Getting Started: Familiarizing Yourself with the CMS

This chapter will help you familiarize yourself with EFS Panel’s Content Management System.

• You will be taking a look at the standard panel from the perspective of an interested visitor and that of a panelist who has logged in.
• In the admin area you will get an overview of the existing websites and language versions and familiarize yourself with the Website Editor.
• You will create a new panel page.
• References to detailed descriptions in later chapters of the manual give you an insight into the versatility and power of the CMS.

The Panel Website From a Participant’s Perspective

What Do Interested Visitors See?

The online panel platform can usually be accessed at http://www.your-domain.com

• On the start page, visitors are welcomed and introduced to the panel.
• Interested visitors can view further information, e.g. on the panel’s operator or the rules of participation, using a menu, a navigation bar or links.
• Visitors wishing to participate in the panel can open a registration form and register.
• Visitors already registered as panelists can log in.

What Do Logged-in Panelists See?

After login, panelists can access the password-protected internal panel area.

• Panelists are greeted by name on the personal homepage. This page usually contains a list of surveys the respective panelists are able to participate in.
• The panelists can access restricted information, such as news or survey evaluations.
• The panelists can view their personal data (e.g. address data, account balance).
• They can take action themselves, e.g. change their own registration data, redeem bonuses or invite friends.

Editing the Panel Website

Finding Your Way Around the EFS Panel Admin Area

The EFS Panel’s admin area is protected by personalized login. This can usually be accessed at http://www.your-domain.com/www/

After logging in, you will see the start page of the admin area which provides an overview of the panel and the projects in progress:

The navigation bar in the upper section of the screen contains links to the various modules. The Content Management System (CMS) and further functions for editing the panel website(s) are located in the Website module.

Websites and Language Versions

Open the Website menu. This takes you to the website overview. Here you can see all the websites and the corresponding language versions:

• A language version is a group of pages and functions that form a complete, selfcontained external panel view in a single language.
• A website is a group of language versions that together form an independent online platform - i.e. a panel which has been translated into several languages.
• A website may comprise any number of language versions. Although the page structure of these language versions is identical, each version has its own set of templates. When selecting modules and configuring processes, such as registration, for example, there is significant room for language-specific variations. What’s more, not only can you take the entire website offline for maintenance purposes, you can also do the same to individual language versions.
• In addition, the languages of different websites also have different page structures.

Participants across websites and language versions of an EFS Panel installation are managed with the help of the same EFS Panel administration.

A default standard panel only contains one website (“Panel Website”) with one language version (“English”).

The Website Editor

Panel pages are edited in the Website editor. To open the website editor, click on the name of the desired language version in the overview. Alternatively, you can open the Website editor menu and select the desired website and language version via the dropdown list in the head section.

The structure of the website editor

The Website editor comprises the following three elements:

1. Language version info: This field provides basic information on the language version. Use the drop-down list to switch between website language versions. Ensure that the version you want to edit is selected. This is automatically the case when you open the editor from the website overview by clicking on the desired language version.
2. Left-hand dialog: Depending on the selected tab, this dialog contains the basic settings or the page, template or include structure of the current language version.
3. Right-hand dialog: This dialog contains the actual editing dialog of the selected page, template or include.

Tree view

The tree view displays the page structure of the language version currently opened and the various tools available for editing.

• Settings: In this dialog, you configure the properties of the language version.
• Pages: This tab contains the panel pages. The tree view displays the page structure:

  • The panel navigation bar lists the menu items according to the order of the pages in the tree view, e.g. Home – Registration – How it works – News

  • Pages located at the sublevel in the tree view are also displayed at the sublevel in the external navigation, e.g. How it works → FAQ
    
    

• Templates: Templates control how various data from modules and the panel database are processed and displayed on panel pages.

• Includes: Files that are incorporated e.g. in main template. These include, for example, the CSS file, which is largely responsible for the layout of a website.

Adding a New Panel Page

In your community panel, the panelists have their own personal blogs. As these blogs are crucial for your research, you want to provide information for potential panelists and encourage them to ask questions via a dedicated form. Assume you want to create a new panel page that will allow prospective panelists to request information material. The new page is to be entitled “Blogging”. It is to be accessible to visitors and panelists and located in the navigation bar in the submenu of “How it works”. It should contain two elements: A section with explanations of what you can do on the page, and a form for requesting information.

Creating a New Panel Page

1. Open the Pages tab and then klick on the + Page button.