Web content management

• At a basic level, Terminalfour is used for building and maintaining large amounts of digital content.
• Users at various levels can be given permission to add and modify content. All content goes through an approval cycle, at which point dedicated "approvers" review the content. In some cases, this may be the authors who wrote the content; in other cases, a more complex workflow may be used to allow several people to review the content. 
• Once content has been approved, it is ready to "go live". This happens in the publishing process. Page layouts (header/footer) and content layouts are wrapped around the content to ensure the content is displayed correctly. 
• One piece of content may be published to various channels. These are simply output mechanisms, like websites, mobile sites, paper publishing, etc. By applying the page layouts and content types, different displays can be achieved whilst still just producing one piece of content.
• At the publishing stage, external data can also be incorporated. This could be information from a database, website or similar. 

User roles

There are 5 user roles in Terminalfour:

1. Administrator
2. Power User
3. Moderator
4. Contributor
5. Visitor

Meet the team below: 

Visitor Vinny

Hi, I’m a student at the University and a member of the library.

There’s a password-controlled area of the library’s website which I access using my student authentication details. I can keep track of my library account from there.

Contributor Carla

I work at the University library.

I don’t update content very often, but when I do I like to use Direct-Edit as it’s easy to update the content. I have a moderator check my work before it gets published.

Moderator Mike

I also work at the library. 

Content that Carla and other Contributors create comes to me and I decide what gets published.

I have permission to add new pages to the website when needed.

Power User Pete

I oversee the library website.

I can add content, but my main duties are to look after the look and feel of the library site, I can change the page layouts and create/edit content types for the Contributors and Moderators to use.

Administrator Ann

I oversee all the Websites here at the University.

My duties are like Power User Pete’s, but I get to oversee all the websites and have access to all areas within Terminalfour.

User rights

• The default rights of each user type are detailed below.
• Some rights and roles are customizable by going to:

Administration > User Rights & Roles > Role Customization

Edit rights

• Administrator users by default have edit rights to the entire site structure. All other user types need to be given edit rights. 
• Give your users/groups the right to edit your site structure.

How to assign edit rights

1. To give a user or group edit rights, go to the Site Structure, and click on the relevant section.
2. Expand the More tab and click Edit rights.
3. Use the Filter to find the relevant users or groups.
4. Click +Add beside the users/groups you want to give access to the Section.
5. Click Save changes. 

Site structure

• The first part of building a website is identifying at least the high-level architecture. In Terminalfour this involves building a site structure consisting of sections.
• There are many types of Section, and each type has an icon so you can identify it.
• Once the different options have been explained by the trainer, build a small site structure you can use as a foundation for your new website.

How to create sections

1. On the Site Structure screen, locate the section under which you wish to add your first section. Click Actions > Create section.
2. Enter the relevant information to create a section. As a minimum, the Name must be filled in. All other default options are explained on the next page.
3. Click Save changes to save the section.
4. Repeat the steps above to add additional sections. Section information can be modified at any stage.

General Section Details

When creating sections, the only required element is Name. Additional elements are described below:

Name: This is the name of your section and is typically used in the menu navigation and forms the basis of the URL for the published page (if an Output URI is not specified).

Status: There are three status levels:
Approved: Sections are published when they have at least one approved Content Item.
Pending: Pending Sections will not publish, even if the content within the Section is Approved.
Inactive: Deleted Sections have an Inactive status. Sections can be restored by changing the
status to Approved.

Mark as link section: Link Sections contain no content and instead link to another Section in the Site Structure or an external URL.

eForm section: This option is used if you want to submit an eForm. Refer to the documentation for eForms for further details.

Advanced Settings

It should be noted that depending on your Section metadata content type, more fields may be available at the top of the Advanced settings. These fields are installation specific and hence not covered here. 

Custom Page Title: This is an example of an installation specific element, added using the Section meta content type. This element is not used in this T201 training.

