SiteMasonry Tutorial

How to create a News Story

Kelly Hansen — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 12:55:41 +0000

How to create a News Story Kelly Hansen Tue, 07/26/2022 - 08:55

Watch News Item Video Tutorials

View an Example Optimized News Item

More How tos...

How to create a News Story
May 26, 2025
How to... Login to Content Hub
May 8, 2023
How to...Optimize Pages and News Items for Social Sharing
April 28, 2022
How to...Use the Blockquote Style to Format a Fact Box
April 8, 2022
How to...Topic Tag and Share a News Item
March 10, 2022

Accessible, well-structured news stories help all site visitors quickly understand your message.

Content that follows digital accessibility and web content best practices is easier for site visitors to navigate, for search engines to interpret, and for editors to maintain over time. Well-structured stories also perform better in search results and are more likely to be shared across social platforms.

Core News Story Components

Every News Story consists of four required elements, or fields. These elements, or fields, are on the News Story’s Edit Settings screen:

Headline: Enter a clear, engaging title that encourages readers to stop, stay, and scroll. The headline becomes the page title and appears automatically in news lists and social media shares. 
Thumbnail image: Upload a featured image that displays on filtered news lists and in social media posts when the article is shared. Some search engines may also include the image in results. 
Summary: Add a concise, descriptive summary. The text entered in this field populates the page’s meta description, which appears as the snippet in search results. 
Body: Write and format the full article content here. Include your intro paragraph, section headings, and related images.

Enhance Readability and Engagement

The Body field is where you create the full article content. Use it to add text, images, and structure that make the story engaging and accessible.

To enhance readability and engagement, add the following elements in the Body field: 

Intro text: Begin the story with one or two sentences summarizing the article’s key takeaways. Apply the Intro Text style to this opening paragraph to make it stand out.
Section headings: Use H2, H3, or H4 headings to break up long text blocks and organize information logically. Begin with H2 headings, as the page title automatically uses H1. Proper heading order improves accessibility and helps both readers and screen readers navigate the page.
Images: Add one or two related images within the article. Always include descriptive alt text to ensure accessibility.
Highlights: Use the block quote style to emphasize key information or statistics. These visual elements help readers scan and retain important details.

Login to Content Hub

Go to the Content Hub login screen
Click ‘Login with your Mason Credentials’

Enter your NetID and password at the Mason central login screen

You are now logged in to Content Hub

Open a new ‘Create a News Story’ screen

In the top admin/editor bar, click on the ’Content’ navigation item

From the content list screen, click the blue ‘Add content’ button
From the ‘Add content’ screen, select the ’News Story’ option

The 'Create a News Item' Screen: Build and Format

^{Pro Tip:}
Prefer video tutorials? Watch the News Item video playlist.

Headline, Author, and Date

Add the headline to the ‘Headline’ field
Option - Select an Author or Byline using the lookup field
Option - Display Date. Typically, the Display Date shouldn’t be changed unless working with custom list displays.

Summary and Thumbnail: Search Engine Optimization and Social Sharing Field

The Summary text and Thumbnail image combine to become the page's search result snippet and social media preview card.

Add a one-sentence article highlight to the ‘Summary’ field
Select, or upload, a 1:1 (square) thumbnail image using the ‘Thumbnail’ selector field.

Placing and Formatting the Article

Copy unformatted text into the ‘Body’ text area. Use the WYSIWYG formatting buttons to:

Style Intro Text, Headers, Block quotes
Add embedded images and videos
Create a fact box

To generate unformatted copy created in Word, use a Word ‘Clean Up’ tool or compose the News Item in the Grammarly app, then copy in the clean, ready-to-format text.

Sharing, Connecting a Profile, and Topic Tagging

Topic tags categorize news items, allowing news items to be found in related searches or displayed together with other same-tagged items in filtered news list.

Use the ‘Topics’ look-up field to select subject topics relating to the article’s content. Use a comma to separate multiple topic tags.
Optional - Use the ‘People in this Story’ look-up field to attach associated Mason biographies to the article. Use a comma to separate multiple site names.
Share the article to at least subscribing site with the ‘Share to These Sites’ lookup. Use a comma to separate multiple site names.

Ready to Publish? First, Preview

Preview - Use the ‘Preview’ button to check your work before saving. The preview function will not create a draft or published version of the news item. To exit the Preview screen, click the ‘Back to Content’ link on the upper left side of the header space
In Review - Select and Save if you aren't ready to publish the News Item for export to the subscribing site.
Published - To publish the page for distribution to a subscribing site, the 'Save as’ selector, choose ‘Publish’ and click ‘Save’.

