Creating a News Article in the Cascade CMS

Create Your News Article 

Log in to Cascade and navigate to your site's news folder, then to the appropriate year, then to the month folder.

/your-site/news/2023/02

Click on the View Folder arrow > to the right of the month folder to enter that folder.

Navigating to the folder first saves having to remember to do it from within the news article itself. 

1. At the top of the CMS, click the pink + Add Content button.

2. Choose the News folder, then News Article. 

3. Page Name: Cascade will name this “news-article” by default. This must be changed.
   Copy your news post's full headline and paste it into the Page Name field, replacing “news-article.” A formatting warning will appear, but just click on use the suggested name.
4. Add a summary.
5. Add the news text (and any images).
6. Preview and submit the new post. 

There are several required fields in the news post:

• Page Name: This must be changed (see above).

• Placement Folder: If this is not your site's news/year/month folder, change the selection so it's in the right place. For example, a Digital Team news post made in April 2022 would be in
  /digital/news/2022/04. 

• Display Name: The actual headline of your news article. Use title case, but do not use all-caps. 

• Description (summary): Always include a short summary of the news, without simply repeating the title. This text does not appear in the news post, but it will appear on your main News page.

• Start Date: This defaults to the current date and time. It's best to leave it alone (unless you need the news to only go live on a particular day and time).

• Category/Subject: At least one must be selected, but multiple categories can be chosen.  

News Item Page Elements

More information about these and other options for your news post.

Delete the default "news-article," and then insert the full headline of your news article. Now click outside of the field. When you do, Cascade will alert you that it does not meet the requirements—click on “use the suggested name.”

• The Page Name will become part of the news item's URL. Using the full headline is great for keywords and increases the post's ranking in search results. (Neglecting this step leaves your only keywords as "news" and "article," which won't be much help at all.)

The location of your news item in the site. When creating news items, be sure you place them in the correct folder location: within your site, and in the right year and month. Cascade will default to your current folder location, so be sure to double-check that it's correct.

• Tip: Navigating to the correct Placement Folder before you click the "Add Content" button will take care of this step.

The news item’s headline (appears at the very top of the article).

This is an optional field. Use it only if you want the headline to read differently when the article is being viewed. Anything in the Title field will override the news item’s headline when reading the page. If there is no difference, leave this blank.

This is not for the article's full text.

Always include a short summary of the story, expanding upon the headline without repeating it. This appears on your site's main News page, in search results, and for social media shares. This text does not appear in the news post, but it will appear on your main News page. More about writing a summary.

Optional; displays the name of the author of the news item.

It's best to leave this alone. This defaults to the date you are creating the news item. But, if you want to create something to be published in the future, you can adjust the date accordingly. Just remember, the news item will need to be submitted into workflow and published before the listed Start Date.

You can select one or more categories to apply to the news item. The categories listed are universal across all news feeds on our site. They are used to create a filtered list of news, either from a single news feed or from across the site. For example, if your news item is about Homecoming, add the “Homecoming” category to have it included in a custom filtered list with news about Homecoming. If none of the existing categories apply, you can choose None. Learn more about how to use news categories. 

Optional: This section is for adding a full-width image, carousel, or video across the top of your page or news item. 

This is the body of your news item. You can include rich text, images, links, styled content, and more. There is an additional row option to “Add a Right Column Callout.” This adds a pre-formatted callout box to the right of your news item. This field accepts rich text, but keep in mind it is a 4-column-wide box in most views and full-width on small and mobile devices.

If needed, you can also click the green plus sign to the right, which will add a new content row.

Other optional areas:

Each news item can have a custom thumbnail image that will appear with the title and summary in the news listing and when shared on social media. If your news item does not have an accompanying image, the system will use the default image (a site-defined image; or, if that is not utilized, the IUP logo).

News articles and pages include the ability to have custom social sharing information added to the page. That means that if someone shares your page or news item on Facebook, Twitter, or other social platforms, it will use this information in the post*. (*Each platform is a little different, and if an image or other selection does not need their criteria, it may not use your selected options and default to something else.)

If your page or news item has an image in it, you can just select that image by checking the box for Custom Image. Browse to the image you uploaded and/or used in your page or news item. You can also opt to use a different image for social. The recommended size for social sharing varies by platform, but generally is 1200px wide by about 630px tall. (Note: our recommended in-page image size is 737 or 750 pixels wide.) It is suggested you add the 1200px size for a social sharing image. If you don’t have that available, you can use the smaller image. But, that may result in a platform not using the designated image you selected. Be sure to add the alt text for the image as well.

By default, the page or news item’s summary will be included in the social sharing code. But you can choose to use a different one for social media. Just check the box for Custom Description and add a short, custom description.

You can designate what kind of Twitter Card to use when your page or news item is shared to Twitter.

• Summary: You only need to add the appropriate Twitter username. Unless you have a separate account, you should use “iupedu”

• Summary Card with Large Image: Adds the image you designated in Custom Image.  Add the Twitter username. Unless you have a separate account, you should use “iupedu”

• Player Card: For use when designating a video. Reach out to the Digital Team if you are interested in using this feature.

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