Content owner: Select the Content Owner from the list. If left blank, it will inherit from the parent section. The content owner can be used in workflows or get notified when content expires.

Output URI: Lets you specify the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) as the destination of the new Section. Using this field improves the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for this Section. Otherwise, with the field left blank, the Section's name is used when publishing.

Output file name: Specify the file name used for the page. When you leave this blank, the system uses the default file name configured in the Channel Settings.
Want to hide this option from your users?
Go to Administration > Hierarchy & Content Settings > Hierarchy > Enable output to filename

Default workflow: The default Workflow for this Section's content.

Access key: You can enter a single character which is used as a shortcut within a Link Menu Navigation Object.  

History and versions

• Terminalfour allows you to see all changes made to content, compare different versions and set previous versions of the content live.
• To see how this works, modify a piece of content; then compare the two versions of the content.
• Set the original version of the content live again.

How to review history and versions

1. Modify a piece of content: select Edit content from the Actions menu beside the section containing the content.
2. Click the content’s name to open it or select Edit from the Actions menu.
3. Make changes to the content and click Save changes.
4. Click back into the content and go to the History tab or select History from the Actions menu beside the content.
5. Select the two versions of content you wish to compare by checking the box for each version (located in the far right column).
6. Click Compare selected to display both versions of content in a side-by-side comparison; elements where changes have occurred are highlighted in yellow.
7. Click Back to return to the History tab.
8. You can set any version as the current version by clickingActions > Make current > Confirm.

Content options

• When adding a new piece of content or modifying an existing piece, there are additional options available to control and manage the publishing of the piece of content.
• The content options can be used to manage when the content will publish, expire, be reviewed, and archived. All the fields are optional.

Content Options

Publish date: schedules a publish date, i.e. the date the content will go live on the site. The content has to be approved before it can be published.
Expiry date: content will expire and be removed from the site.
Review date: Terminalfour will email the Content Owner on the selected date. If no owner is set, the person who last modified the content will be notified instead.
Archive section: allows you to specify a section for the content to go to once it has expired. If you are publishing lots of content, it may be a good idea to create an Archive Section to store expired content in. This way the content can be used and published again later. Click Select section and select a section; the section id is inserted as a reference.
Content owner: sets an owner to the Content Item.

How to manage publish dates

1. To modify a piece of content, select Edit content from the Actions menu beside the section containing the content.
2. Click on the content’s name to open it.
3. Click the Options tab.
4. Fill in the relevant fields by clicking the box to open the calendar; simply click on the date you wish to use and adjust the time by clicking the clock icon and selecting the hours and minutes. If you do not set the time, it will default to the current time.
5. Click Save changes to save your work.

Media library overview

• The media library is used to store files of all sorts to use in content and assets. You can upload images, documents, videos, etc., if you have a means to output these files.
• You can assign read and write access to different users/groups, so not all users necessarily need to have permission to upload files into the media library.

Media Library Overview

> The Media Library can be accessed either as a separate item (go to Content and select Media Library) or directly from an Asset or piece of Content.
> By default, only Administrators have write access, and all user types have read access.
> The Actions button allows you to edit, create, or delete categories.
> If you click on a category, the uploaded media will appear on the right.
> If you modify a Category, you can determine the Write Access, Read Access, Workflow, Media Categories (manual and automatic ordering), Auto Publish and Access Control.
> The Add Media button allows you to add new media items to the category you have selected.
> You can Search for an item by entering keywords or an ID # in the #Jump box.
> You can Filter by selecting a specific type of file from the list.

Upload and use an image

• Now that you understand how the Media content type is pieced together, you should have a better idea of how the Media Library content is used.
• Upload an image to the Media Library, create Image Variants and use the image in content.

