- Getting Started

The following guide will try to provide the basic information to start using FractalContent

The guide contains images of "screen shots" that illustrate the options of the software. This screen-shots may be clicked to enlarge.

We encourage you to take a test drive and try FractalContent based on this guide.

Logging In

To access the administrative area, open your web browser and type the following URL: http://www.yourdomain.com/admin Example: http://www.fractalcontent.com/admin Once the page loads, type in your user name and password and then press the log in button.

Main Navigation

The main navigation is an explorer type layout divided into two panels, a tree located at the left part of the screen and a content area located at the right part:

Main Navigation Screen

The Tree contains the following sections:

Site Contents: This section allows content editing of the site pages. Pages will be loaded in a hierarchical tree manner. Page icons represent its status (normal, locked or unpublished). Locked pages may only be edited by site administrators. Unpublished pages will not be visible by visitors.
Users: (only available to site administrators) This section will allow site administrators to create and edit users. Different user profiles allow different levels of Content Management.

Site Contents - Introduction

To manage a page ´s contents, the user must navigate through the "Site Contents" section of the tree. A Hierarchical map of the site will be displayed, starting from the site ´s homepage. When a user "clicks" on a web page, the right navigation is updated. Please note the tabs that appear on the upper part of the content panel:

Content Navigation Tabs

The Navigation tab contains the following options:

General: Which displays the general page settings, including title, publishing, and even the creation and management of sub pages.
Content Editor: Which allows users to create and edit contents. Content administration is performed in a "WYSIWYG" style.
Preview: Which allows users to view the page in an accurate just the way visitors will see it.

Site Contents - General Settings

The General Settings page allows users to edit the main aspects of the current page. This aspects include:

Page Title: The caption displayed at the top of the page.
Description Meta tag: A Short Description which appears on search engines (not more than 64 characters suggested).
Keywords Meta tag: A list of comma separated key words or key phrases which allow indexing on search engines (not more than 255 characters suggested).
The Page Template
Published Status (Site creators and administrators only)
Locked Status (Site Administrators only)

Main Page Settings

Scrolling down the page, there is a list of sub pages. Sub pages are the pages that are created hierarchically beneath the current page. Sub pages can be edited directly from the list by pressing the edit button. Once the edit button is pressed, the main properties (Title, Published and Locked) can be modified. The order of the pages can also be altered by using the priority buttons. This will affect the order in which the pages are displayed in the site ´s menu. By pressing the new sub-page button, the options for creating a new sub-page are displayed.

Sub-Page editing and creation

Page Contents - The Content Editor

The content editor is probably the most important screen in FractalContent™. Here users will be able to edit contents with ease. FractalContent™ was designed from the “page template” concept. Page templates are pre-defined designs which guarantee design continuity throughout the site. Web pages are created from these design templates. If the templates are updated, the appearance of the pages based upon this template is automatically updated. When looking at the page in the content editor, the user will identify certain areas marked with "teal" colored boxes. This boxes are known as "dynamic elements". The dynamic elements mark areas in which the content of the page is displayed. FractalContent™ includes the following types of dynamic content areas: - Menu Areas These areas display the navigation pane based on the page names and hierarchy. The template is designed to provide the menu items a specific design and style, as well as to define a relative or absolute hierarchy for the menu. Menu items may correspond to main Menu Navigations, or to sub-Menu Navigations depending on the template design. The user may not modify these areas directly because they are strictly based upon the page hierarchy. Page Hierarchy may be modified by changing the priority values in the "General Setting" tab. - Page Data Areas These are areas that display certain page specific data such as the page title, description, last update, etc. The user may not modify these areas directly because they are strictly based upon page properties. To change some of the values, please use the "General Setting" tab. - Content Areas. These areas allow users to interactively create, update or delete contents. A page may include more than one content are depending on the design of the Design Template.

Basic Content Editing "Dynamic" Elements (teal color boxes)

Page Contents - Creating and Editing Contents

Content creation can be easily done in FractalContent.

First, choose the content area for which you wish to create a new content. at the top part of the dynamic element you will find the following:

Content area header

In the header you will notice a "Blank Page" Icon. This icon will allow you to add a new detail element to this area. Content areas may contain one or more detail elements. These Elements may be any of the basic content types available (text, picture, FAQ, gallery, etc.). When you click on the "add detail..." icon, a wizard window pops up. The window will first ask you which type of content you wish to include.

Detail Creation Wizard - Main Window

Once a detail type is selected, a detail specific window is shown. This window will display all the possible options for this detail type. For example, the text type will display an input box, an alignment options and a style override. There is a default style for any control. By changing the default style, you may change the appearance. The styles displayed come from a set of predefined styles that have been created for this template.

Example Detail Window: Text

Once you are satisfied with your content, click on the "Insert Text..." button. The Page template will now include the new content.

Newly created text detail

Please notice that the contented details are marked with a lime green dotted box. Each content detail has a header with its type and editing tools:

Detail tool bar

The tools displayed are:

Edit (Brush icon): This tool allows you to edit contents. The content detail window is displayed.
Publish/Unpublished (eye icon): This tool toggles between published and unpublished mode for the desired detail. Unpublished details will be marked with a red border and will not be visible to visitors. A warning window will be displayed.
Priority Arrows (up and down arrows): This arrows allow the reorganization of details.

Detail publishing wizard

Delete (trash icon): This tools deletes the selected detail. A warning window is displayed. This operation is not undo-able!

Delete detail wizard