to a very wide spectrum of applications.

You can also create online Enquiry Forms, insert web page links and links to downloadable files.


Workstation: Content Management

In the Control Console select CMS Workstation to access the Content Management console where you can create, edit and publish pages to the demonstration website.

With the Manage Content function, you can create, edit or delete Back Issue categories and move web pages from Latest News to our required Back Issue.

Workstation: Add a Page

To "Add a Page", click the link in the Content Management console. At this point you select which CMS Workstation you want to access.

In this demonstration, you only have one option, the "Newsletter" Workstation.

Click the "Newsletter" link to start the web page making process.




Workstation: Add a Page - Headline

Follow the simple instructions described on the page and start by entering your Web Page Headline and Summary into the text boxes.

From the Directory Index, select a location for the page on the website. Select "Top Level" to publish the page as a Latest News item or specify a Back Issue directory. Then click the "Continue" button

Workstation: Add a Page - Page Content

The Page Content Console enables you to:
• format your text,
• insert tables
• upload/insert pictures & download files,
• insert web page links and
• create online enquiry forms.
As you mouseover the tool bar buttons, "Help" instructions will display in the right hand panel.

You can either type your page content into the Page Content Console then use the tool bars to format your page or copy/paste from a Word or Excel file then use the tool bar options for fine tuning.

Font formatting has been set to match that used throughout the rest of the website. So, Word font size, colour and type settings will be ignored. Use the Type Style drop box options for these controls.


Workstation: Add a Page - Preview

When you have completed formatting your page, the Page Content Console will display any pictures, tables (including auto-formatted tables from Word), links, forms, etc. that you included.

Now click the preview button to see how your page will look on the website.

Workstation: Add a Page - Preview Website

The website preview will open in a new browser window.

You can revert to the prior browser window to make corrections to your page and preview again. Click the "Publish" button in the Page Content Console when your page editing is complete.



Workstation: Add a Page - Publish & Approve

You must "Approve a Page" before it is linked from your site. This processing method is to enable page preparation by one person and proof reading or content approval by a second person.

In the Content Management Console, select "Approve a Page". From the list of pages waiting approval, you can "Preview", "Edit", "Remove" or "Approve" each web page.

When the "Approve" button is clicked, the hypertext links on the website are activated so that the page can be accessed and viewed on the website.


Workstation: Manage Content

This function enables you to:

Manage Directories
Add, Edit or Delete Directories on your website.
Move Web Pages
Move your web pages from one Directory to another.

Select the required function.

Workstation: Add a Directory

On a website with multiple CMS Worksations installed, you would select which system to access. In this demonstration Workstation, you only have one option, the "Newsletter" system. Click through to the Add a Directory console.

Type your new directory name, upload an image (optional) and summary (optional) in the text boxes. Then, click the "Create Directory" button.



The new directory name, picture and summary (if entered) will be added to the demonstration website in the Back Issues page.

Simultaneously, your Workstation system will update to include the new directory name in all drop boxes where you have the option to locate or move a web page from one directory to another.


Workstation: Move Web Pages

When you select the option to "Move Web Pages", you first select the directory in which the web pages are currently stored.

The directories "Top Level" and "Un-Indexed" will always list first, then any other directories that have been added to the website.

"Top Level" contains the web pages that display as "Latest News" on the demonstration website.

The "Un-indexed" directory is a storage bank for web pages. These might be pages that you do not want to display on your site at present but which, you may want to edit and republish at a later date.

When you select the required directory, you will access a list of all the web pages stored in the directory. There is a drop box beside each web page from which you can select the directory to which you want to move the page. Click the "Move" button when you have selected the new directory location.


Email List Management Workstation

Would you like the ability to create and manage sortable email lists and create HTML or text emails? Please email us and request a copy of "Introduction to the Compad ELM Workstation".