After publishing, the News Item is queued for export to the selected subscribing site. A News Item may take up to an hour to display the subscribing, or 'shared with' site(s).

Additional Publication States

SiteMasonry's versioning workflow allows content to be modified in an un-published Draft state without changing the publically viewable (Published) version of the News Item.

Draft - The Draft state allows an editor to make changes to a page without modifying currently published content. When a page is in Draft mode, the last published version of the page is viewable by site visitors. Once the page is re-published from Draft mode, a new version of the page is created. The new, published version of the page is 'live' and viewable to site visitors.
Archive - The Archive state ‘un-publishes’ the content item; blocking the item from being exported again to a subscribing site. To remove a news item from a subscribing site, put the news item in ‘archived’ mode, then submit a support ticket request to ask for the page to be removed on the subscribing site.

Congratulations on your newly published News Item!

Waited an hour? News Item not exporting? Please report an issue!

Topics

Content Hub

Content Hub News Items

SiteMasonry Tutorial

How to...Create a Marketing Landing Page

Kelly Hansen — Fri, 22 Jul 2022 18:53:08 +0000

How to...Create a Marketing Landing Page Kelly Hansen Fri, 07/22/2022 - 14:53

Whether it’s called a landing page, lead capture page, single property page, or squeeze page - the purpose of a marketing landing page is the same - prompt a visitor into completing a specific action, or ‘conversion’.

Building a marketing landing page within SiteMasonry is as simple as building a regular page. In her Quick Start Guide to Marketing Landing Pages, Kristin Heydt, OUB's Digital Strategist, explains the basics and walks through a sample SiteMasonry marketing landing page layout.

Topics

Marketing Area Page

Marketing Landing Page

SiteMasonry

Marketing

SiteMasonry Tutorial

For Web Managers: Create a Content Editor Account

Kelly Hansen — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 15:09:03 +0000

For Web Managers: Create a Content Editor Account Kelly Hansen Tue, 04/05/2022 - 11:09

Use Expressive Alt Text on Images

Add Sizzle to News Items

Web Manager may create Content Editor accounts on the sites they manage. managed and are also responsible for training and supporting Content Editors.

To create a Content Editor account, log in to your SiteMasonry CMS site, then:

Click the ‘People’ tab in the admin navigation bar
Select ‘Add User’ from the dropdown menu

Fill out the form on the ‘Add User’ screen

Email Address - SiteMasonry only accepts @gmu.edu Mason email addresses
Check the box that says 'Allow User to Login via CAS'
CAS Username - Enter the user's Mason username/NetID. This will be the first part of their email address (NOT the entire email address).

QUALITY ASSURANCE MOMENT

Double check the accuracy and spelling of the CAS username and the email address!

These two fields are what allow the user to login with their GMU credentials, and must be accurate.

Username: Enter the user's first and last name. (eg: Jessica Mason)
Password: This is a temporary password used only by the system to create the account and will never be used again. DO NOT give this password to the content edit.

All SiteMasonry CMS accounts are accessed with the user's Mason ID and password

Status: Select 'active.'
Roles: Select the 'Content Editor' box.

All other form options (contact settings, locale settings, and URL alias) are used by SiteMasonry Platform Managers. Please ignore these options.

Click 'Submit' to create the account.

Topics

SiteMasonry

Site Owners

SiteMasonry Tutorial

How to… Understand Versioning and Publication States - Draft, Published, and Archive

Kelly Hansen — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 19:21:28 +0000

How to… Understand Versioning and Publication States - Draft, Published, and Archive Kelly Hansen Wed, 02/02/2022 - 14:21

What is Versioning?

SiteMasonry's versioning workflow allows content to be modified in an unpublished Draft state without changing the publically viewable Published version of the page or content item (news item, profile, or program).

When an Editor makes content changes, SiteMasonry creates a previewable Draft version of the page or content item alongside a copy of the currently published page or content item. Each version can be viewed or retrieved on the page or item’s Revisions tab.

SiteMasonry's Publication States

SiteMasonry utilizes three publication states - Draft, Published, and Archive. The Publication State selector is located near the bottom of the page or item's 'Edit Settings' screen.

