New list elements from CP Pro offer more customization

Context, metadata, stats driven, and manual publishing queues give publishers more options

Published: Monday, March 12, 2012

Updated: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 11:03

Using the new "list element" features

Publishing Queues and my news lists explained

When you upload an article into the admin area of college publisher, there are several different options you have when it comes to how you want that article displayed on the front end of your website.

Now with the list element – those options are expanded even further.

College Publisher Pro introduces the list element with four unique publishing queues –

  • metadata
  • context
  • statistics
  • and custom

Before, you could only layout your articles in manual lists or according to tags given to each article. The ability to display articles in this fashion still exists with the custom and metadata publishing queues, but now with context and stat driven options, you can make your site even more dynamic.

Simply place the "list element" from the drop-down menu of elements on your site on the section of the page where you want your stories displayed. Then, add all related queues by either searching for them in your content area, or create a new one. Based on your queue setting, the College Publisher Pro CMS will automatically populate that area of your site with related content.

Dynamic display

Another vast improvement that has been made with the list element feature is the ability to determine how you want your article lists viewed on the front end. Now, editors can choose to have their stories displayed in the basic list format (which is how all lists were previously laid out), or they can choose to automatically have the stories displayed as teasers, and can select from three different sizing hierarchies to convey prominence for different stories or topics.

Here's a brief explanation of each queue and how to use it:

  • Custom: Manually copy and paste-in articles into the list on the backend of your site after the article has been uploaded. This is done in a similar fashion to updating the "article list" element.
  • Metadata: Every time you upload a new article into CP Pro, there is an option to add category tags on the right hand side of the article upload tab. These categories directly correlate to which stories will be pulled in once you set up a metadata queue. For instance, if you go through and tag all of your sports stories and then create a metadata queue for sports, it will automatically pull all of these stories into that related queue. There are no limits to how many categories you can have a queue pull from. There are also new indexing tools in this element that allow you to compile lists based on key words in your articles.
  • Context: Do you have stories placed in a subsection of your site that you want featured on your front page? This is especially useful for subcategories in sports. With the context queue, you can set up a list that pulls specific content from an area of the site. For instance, with a context queue, you could pull all images from your site's football sub-page, and have them displayed inside the context queue in a customized format on the front page. You can do the same for articles and videos.
  • Stats: College Publisher already features a "most commented" and "most read" widget on partner sites to display top news, but now with the stats queue, you have a more dynamic way to feature your most read content to your readers. This publishing queue allows you to be as specific as you want in the content you wish to pull. For instance, if you want to pull only top sports stories or your top arts stories, you can now do so using the stats queue.

 

My news list

Lastly, the most dynamic upgrade to CP Pro's article listing feature is a new element that can be customized by the reader.  The "my news list" element lets you compile story lists that readers can select to see every time they return to the site. This means the front page can be customized by the user to display more stories of a certain topic, like sports, or politics. The news list can also be set with default listings to highlight content.

The "my news list" and publishing queues available on the site are just a few new features offered through CP Pro. You can read about more of the new tools and how to use them here - or call in or email to schedule a training or demo.

212-651-1747 - csmith@collegemedianetwork.com

 

-CMN Team

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