Add content to a landing page

When we first create landing pages, they are empty. After adding the subareas we want, which will be a combination of index/details pages, and potentially further levels of landing pages, you come back and add content.

We can add any combination of the pre-configured portlets provided with CTC, our own component built on Content Template Catalog, or custom and third-party portlets to the landing page.

The key to making many of the pre-configured portlets work on landing pages is to configure the context override after placing them on the page. The component then has the context it needs to be able to retrieve the correct information from the correct subarea.

1. Add the child landing pages or index pages:

   1. Unless this landing page is going to pull content from other areas of the site, add child landing and index pages first before anything is displayed on a landing page.

   2. After creating the child pages, come back to the landing page to add content to it.

2. Show and modify the default content:

   1. The landing page when first created does not show any default content. To show an introductory block of rich text content on a landing page, simply drag the Dynamic Body portlet onto the page from the CTC General Portlets palette.

   2. We can then edit the default content to add rich text to the page.

3. Modify the breadcrumb text:

   The text seen in the breadcrumb comes from the title of the site area that is mapped to the page. By default this text is copied from the friendly URL name entered when the page was created, but we can modify this directly by editing the site area through the IBM Web Content Manager authoring portlet.

4. Add teaser content:

   Teasers are blocks of rich text that typically link to some area of the site. This is done either to provide fast access to a popular area, or to drive users to a particular area by "teasing" them with some information and a prompt to read more.

   Teasers can also be used to just add additional rich text to the page rather than links - like a quote or testimonial, an inspirational message or image.

   Teaser content is stored in a Teasers subarea. The Teaser authoring form allows entry of free-form rich text, plus a header, footer, and style sheet class to do formatting.

5. Add landing navigation:

   You typically want to link to the main subareas in the body of the page. One option is to use a teaser for this, but a more structured approach is to use the Landing Navigation portlets. There are two of these portlets set up in the CTC General Portlets palette and each one aligns to a different side of the screen.

   The Landing Navigation portlets have been set up with a block component that retrieves an image, title, summary, and link from a selected subarea or content item. After dropping the portlet on the page, edit the page component configuration to select a "Context Override," and then content is pulled in from the selected item. Note that until you modify the context, the portlet shows a link back to the current page.

   We can add as many of these portlets to the page as you like, and select a different subarea in each one. This allows us to build up navigation in the page to whichever subareas required, and then lay them out by dragging them around the page.

   Note we can actually link to any area of the site using these portlets.

6. Add lists, slideshows, and carousels:

   If we want to show a short list of the content from a subarea on a landing page, use lists, slideshows, and carousels to pull the latest or featured content.

   A selection of pre-configured lists, slideshows, and carousels are located in the CTC List Portlets palette or we can create our own.

   All of the pre-configured portlets have been set up with page component configurations that can be placed in any part of the page. The styles used adjust to the column they are placed in.

Parent Create a landing page