Using OmniCMS to Edit

Texas Tech University uses Omni CMS to update university websites. Omni CMS functions in a somewhat similar way to something like WordPress that you may have used or heard of. The university maintains a template that controls the general style on your website, which enables you to focus solely on the content.

Logging In and Navigating Omni

You can Log In to Omni from any page by clicking on the date listed in the footer of a web page. If you have access to edit that site, you should be brought to a page where you can edit the page you were on.

The top menu bar in Omni features a variety of tools. The Dashboard menu can help you see the analytics for your site as well as some general messages about your website. The bulk of your work will likely be done from the Content > Pages menu, as this shows the file and folder structure of your website. We will also talk briefly about the Content > Assets menu as well as some of the Reports you can run. Finally, the very top right should show you the name of the site you are on and allow you to switch to other sites (if you have access to edit more than one website).

Staging and Production Servers

The files and folders that make up a TTU website within Omni live on two separate servers - which are basically just really powerful computers.

Staging

The "Staging" server updates whenever you "Save" a page within Omni. This allows you to make multiple edits to a page without actually changing the "live" webpage.

Production

The "Production" server updates whenever you "Publish" a page within Omni. This is the "live" version of the webpage that users will view when they go to your website.

Versioning

Whenever you publish a page in Omni, you can leave a "Version Description" describing the change you just made. Omni keeps track of your published versions, and allows you to "revert" a site back to a previous version. Leaving version notes for yourself and your team is a great way to describe what work has been done and what further work may be needed.

Checking Out/In

Omni is built in such a way that only one user can edit any single option at a time. When you begin working on a page, a lightbulb icon turns yellow on the screen, denoting that you have "Checked Out" that page for editing. Once you puiblish a page, Omni generally "Checks In" that page again until you go to edit it. You can view the pages you have checked out to you in the "Reports" menu and going to "Checked Out Content". If a page is chcked out by someone on your team, it is liikely best for you to ask them to check that page back in, as they may be actively working on that page. You can also email itteamweb@ttu.edu to check in a page, though this does risk undoing any work that other user was doing.

One Step At A Time

If you are working on a new webpage, or even just as you are getting comfortable with editing in Omni, know that you can go at your own pace. You don't have to score a touchdown on the first play. It is often best to try one small thing, publish the page, confirm that things work, and slowly build things on from there. Doing too much without testing can easily cause something to break with you left somewhat unclear about what specific piece didn't work. As you become more comfortable with editing a page and with doing more complex things on your website, you'll get a sense for how much you can do at a time before checking your code.

Test Your Work

In many ways, the web pages you create are little more than instructions for web browsers to know how your content should be displayed. Unfortunately, different browsers and different devices can interpret these instructions differently. Given this, it is often a good idea to test your web page in multiple browsers. You should also adjust your window size a bit to somewhat simulate what your website will look like on mobile devices or those with differently sized monitors. For accessibility purposes, make sure you can interact with all elements of your site using only your keyboard. Test out your site wtih screen reading software to ensure all of your content is being read properly (JAWS is available from eraider.ttu.edu as part of Fusion, NVDA is feely available).