How to upload media

1. From the site structure screen, locate the section you added content to earlier.
2. Go to the Actions menu and select Edit content. Click on the content you want to edit.
3. In the main body of your content, place the mouse where you want to insert an image; click the media icon.
4. The media library opens. Locate the category you wish to add the image to and click on it.
5. Click +Add media (the use of Name, Description and Keywords is dependent on your media content layouts):
   1. Media file: drop your image file here or click to select the image from your drive.
   2. Name: enter a name for your Image. By default, this is not output on the site, but is used only as a name in the
      Media Library to allow easy identification.
   3. Description/Alt text: by default, this is used as the alt tag and should always be filled to describe the image.
   4. Media type: select Image -this is automatically detected where possible.
   5. Syntax highlighting language: for non-binary files you can select what syntax highlighting to use (if any).
   6. Media Language Dependence:
      1. Fully independent: the media is the same in all languages and cannot be translated.
      2. Independent media file: the file and thumbnail exist independent of language. Other elements can be modified based on language, such as the image description/alt text.
      3. Fully dependent: all elements depend on language and can be translated.
6. Click Save changes to add your image.
7. The image is ready to be used. Hover over it and click Select.

Edit media attributes

• If your Media Type Layout for images contains "style" options, you can set the Media Attributes in the content to specify Margin, Float, etc.

How to set media attributes

1. The image (or image variant) has been inserted in your content. If your Media Type Layout for images contains "style" options, you can set those from the content.
2. Double-click on the image to Set Media Attributes.
3. Specify the values you wish to set. In the example above, a margin of 10px has been set, and the image has been set to float left (wrapping the text around the image with the image floating to the left).
4. Click OK to return to the content screen.
5. Click Save changes to save the changes made to the content.

Upload and use a PDF

• You can upload a PDF to the Media Library, use it in content and set the Media Attributes.

How to upload a PDF

1. To add a PDF link to your content, click where you want the link to be and click the Insert from Media icon.
2. The Media Library opens. Locate the Category you wish to add the PDF to and click on it.
3. Click +Add Media (the use of Name, Description and Keywords is dependent on your Media content type layouts):
   1. Media file: click here and select the relevant PDF.
   2. Media type: this will be automatically detected where possible. Alternatively, select the Media Type you want to use.
   3. Name: enter a name for your PDF. By default, this is used as a name in the Media Library to allow easy identification and serves as the link text in your content.
   4. Description: give your PDF a description; by default, the description of PDF’s is for internal use and does not appear on your webpage
   5. Syntax highlighting language: for non-binary files you can select what syntax highlighting to use (if any).
   6. Media language dependence:
      1. Fully independent: the media is the same in all languages and can hence not be translated.
      2. Independent media file: the file and thumbnail exist independent of language. Other elements can be modified based on language.
      3. Fully dependent: all elements depend on language and can be translated.
4. Click Save changes to add your PDF document to the Media Library.
5. The PDF is ready to be used. Click it to add a link to your content.
6. The PDF link has been inserted into your content.
7. If you do not wish to use the item’s Name as the link text, double-click on the PDF link text to open the Media attributes.
8. In the empty Name element, enter the new link text.
9. Click Ok to return to the content screen.
10. Click Save changes to save the changes you’ve made.

Media types and media content type

• The Media content type controls all content added to the Media Library. This is a System content type for storing uploaded Media Library items.
• Different types of files are output in different ways (using different content layouts).
• The Media content type is a System Type. You can add additional content layouts or edit the existing ones. You can add to the list of file types in system settings.

How to view media content types

1. To edit the Media content type content layouts, go to: Assets > Content types
2. Use the filter to search for the Media content type; click the name of the Media content type to edit.
3. Each type of media uses a content layout as displayed above. These are linked to the different Media Content Type Layouts, and the same content type layout can be used for several types of media. One type of media can also use several content layouts, but one must be set as the default.
4. Content layouts in the Media content type are created exactly like content layouts in a content type. Changing a content layout will impact the media items which use the content layout.
5. The default content layout used for images has the content layout image/* and contains the code above.
6. The element Media outputs a file, the Description is used as the alt tag. You can customize this to your specific requirements using media attribute options to allow users to specify alt text, title, border, margin, float, etc.

