Navigating Omni CMS
Page Content
Your primary means of navigation through Omni CMS is the Main menu, found at the top of the screen.
The Main menu contains the following items:
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Dashboard: This will be your default start location when you’re logging into Omni CMS not via DirectEdit. It contains access to your workflow, OU inbox, and several informational gadgets.
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Content: This is where you access web pages and other files.
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Reports: Run various reports about content and content status, such as which pages you published recently.
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Add-Ons: Your administrator can configure additional links to go under the Add-Ons menu. You may even have accessed this reference guide from there!
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Global Search (magnifying glass icon): Use this feature to quickly find files and folders in your site.
Dashboard
The Dashboard menu has three options: Dashboard, Workflow, and Inbox. On your dashboard, you can view certain gadgets, such as your inbox and recent activity on pages you have access. Your inbox is where you can view and send messages through Omni CMS.
Workflow refers to the process in Omni CMS of sending files to other users for review and publication; we’ll cover that in a later section.
Content
The Content menu may have one, two, or three options, depending on your user permissions: Pages will be available to everyone, and selecting this will take you to the Pages list view, which gives you a list of the files and folders that make up your site. Some users will see Assets, which gives you the ability to create and edit assets, which are a type of reusable content we’ll explain later on. Finally, if you have the ability to recycle pages, you’ll see the Recycle Bin.
Reports
The Reports menu has six different types of reports that you can run to gather information on your activity in Omni CMS. These reports are:
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Required Actions: Shows you pages that contain broken links.
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Checked Out Content: Shows you pages that are currently checked out to you.
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Pending Approvals: Shows you pages that are waiting for your approval.
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Scheduled Actions: Shows you any actions (such as publishes or reminders) you have set for later.
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Recent Saves: Shows you pages you saved recently.
- Recent Publishes: Shows you pages you published recently.
Add-Ons
The Add-Ons menu holds any links that your administrators have added into Omni CMS that they want you to have easy access to as you edit your website.
Global Search
You can use global search to easily navigate around Omni CMS, no matter where you are in the system. Just click the magnifying glass icon and start typing. Omni CMS will show you files and folders whose name or content match your search.
Pages List View
This is the main view in Omni CMS where you’ll be working. From here, you can view all the folders and pages that make up your website (as long as you have access to them). Clicking on the name of a file will take you to Edit mode; clicking the name of a folder will take you to the list view of the content within.
Additional functions include,
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the +New button, which lets you create new content,
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the Upload button, which you can use to upload files, and
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the filter bar, which you can use to filter or search for content.
Omni CMS uses a file structure system to both organize pages and to create the structure of the website itself. For example, a page in the University folder will have the URL of /university/page.php.
There are also two expandable/collapsible regions on either side of the Pages list view. On the left side is the file navigation sidebar, which displays the file structure of the website, allowing you to expand and collapse folders without having to navigate to them. It can be a quick way to navigate through files. You can also drag a file or folder from the file navigation sidebar and drop it in a new location.
On the right-hand side is the gadgets sidebar. Gadgets are little programs within Omni CMS that provide additional or streamlined functions. We’ll learn more about those in a further section.
