Navigation Tutorial

Prerequisites

Tutorial Sections

1. Overview
2. Access Navigation Metadata
3. Add an Item to the Navigation
4. Create a Start Point
5. Create a Parent
6. Rearrange Items
7. Remove an Item

Overview

The left navigation is used to help people get around your site. You can have pages and/or folders (subsites) show up in the navigation, and you can reorder them as you see fit.

The link at the top of the navigation is the current Parent folder, and the items underneath it are its children.

The page you are currently on is the one highlighted with a darker color. If nothing is highlighted, you are either on the Parent page, or you are on a page that hasn't been added to the navigation.

You can also create nested pages by marking a folder as being a 'Start Point.'

All pages inside a folder set as a "Start Point" will show up indented underneath the parent, as long as they are added to the navigation themselves.

Access the Navigation Metadata

Each page has its own navigation metadata. This is where you decide what will show up in the left navigation, and in what order.

To access a page's navigation metadata, do the following:

1. Log in to CommonSpot
2. Navigate to the page you want to modify.
3. Go to Properties & Actions >> Custom Metadata.
4. Click on the Navigation tab.

Add a Page to the Navigation

To add a page to the left navigation, do the following:

1. Access the page's Navigation Metadata.
2. Check the box next to "Add to Navigation."
3. If this is an index page, you'll probably want to make this a start point, and possibly promote it to parent (see below).
4. Press Finish.

Create a Start Point

Start points allow you to nest pages in the left navigation. To create a Start Point, do the following:

1. Choose the folder (subsite) you want to be a Start Point.
2. Go to that folder's index page. (What's an index page?)
3. Access the index page's Navigation  Metadata.
4. Check the box next to "Add to Navigation."
5. Check the box next to "Create Start Point."
6. Press the finish button.

Now add this folder's child pages to the left navigation to have them show up  nested.

Nested pages do not show up all the time. They only show up when you have selected the Start Point or one of the Start Point's child pages.

Create a Parent Folder

A parent folder shows up at the very top of the left navigation, and the items below it are that folder's child pages & folders.

If you click on a page that is promoted to parent, then the previous navigation goes away, and that page shows up at the top.

To create a parent folder:

1. Choose the folder you want to make a parent.
2. Navigate to that folder's index page (What's an index page?)
3. Access this page's Navigation Metadata (under Custom Metadata).
4. Check "Add to Navigation"
5. Check "Create Start Point"
6. Check "Promote to Parent"
7. Press the finish button.

It's important that all three checkboxes are checked.

Rearrange Pages in the Navigation

Pages can be placed in any order. To reorder pages:

1. Go to the current navigation's parent folder (the one at the very top of the left navigation).
2. Edit the Navigation Metadata (under Custom Metadata).
3. The items in the current navigation show up on the right. Click and drag them to your desired location.
4. Press the finish button.

Remove Items from the Navigation

If you no longer want an item in your navigation, do the following:

1. Go to the current navigation's parent folder (the one at the very top of the left navigation).
2. Edit the Navigation Metadata (under Custom Metadata).
3. Click and drag the unwanted item to the trash can.
4. Press the finish button.