Draft

The Draft state allows an editor to make changes to a page without making content visible to site visitors. This acts slightly differently depending on whether or not an item has ever been published before. However, all drafts require a user to be logged in to view or edit. This means that should you wish to send a preview of edited content to another person, you'll need to either make sure they have an account on the site you are working on or rely on screenshots to show the changes.

New Content

If you are working on a new page or piece of content, setting a page in draft mode will let you see the page if you are logged in. However, you and visitors will not be able to see or visit the page until it is published.

Existing Content

If you are modifying currently published content, you can save changes as a draft. This will add a tab to your page labeled "latest version." The latest version will reflect your changes, while the current version is still public and viewable on the View tab. Once the page is re-published from Draft mode, all changes will become live and the old version will only be viewable via the revision log.

Published

A Published page is the most recent version of a page. It is 'live' and viewable to site visitors. You can make changes and push them as published immediately.

Topics

SiteMasonry

SiteMasonry Basics

Content Hub

Best Practices Tutorial

SiteMasonry Tutorial

How to...Add Alt Text to Images

Kelly Hansen — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 21:51:40 +0000

How to...Add Alt Text to Images Kelly Hansen Mon, 12/13/2021 - 16:51

�� is committed to ensuring an inclusive digital experience. One essential practice to maintain accessibility is adding descriptive alt text to images.

What is Alt Text?

Alt text, or alternative text, is a brief description of an image that allows screen readers to convey the image’s content to users with visual impairments. It ensures that images are accessible to everyone, providing essential context for those who cannot see them. Alt text also improves SEO, as search engines favor pages that provide meaningful alt text for images.

Best Practices for Writing Alt Text

Be specific and relevant: Focus on what the image represents and its function within the content.
Be concise: Keep descriptions short but informative. Avoid overly detailed or redundant explanations.
Describe the purpose: If the image contains information not provided elsewhere, include that key information in the alt text.
Use context-appropriate language: Tailor the description to fit the surrounding content, avoiding technical jargon or irrelevant details.
Handle decorative images appropriately: If an image is purely decorative and doesn't add to the content, use null alt text (alt="") to signal screen readers to skip the image.

Example of Alt Text in Action:

For a photo of a tree: “A large oak tree with green leaves in summer.”
For a chart: “A bar chart comparing enrollment data from 2022 and 2023, showing a 15% increase in enrollment.”
For decorative images: Use empty alt text (alt="").

SiteMasonry CMS – How to Add Alt Text to Images

SiteMasonry offers two main ways to add images: via the Featured Image block and by embedding images into a Text Block. Adding alt text ensures that images remain accessible and compliant with accessibility standards.

Adding Alt Text to a Featured Image

Featured images automatically prompt for alt text upon upload.

Navigate to your page and select the Featured Image block.
Upload your image and enter a brief, descriptive alt text.
Click Save to finalize.

Adding Alt Text to an Embedded Image

Embedded images require manual entry of alt text.

Place your cursor in the text block where the image should appear.
Use the Insert Media icon to upload or select an image.
After inserting, click the Edit Media icon on the image.
Add a descriptive alt text, then select alignment and size if needed.
Click Save to apply the changes.

Additional Resources

Topics

Image Management Tutorial

Accessibility Tutorial

Best Practices Tutorial

Content Hub

SiteMasonry Tutorial

SiteMasonry

Digital Accessibility

SiteMasonry Tutorial

How to create a News Story

More How tos...

Core News Story Components

Enhance Readability and Engagement

Login to Content Hub

Open a new ‘Create a News Story’ screen

The 'Create a News Item' Screen: Build and Format

Headline, Author, and Date

Summary and Thumbnail: Search Engine Optimization and Social Sharing Field

Placing and Formatting the Article

Sharing, Connecting a Profile, and Topic Tagging

Ready to Publish? First, Preview

Additional Publication States

Topics

How to...Create a Marketing Landing Page

Topics

For Web Managers: Create a Content Editor Account

To create a Content Editor account, log in to your SiteMasonry CMS site, then:

Fill out the form on the ‘Add User’ screen

Topics

How to… Understand Versioning and Publication States - Draft, Published, and Archive

What is Versioning?

SiteMasonry's Publication States

Draft

New Content

Existing Content

Published

Archive

Related Tutorials

Topics

How to...Add Alt Text to Images

What is Alt Text?

Best Practices for Writing Alt Text

Example of Alt Text in Action:

SiteMasonry CMS – How to Add Alt Text to Images

Adding Alt Text to a Featured Image

Adding Alt Text to an Embedded Image

Additional Resources

Related Tutorials

Topics