Sitecore FAQs

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  • What is a Dynamic List?
    Answer:

    A Dynamic List is a listing of content pages, hyperlinks, and/or document files that have been tagged to a particular list in order to appear on that list. The list displays the title and description of a tagged item, but can display more, depending upon what is specific to the type of item chosen (For example: press releases, tasks, document files, external links, etc.).

    These lists are generally created to:

    • Display a listing of items that could also require a date filter, such as press releases.
    • Display a listing of items that are specific to an audience or topic not already identified on the website.
    • Display an aggregated listing of items that are located in various areas or pages of the website.
    • Display a listing of items that are not already displayed on the website.

    View a Dynamic List example

  • What is a Teaser?
    Answer: A teaser is a short, summarized description of the page's content, usually one to two sentences. This description appears in two forms; after the link title on a results page and on the display screen as a tool tip - a small "hover box" with information about the item being hovered over with a mouse.
  • What is hidden items, under the View tab? what is it hidden from?
    Answer: The "Hidden Items" checkbox shows some fields in the content editor which are hidden by default. Based on permissions level, it may or may not actually cause more fields to show up. It does not change the visibility of any items themselves either internally or externally.

    Learn more about the Content Editor Ribbon.
  • What is Metadata?
    Answer:

    Metadata is data that serves to provide context or additional information about other data such as titles, descriptions, and keywords. Adding metadata helps search engines understand the content of your page (in addition to the content ON your page).

    • MetaTitle - The title that displays in the browser or browser tab header and in search results.
    • MetaDescription - A brief description of the content page that displays in search results.
    • MetaKeywords - A short list of keywords or phrases that match key words visitors may enter into a search engine.
  • What is the DSF Legacy field shown in the Content Editor? Why do some pages have a number and others do not?
    Answer: The DSF Legacy number is the unique 6-digit number your old site contained in the page’s URL that got migrated over during the agency’s Lift-and-Shift initial migration process.

    The DSF Legacy fields are only populated when an existing page from your previous website was migrated over. Given that your site migration occurred around end of July 2018, any new page (including Bulletins) you create in Sitecore post that date will not contain legacy data.
  • When I attempt to publish a page, I get an error message that said it is saved as a draft, I continued and it said it won’t be published and it isn’t published.
    Answer: When you come across a page when editing that shows that message alert, it means the page has a workflow assigned to it. Make sure to select the “Bypass Approval" or "Approve" from the "Edit" drop down on the Home tab or from the Review tab.

    If you select the “Publish Content” icon on the Publish tab, the publish will run but the changes you made will not show up on the live site. Learn more about publishing pages with a workflow.
  • When I logged into Sitecore, my screen doesn’t seem to have the folder tree/map icon to navigate. I have the Experience Editor ribbon, but without the lower part of the bar below it for navigation.
    Answer: From the Experience Editor ribbon, select the "View" tab, and make sure the "Navigation Bar" box is checked. That will show the navigation bar. Once selected, it will always show up the next time you log into Sitecore unless you manually uncheck it.
  • When I make a change to an item on the homepage from the Content Editor, I get an error saying the page cannot render.
    Answer: When you get this message, it means you are selecting the item and viewing that component in Preview Mode, when it should be from your Agency title folder. When making any changes to items from the _resources > Agency Landing Page folder, be sure to select the Agency Title (i.e. DESPP) to Preview them with all components.
  • Where do I create and edit my left navigation?
    Answer:

    Creating and editing the homepage left navigation items can be found under: Agency_Acronym > Services.

    For local navigation items:

    1. Navigate to the Content Folder that contains the local navigation.
    2. Expand the _resources folder.
    3. Expand the Folder_Name_Navigation.
  • Why do I want to add a teaser?
    Answer: This will allow visitors to understand a little more about the content of the content page without needing to click on the link.
  • Why do I want to add metadata?
    Answer:

    When used properly, adding metadata can improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by providing search engines additional information about your page.

    • MetaDescription has little to no effect on search engine rankings, but it does appear in search results. If this is not provided, the search engine will pull the first bit of content it comes across.
    • MetaKeywords is not acknowledged by the Google search engine because it can easily be abused, so can be ignored.

      NOTE: Keep in mind that metadata serves as additional assistance, not the ONLY assistance. Search engines rely heavily on the content within your page to generate accurate search results and rankings.

    • Why does my formatting not show up correctly when I pasted in my content?
      Answer: Most content entered or pasted into the Rich Text Editor inherits a SiteCore stylesheet. Copying and pasting content from other sources such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, or other software is not recommended and may not always come over accurately or cleanly. The best option is to use the Rich Text Editor to apply any styling to your content.
    • Why is the date showing on the press release not accurate?
      Answer: From the Content editor view, there is a field titled “Date Published” that you will need to fill in with the correct date to ensure the date shows up accurately.
    • Why should I create a Dynamic List?
      Answer:

      The benefit of creating a Dynamic list is to auto-generate a list of items on a single page without having to manually create it yourself and maintain it.

      Here are two examples for using a Dynamic List:

      1. Sally is head of a division that serves a specific visitor, say families with children. On their website are various pages, document files, and external links from other departments that are very relevant to her visitors, but they are located in other areas on the website her visitors would not think to browse. Sally could easily just create a page that lists out all these items, but that would require manual maintenance and upkeep from her. Instead, she creates a dynamic list and tags all those relevant pages, document files, and external links to it to automatically generate this page and list them all.

      2. John has a large list of pdf forms that he updates periodically for multiple departments. He has created a page that displays them all, and organized them alphabetically. Sally from another division wants to link to this page, but doesn't want to have her visitors sift through hundreds of forms to find the ones relevant to them. So she creates a dynamic list and tags all the relevant document files to it to automatically generate her dynamic list and display it in her section of the website her visitors frequent often.
    • Why would I want to tag a content page to a Dynamic List?
      Answer: This will allow the content page you created to show up on your website under the dynamic list(s) you tagged it to. For example, if your page contained information for a particular visitor and there was a dynamic list created to display all pages, document files, etc. for that visitor, you would tag your page to that list to include it.