How to edit media content types

1. To edit the Media Types (or add new ones), go to:
   Administration > Settings > Media library > Media Types tab (see screen shot above).
2. Each Type is linked to one or more Layouts in the Media content type. To create a new Type, click +Create new media type.
   1. Name: enter a name for the new Media Type. This will display in the drop-down menu in the Media Library.
   2. Permitted file extensions: list all permitted extensions (comma separated list). If a file extension is not listed for a Media Type, it will not be automatically recognized and the user will have to manually select the Media Type. This can be further restricted in the Media Handler.
   3. Maximum file size: if you do not wish to use the default maximum size, you can specify a smaller size here (bytes).
   4. Media type options – Binary file: check this option if the files are binary. This can also be used for non-binary files to prevent users from being able to edit the text directly in the Media Library.

   Associated content layouts

   1. 5. Content Layouts: select the Media content layout you wish to associate to this Media Type. Each Media Type must have a default content layout but can have additional content layouts added.
3. Click Save changes to save the new Media Type.

Mirror and duplicate

• Branches of the Site Structure as well as individual pieces of content can be Mirrored and Duplicated.
• If you Mirror a piece of content, there is only one ID, and any changes made to the content will affect all instances of it.

Mirror Content/Sections Configuration

You can enable/disable the mirroring of sections or content by changing the settings:
Administration > Hierarchy & content settings > Hierarchy > Enable mirroring of sections
Administration > Hierarchy & content settings > Hierarchy > Allow non-mirroring of content

How to mirror/duplicate

Mirror/duplicate content

1. Select Edit content from the Actions menu beside the section containing the content you wish to mirror or duplicate.
2. Select Mirror or Duplicate from the Actions menu beside the content.
3. The Site Structure opens. Click on the Section you wish the mirrored/duplicated content to appear in. A small icon appears beside the mirrored content. Hover the mouse over it to see the various locations of the content. The duplicated content, however, will appear as new content. 

Mirror/duplicate branch

4. Select Mirror Branch or Duplicate Branch from the Section Drop-Down Menu beside the section containing the content you wish to duplicate.
5. Select the Section you wish to place the mirrored or duplicated section under.
6. A mirrored section’s folder symbol will have an arrow pointing out for the original section and an arrow pointing in for the new section.

Approve content

• When content is added to Terminalfour, it needs to go through an approval process before it can be published; only published content will be visible on your website.
• The content you have created so far is all pending approval. Ensure your content is approved.

A note about Approving Content

> Approval of content can also be done from the Direct Edit screen.

> If selective approval is enabled, you can approve content by checking the Approve box beside the content and then clicking on Approve.

> The Approve Content screen will refresh itself periodically; the refresh rate can be set in Configuration.

> If content is assigned to a workflow, approving the content will advance it to the next step. Fast Track is an option available to Administrators allowing you to by-pass any further steps in the workflow and brings the content straight through to completion of the Approval workflow.

How to approve content

1. To approve content, go to Content > Approve content.

Content status color code

   Approved Content 

  Pending Content

  Inactive Content

2. Use the Filter tool to filter for the items you wish to approve.
3. Click Approve if you are happy to approve content; otherwise, click Reject.
4. When content has been rejected, a Reject Reason can be added to explain the decision.

5. Once content has been approved, it will disappear from the main list.
6. In the Site Structure, the approved content appears in the green column

Workflow

• By default, content goes through an approval process in Terminalfour. Moderators + can approve content in sections they are assigned to. To specify a process for approving content, you can create workflows.
• Create a workflow to ensure all content added using your content type for generic content is approved by you.
• Assign the workflow to your content type.

