Learn about the standard page types available in the Energy.gov Drupal content management system (CMS) for Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) websites.
For information about other available page types, contact the Site Coordinators.
Article
Article pages are used for timely information, such as news stories and blog posts. Articles typically display the date when the article was published and information about the author. Articles also are hosting pages for publications (a shift from download nodes, with the migration to Drupal 8).
When writing article titles and summaries for article pages, please keep in mind how they will look in the dynamic listing paragraph module. The character limit for summaries is 255 characters, an increase of characters with the migration to Drupal 8.
For Publications
Before the move to the Drupal 8 platform, PDFs, Excel files, PPTs, or other native file types were housed on download nodes. With the migration, those download nodes were converted to articles. You can add a document to any page by adding a media block within the layout mode. From there, you can upload a new document or choose an existing document in the system. You can also upload a document by choosing Content > Add Media > Document.
Article nodes for publications or other files should have clearly written text that explains the files available on the page.
When you upload a file to an article or page, the default link text will be the file's file name. You can customize that link text by:
- Entering a descriptive file name in the "Add or Edit the Link Text" field when uploading it.
- Clicking on the pencil icon next to the file link in the view mode (not layout mode), then clicking on "Edit" (after the file has been added to a page).
Follow these best practices when adding publications and other files:
- Use descriptive file names and link text so visitors understand what your files include.
- Write summary text and descriptive intro text on the article page to explain your files.
- Optimize the article page by following EERE's guidelines for optimizing web pages for search engines.
- Ensure that all PDFs follow EERE's PDF requirements.
A single page can list several files. If you have a large number of related files, you can list them all on a single page.
All users can create article pages. Find more detailed instructions on creating articles in the CMS user guide. See also the instructions for adding documents.
Event
Event pages list upcoming events and their dates, times, and event information. All users can create event pages. Learn more about the event content type in the CMS user guide.
External Resource
Some paragraph types (such as listing paragraphs) cannot link to URLs outside of the Energy.gov website. Instead, you will need to create an external resource page for that external link, and then link these paragraph types to the external resource page instead of the external URL.
All users can create external resources; go to Content > Add Media > External Resource. See more details in the CMS user guide.
Listing
Create a listing content type to group together / tag articles and display them in a dynamic listing paragraph. Learn more about listing paragraphs in the CMS user guide.
Page
Pages are standard content pages. All users can create pages. Learn more about the page content type in the CMS user guide.
Person (formerly Contributor)
Person / contributor content types are used for two purposes:
- Blog authors: A person who posts regularly on a blog may have a person node. For example, see Allison Casey's page.
- Biographies: For example, see the About Us: Leadership page.
Special permissions are required to create a person content type. If you need a person / contributor page, ask the Site Coordinators to develop one. Always check that an individual does not already have a page before requesting a new one.
For more details about the person node, see the CMS user guide.