Project and Drupal CMS Q&A

Yes. We now have Preview Links (beta) to preview the Latest Draft of a page. This allows non-logged in users to view unpublished pages with a link (that is tokenized for security).

To create a link, click on “Preview Link” within the editing tabs on saved content. This will give you a tokenized URL that you can copy to view the Latest Draft. These links will expire in about 1 month, but can be reset or extended on the same page. You are only allowed to create Preview Links if you have Edit permissions for the content.

You can then share this preview link with non-Drupal users so they can view your unpublished draft. Unpublished teasers within the content will be visible on this page; however, this preview link does not grant access to those other unpublished pages. Only the Latest Draft can be viewed using this preview link; older draft revisions are not accessible. In cases where the “Latest Draft” is the current published page, the user will just see the current published page.

Note: Even though the CMS should never be used to store sensitive information, please still be careful when distributing these links to avoid things like misinformation, releasing information too early, etc. Anyone with the link will be able to see the unpublished draft.

While in preview mode this message will appear at the top of the page — 'You are viewing an unpublished preview of this page. Exit preview mode.' Click to exit the preview mode and view the published version (if it exists) once again.

Draft (for currently published pages):

If you change the status of an already-published page to Draft, the live page does not disappear. You are creating a new draft version while the current published version remains live. When you publish the draft, it replaces the live page.

Draft (for new pages):

If you create a new page and leave it in Draft, it is not visible to the public. It will remain unpublished until you change its state to Published.

Published:

When a page is Published, it is live and viewable on the website.

Archived (Unpublished):

If you want to remove a page from public view, change its status to Archived. Archived pages are not accessible to visitors and will eventually drop out of search engine results. If someone tries to visit an archived page, they will see a “Page Not Available” message.

Deleted:

Deleting permanently removes the content from the CMS. Visitors attempting to access a deleted page will see an “Error 404: Page Not Found.” Deleted pages cannot be restored.

Jump links allow you to direct users to a specific section of a page rather than the top. They should support user navigation — not replace clear page structure or headings. Use jump links sparingly and only when they meaningfully improve the user’s ability to find relevant content quickly.

In the CMS, jump links are supported through two components: Tabs and Accordions.

You can link directly to an open tab or accordion item by using the unique URL generated by that component.

How to create a jump link:

1. Open the tab or accordion item you want to link to.
2. With the item open, copy the full URL from your browser. The URL will include an anchor (the part after #).
3. Use that full URL as a link to send users directly to the open tab or accordion item.

Example: Here’s the Alt Text accordion item in the content guidelines.

No. This functionality isn’t currently part of our development plans. Rotating banner images can create a visually busy and inconsistent experience, especially for returning visitors. Banners are intended to provide a stable visual anchor and clear context for a page. If the goal is to showcase multiple images, the gallery component is a better option and is designed specifically for browsing multiple visuals.

On desktop, the menu displays horizontally until there are too many items, at which point it automatically collapses into the vertical menu with a button. On mobile, the vertical menu with a button is always used due to screen size.

How many navigation titles will fit horizontally depends on several factors:

• Screen width (desktop, tablet, mobile)
• Number of items
• Length of each word or phrase (character count)

A general idea would be to keep to 5-7 menu items and to keep the labels short and clear.

Because the site uses a responsive design, it’s difficult to provide exact dimensions that work in every case. Instead, focus on aspect ratio, subject placement, and image quality more than pixel-perfect sizing.

Tips for images:

• Use a standard photo ratio (16:9, 4:3, etc.) and leave it uncropped so there’s room for responsive adjustments.
• Choose high-quality, high-resolution images (for banner images: minimum ~500 KB to avoid blurriness, optimal 800 KB–1.5 MB for large monitors, maximum ~2 MB to prevent slow page loading).
• For banners and large “side-by-side” images, aim for 2000–2400 px width.
• For images on news and stories, use 960 x 760 px and make sure there is space before the edge on all sides so it doesn’t get cropped.
• For most other components, 1200 px width works well.
• Keep the subject centered (or close to center) so it looks good when cropped differently across components.
• Use the focal point tool in Drupal to ensure the main subject is emphasized.
• Make sure your subject has space around it to allow for responsive adjustments.

The reusable component library is currently available to site admins and is being used on widely used content types like program pages. It’s not yet available to Groups, but we’ve added it to our list for post-launch review.

You can, however, duplicate a component you've built on a page, but the duplicate will exist only on that same page.

We planned to add department templates to groups by using the clone tool, but during testing we found that media files were shared across clones. If one person deleted a shared image, it disappeared from everyone’s template. To avoid that risk, we chose not to group templates and turned off the clone tool for now. The clone tool can cause issues and be risky even inside its own group. We’ll revisit cloning later when we can explore a safer setup.You can still view the design reference and other visual resources here.

SVGs are now allowed on the site. They may look like regular images, but they’re actually code-based and can contain scripts — making them a security risk. Unlike JPGs or PNGs, they behave more like mini webpages than images. To keep our site safe, we don’t allow general SVG uploads.

We will not be using autosave on the site. Autosave can save changes you didn’t mean to keep, create version clutter, and cause conflicts when multiple people edit the same content. Manual saving gives you more control and helps prevent mistakes.

Legacy components were created to accommodate older content and functionality carried over from the previous version of our site. They exist to minimize disruption during the transition.

However, they are not intended as long-term solutions and are not editable. Over time, you should replace them with our updated components that better align with the new system’s design, accessibility and performance standards.

Yes! In the main menu or group menus, add a top level/parent item that has a url of <nolink>.

When linking to another page within the website, always use the autofill link selector instead of manually pasting the URL. This ensures your link stays accurate even if the destination page’s URL changes, preventing broken or outdated links.

For additional details, view the Linking Strategy section in the Content Guidelines.

Files migrated from Typo3 are found at /sites/default/files/fileadmin/<filemonthfolder>/<filename>

Files migrated from Drupal are found at /sites/default/files/<filename>

Using the full name in the URL helps with search engine optimization (SEO) and makes it easier for prospective students and other audiences to find your page. For example, while 'ndsu.edu/cpm' may be easy to remember for those already familiar with it, spelling out 'ndsu.edu/coatings-polymeric-materials' is more accessible and better supports users who are new to NDSU, unfamiliar with the subject area, or searching more broadly.