Portal is getting a CMS makeover in the form of a major upgrade. This newer version of Wagtail works mostly the same as the old one, but the overall system looks quite a bit different. Read more about higlighted changes below.

Up until now, Events pages show up as pages on Portal but aren't edited within the same CMS instance as the rest of Portal content.

Confusing? We don't blame you. But not to worry, because we're finally decommissioning events.cca.edu (the former standalone Events CMS), and we've moved everything over into the Portal CMS (portal.cca.edu/admin).

All the same content and functionality will remain, but you won't have to hop back and forth between platforms if you happen to manage both Events pages and other Portal pages.

New Feature: Comments

Commenting is now enabled in the page editor. Here's how to use it:

Adding Comments

1. Navigate to a page in the editor
2. Look for the comment icon next to field labels
3. Click to add a comment to that field
4. Type your comment and click "Comment" to save

Comment Threads

• Replying: Click "Reply" on any comment to start a thread
• Notifications: Team members mentioned with @username will receive notifications
• Resolving: Mark comments as resolved once the issue is addressed
• Viewing: Toggle the comments panel to show or hide all comments on a page

Best Practices

• Use comments to communicate about content changes without needing email
• Tag specific team members when you need their input
• Resolve comments once the discussion is complete to keep the interface clean
• Comments are saved with the page, so they persist across editing sessions

New Navigation and Layout

The admin interface has a refreshed design with improved navigation:

• Improved page explorer: The page tree view is more responsive and includes better visual hierarchy. Expect changes in the placement of buttons and menus
• Enhanced search: Global search has been improved with better filtering options

Page Editor Updates

The page editing experience includes several improvements:

• Minimap and Collapse All: Hovering your cursor on the rightmost side of the page editor opens the Minimap, which allows you to jump to specific sections. This view will also inform you if there are any validation errors on the page There is also now a “collapse all” button that will collapse all sections for easier navigation and organization
• Live preview refresh: The preview panel updates more smoothly when you make changes. The preview panel is now integrated into the editor so you can see changes as you make them, including responsive views for mobile and desktop. However, the preview will only appear for pages that have no errors. If you are having trouble viewing the preview, first check that your page fields meet character limits and that all required fields are filled out.
• Better autosave: Draft changes are saved more reliably in the background
• Improved block editing: StreamField blocks have better drag and drop functionality.
  • It is now possible to split Paragraph blocks to insert additional content. Do so by typing / in the block, and then selecting your desired content type.

Workflow and Publishing

• Workflow states: If workflows are enabled for your pages, you'll see clearer status indicators showing where a page is in the approval process
• Scheduled publishing: The interface for scheduling future publications has been simplified
• Revision history: The history view now shows more detailed information about what changed in each revision

Image Management

The image library has been improved:

• Better upload interface: Drag and drop multiple images at once
• Enhanced focal point tool: More precise control when setting image focal points
• Improved search and filtering: Find images faster with better metadata search
• Collections: Images can be organized into collections for easier management

Document Management

Document uploads and management work similarly to images:

• Bulk upload: Upload multiple documents at once
• Better organization: Use collections to organize documents by project or type
• Enhanced search: Find documents more easily with improved search

What Stays the Same

Most of your day-to-day editing workflow remains unchanged:

• Creating and editing pages works the same way
• Publishing and un-publishing pages uses the same process
• User permissions and roles function as before
• Content structure (page types, fields) is preserved

Check out the video below for a quick preview of the update:

If you discover that something's broken or just plain confusing, please reach out! You can best connect to our team via the CCA Help Desk.

You can also refer to Wagtail’s official Editor Guide for more information, though please note that our implementation of Wagtail CMS differs from what's documented about the CMS as a whole.