Drupal: Getting Started
Drupal: Getting Started
User Accounts & Roles
When you are added as a user to a CAFE website, you will be assigned a user role. This user role dictates the permissions you have to execute certain actions on your site.
The most common user role we assign is the site administrator role. This is the primary role used to administer a site (and should be the default unless certain actions need restricted). Based on specific needs, lower-level user roles can be assigned to limit certain actions.
The 4 user roles available for M-G CAFE websites by default are: Site Administrator, Content Manager, Content Editor and Content Author.
Permissions
The respective permissions for each role are:
- Site Administrator: Can create new content and media, edit any content and media, delete any content and media, manage taxonomy terms and administer menu items.
- Content Manager: Can create new content and media, edit any content and media, delete any content and media, manage taxonomy terms and administer menu items.
- Content Editor: Can create new content and media, edit any content and media and delete any content and media.
- Content Author: Can create new content and media, edit own content and media and delete own content and media.
User Interface & General Site Structure
Understanding your site's structure and the user interface (UI) you use to navigate your site is important.
User Interface
All websites on our web platform leverage Drupal 9. The underlying user interface that's used when building your website is that which comes with Drupal 9. This UI is optimized for user experience, accessibility and mobile responsiveness. The primary UI element that you'll use to move throughout your website is the admin toolbar.
Admin Toolbar
Once you're logged in to your site, you'll notice a toolbar at the top of your browser window. This toolbar is used to direct you to primary administration pages (e.g., content overview, media library, menu administration, taxonomy manager). Additionally, the toolbar contains the primary button for logging out of your user account and flushing your site's cache.
General Site Structure
Your site is divided into 5 regions: the header, lateral navigation, main navigation, content region and footer. For each page of your site, the header, menu and footer remain static. The content region displays the content you add for the respective page.
The header region of your site contains the primary unit, department or program wordmark. Additionally, the header contains a link to myUK, a toggle for the college's custom search and a toggle for your site's lateral navigation. If your site is affiliated with a unit and the primary site for your unit, department or program, the title of your site will also be printed in the header.
The lateral navigation displays site-specific and college-specific quick links and contact information for your unit, department or program, as well as icons for the social media accounts associated with your unit, department or program. If these aren't added when your site is created, please submit a web support request to request your social media accounts be associated with your site. On desktop, this navigation is toggled using the "Resources" button in your header. On mobile, the lateral navigation is embedded in the mobile menu.
The menu region of your site displays the menu items added to your site's main navigation. On desktop, the main navigation is printed inline with the ability for menu items below the top menu level to be accessed through a drop-down functionality when hovered. On mobile, the main navigation is bundled with the lateral navigation to form a mobile-responsive menu that allows users to switch seamlessly between menus.
The content region of your site is dynamic. As you build your website, the content region of each page can be modified to meet your intention for the respective page. New pages are added as content. To add new content to your site, you'll need to know which type of content you want to add.
The footer region of your site contains college- and university-level branding requirements and quick links. This footer is shared across all M-G CAFE websites on the new platform and is not able to be changed on a site-by-site basis. You can, however, request to disable the pre-footer region (containing the "apply now," "plan a visit" and "give now" links) if your site is not related to an academic program.
