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Getting Started

Every individual who will be making edits to your site will need Adobe Contribute installed on their computer. Some CSU IT departments require software be purchased and installed by the campus. Please work with your IT department to purchase and install Contribute on your computer.

Connection Keys

When your site is ready the CDL will email a connection key and a password to you. The connection key is an encrypted file which contains information for connecting to the server, and your access level. Double-clicking the connection key in your email will bring up the "Import Connection Key dialog" box in Contribute. Enter your password to activate your key. Each individual who would like to edit the website will need Contribute and an access key. Please let the CDL know which individuals will be editing the site, what access levels they should have, and their email addresses. Access can also be limited to specific pages of your website. Note: Anyone making changes to the website should be familiar with CSU accessibility requirements, http://www.calstate.edu/accessibility/.

Access Levels

• Writer: Able to edit text and add images and documents, then send to Publisher for review and publishing to website.
  
• Publisher: Writer access plus publishing privileges.
  
• Content Manager: Publisher access plus ability to add and delete pages.

Editing Pages with Contribute

Before using Contribute to edit your site, we suggest you take the Contribute tutorial which will introduce you to editing and publishing web pages. You can find the tutorial in Contribute's help menu and on the start page.

Check-out / Check-in

Contribute uses a Browse-Edit-Publish workflow model. To edit a page, first browse to the page you'd like to change. Click "Edit" to enter the editing mode. The file is now checked out so that other users on your team or at the CDL cannot make any changes to the file until you are done. Make your changes to the page and click "Publish" to upload the changes. Publishing the file (or clicking "cancel") will automatically check the file back in so others can make changes.

Undo your Published Changes

If you accidentally publish a page, you can use the roll back function to undo your changes. Browse to the page you want to undo. Choose File > Actions > Roll Back to Previous Version. Now you can see a list of previous versions to select from. Contribute will save up to three previous versions of a web page. Remember the CDL staff or other individuals with connection keys may also be making changes to the site, so the three roll back versions won't necessarily be your previous versions.

Formatting Text and Images

Editing text is as simple as placing your cursor where you'd like the text to change and typing your edits. You can format text to be a page heading (h1), a subheading(h2), or emphasize body text using "bold", "italic", or "bold italic". "Highlights" will add a colored background to a paragraph. You may also want to add a new box in the right column (module), or add a new section (dashboard) to the main area of the page. All of the these settings are available from the editing toolbar.

Adding an image is just as easy. Place your cursor where you'd like your image and choose Insert > Image > From My Computer from the top menu bar. When you add images to your web pages Contribute will prompt you for a description of each image. Image descriptions are required by law (see "Image Descriptions" in the sidebar). Double click the image to open the Image Properties dialog box, which will allow you to change the size, alignment, or padding around the image. It's preferable to upload any images you would like to use on your site, rather than link to images on other websites.

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