Site Pages
Recollective’s Home Page capabilities are now available at the Site-level, allowing you to customize one or more Site Home Pages with targeted content for select user roles and segments. These customizable card-based pages are ideal for delivering content and guiding returning participants, Moderators, and end Clients in long-term or ongong communities.
This article will at look at how to add, customize, and manage Site-Level Home pages:
This improvement is one of many in our Product Update: March 2021.
Default Site Page - Dashboard
All sites start with a default page titled Dashboard. The default layout of the Dashboard page only displays a single Studies Card, but can be further customized if desired.
Default Studies Card
The list of Studies on a Site Home Page is a type of card called a Studies Card. The Studies Card offers Analysts greater control over the appearance of the Studies listed and has been designed to improve loading time. It includes a keyword search function that instantly locates Studies matching the given search term. For Sites with dozens of Studies, listings are now paginated to improve page performance and usability.
Studies can appear as square cards or compact horizontal cards based on your preference. The compact version will appear by default. To change the style, simply edit the Page Layout and then modify the properties of the Studies Card.
Both appearance options provide enough space for long Study names and will include the Study's External Study ID.
An External ID is an optional identifier that only Administrators can see. The inclusion of this ID allows for easier identification of Studies with similar or generic names. An External Study ID can be set when adding a Study or in Study Settings > Appearance.
Adding Studies
The Add Study button can be found at the top of the Study list. When adding a new Study, you are able to define the Study's name, address, External Study ID, language and time zone all at once. All other settings can be customized after the study is created via the Study Settings.
Page Editing
The Edit Page button is located on the top-right of the screen. Pressing this button will reveal three options:
- Page Layout: add/edit cards and their content
- Page Settings: edit the page's name, address and visibility
- Manage Pages: edit how a page is grouped and positioned
Select Page Layout to add, update, or remove any cards on the page. A toolbar will appear to confirm you are in edit mode. Changes made in this mode are automatically saved as an unpublished draft.
Select the Add Card button to create a new card for the page. Each card has a menu which allows you to edit, style, or remove the card. You can also click-and-drag the edges of a card to change its width or height, or drag the entire card to a new position on the page.
While it is possible to limit the visibility of individual cards on a page, we recommend managing access at the page-level to simplify content management.
Card Types
Any number of cards can be added and arranged on a single page. The available card types for Site-level Home pages are:
- Message Card: Share formatted text with inline images. The ability to add custom scripts to embed content is restricted. Contact us for more information
- Photo Card: Display a photo or image graphic
- Video Card: Record your webcam or upload a video for playback
- File Card: Share a file of any type to be downloaded
- Studies Card: Display a list of studies
- Profile Fields Card: Ask profile questions and link to external surveys
Page Design
From a styling perspective, each page can have a unique background colour or image. Individual cards can be assigned a style preset and be resized as needed.
Saving Changes
When ready, press the Publish button to instantly save and share the updates with users. Select Discard Draft to delete any changes made since the last time the page was Published.
If you are happy with your changes but are not ready to publish them just yet, you can click the Cancel button or simply leave the page. Your draft changes will be saved and you can access them again at any time by clicking back into Edit Page > Page Layout.
Managing Pages
Selecting the name of a page will open a menu of all available pages. Analysts are provided access to a Manage Site Pages menu where pages can be added, edited, grouped, moved, archived and deleted.
The primary Site Home Page for each user will be the first page in the Home list that they have access to. The Dashboard page will always appear at the top of the list by default, making it the primary Home page or landing page for all users. Analysts can drag and drop pages to change the hierarchy, meaning the Dashboard page can be replaced as the primary landing page if needed.
Limiting Page Access
Participant access to pages can be disabled or limited to select Segments. Page access can also be limited to select Admin roles (i.e. Analysts, Moderators and Clients) or shared with specific Administrators. Clients, for example, could be given their very own page to highlight only the most relevant insights. Pages that are limited to Administrators only are Identified with a crest icon:
When entering the site, the first page that is visible to that specific user will appear by default. Clients can therefore be shown a Home Page that differs from Participants by placing the admin-only page above all others.
Copying Pages
An existing page can serve as a template for future pages. Select Manage Pages to access the menu for the page and then select Copy. The selected page will instantly duplicate as a new, unpublished page which can be customized before it is published.
Page Grouping
To ensure page management scales over the long term, pages are organized into groups. Page groups are used to combine related pages in the page navigation menu. Navigating between pages can be accomplished by selecting the title of the current page to open a drop-down menu of available pages. Only pages that a user has access to will be listed for them.
Hidden but Accessible Page Groups
Page groups can be hidden. The group, and the pages within the hidden group, will not appear in the list of available pages, even for those users who have access to them. Analysts can access hidden pages from the Manage Pages menu.
Any other user (Moderator, Client, Participant) can access hidden pages only when sent there via a direct link. This is ideal for hosting content that is only relevant in very specific contexts.
For example, if you wish to publish additional legal terms or a privacy policy (Message cards and File cards are ideal for displaying such content on a page). When you need to add a lengthy agreement that will only apply to participants in a specific study or studies, you can host the document on a hidden site page and link users to the page via a screening question in their study.
To create hidden pages:
- Open the Page menu then select Manage Pages
- Select Add Group at the bottom of the modal
- Name the Group, then disable the Show in Page Menu toggle
- Click Save
Once the group is saved, you can add new pages to the group by clicking Add Page, or, drag and drop existing pages into the group
Archiving and Deleting Pages
If a page is no longer relevant, it can be archived or deleted from the Manage Pages menu. Archiving a page rather than deleting it is recommended as you may wish to restore it or duplicate its layout as a template in the future.
Previewing Pages with Site-Level Preview
To help Analysts test their page and card configurations, a popular Study-level feature called Preview Mode has been made available at the Site-level. Preview Mode can be launched by clicking your avatar in the top-right corner of the screen and selecting Preview Mode from the menu.
A bright yellow toolbar will appear below the Site header to signal that Preview Mode is in effect. The toolbar allows Analysts to change the role and segments being previewed. More information about Site level Preview Mode can be found here.