Assigning Workflows

> Workflows can be assigned to:

Sections,
Content types,
Media library categories

How to set up a workflow

1. To build a workflow, go to Administration > User rights & roles > Workflow > Add new workflow
2. Give your workflow a Name and Description and assign to your group; then click Save changes.
3. The Steps tab appears. Click Add new step to add the first step to your workflow.
   1. Give your step a Name and Description.
   2. Select the Step priority; approvers can sort content by Priority in the Approval list.
   3. Check the box Restrict to editors if you wish to restrict the users who can review/approve this step to those who have editing rights to the content.
4. Configure users:
   Select the users or groups to be involved in this step.
5. Optional settings:
   Select the radio button to specify what happens to a piece of content if it is rejected.
   1. Content owner: will reject content back to the content owner.
   2. Last modified by: will reject content back to the person who last modified the content.
   3. Step X: send the content to a step within the same workflow and select the step.
   4. Different workflow: from a drop-down menu you can select a different workflow to send the content to.
   5. Do nothing: use this option if you do not wish to reject the content to anyone; content will therefore remain in the Approval list.
6. Step approval settings:
   If there is more than one approver in a workflow step, approval of content can be put to a vote; select the radio button for the option you wish to apply.
   1. All moderators: if selected, all the approvers in this step will need to vote to approve the content.
   2. Majority: content will only be approved once a majority of approvers have approved the piece of content.
   3. X number of moderators: determines how many approvers will need to approve the content in order for it to be approved in this step; set a number by entering it into the field.
   4. Content owner: if selected, only the content owner can vote to approve content; this option requires that a content owner has been set. If no owner is set, the content may only be approved by an administrator.
   5. Enable active moderation if checked, the vote count will be for both approval and rejection with content being either approved or rejected once the configured “X” number has been reached.
7. Notification settings:
   Email alerts can be sent to content owners or those involved in the workflow step during the approval process. Avoid selecting all options as this generates large quantities of emails.
   1. Start: an alert is sent to the content owner or those involved in the workflow step when a piece of content enters a step they participate in.
   2. In progress: an alert is sent to the content owner or those involved in the workflow step when a piece of content is either approved or rejected.
   3. End: an alert is sent to the content owner or those involved in the workflow step when a piece of content is either fully approved or rejected, hence completing the current step.
8. User alert settings:
   Specifies who receives alerts and notifications by email.
   1. Content owner: this informs the content owner when any of the above alerts or triggers are fired.
   2. Step moderators: this informs any of those involved in the workflow step when any of the above notifications are sent.
   3. All content owners and moderators: this informs content owners and any of those involved in the workflow step when any of the above alerts or triggers are fired.
9. Click Save changes to add the step to the workflow.
10. Click Add new step to add a further step to the workflow if required, otherwise click Save changes.
11. To assign the workflow to your content type, go to Assets > Content types > Edit your content type.
12. From the Workflow drop-down list, select your workflow.
13. Click Save changes.

Publish

• Once Content has been approved, it still needs to be published before the content will appear on the website.
• Publish the channel you have been working on. The trainer will advise you of the published URL.

How to publish your website

1. To publish your website, go toSites & Channels > Publish Channels
2. Locate your channel and select Enable publish
3. Click Publish channels to publish.
4. You can also create a publish schedule by clicking Schedule publish.
   1. Next due: use the calendar to select the next publish date and time.
   2. Execution interval: select the frequency of the scheduled publish.
   3. Channel: set the channel to publish.
   4. Publish archive sections: check the box to force a publish of archived sections.
   5. Override publish period restriction: if your channel has a publish period restriction on fulltext content check this box to override the restriction.

Accessibility Report

Last Modified:

06 Feb 2026

User Level:

Contributor

Version 8.4.2 and up

Description

In Terminalfour 8.4.2 we announced a newly redeveloped accessibility reporting tool.

This tool allows users to test any page in the Terminalfour Platform that they have access to to ensure that it means WCAG 2.2 AA standards.

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