Getting Started

If you are just getting started with the SmartCMS, watch this overview video. Otherwise, just scroll down for more videos and SmartCMS user help.

SmartCMS Videos

Getting Started in SmartCMS Videos

Editing the Menu & Creating Pages

Learn how to edit and reorder existing menu items, add items to your menu, and create new pages on your site.

Using the image gallery slider

This video walks through adding or editing the gallery/slider content (such as the main rotating images at the top of your home page) and how to resize images to fit the slider dimensions properly.

Adding Images

Familiarize yourself with best practices for adding or editing images within a page, including how to access the Advanced Image Editor to resize, crop, or adjust your image.

Using the Text Editor

This is an in-depth video of all the capabilities of the text editor including these areas and more:

Adding or editing text on a page
Adding hyperlinks or text formatting (bold, italics, underline, etc.)
Aligning images within a text block
Applying a content style to a text area (available styles vary by theme)

Modifying the Website Appearance

This video walks through changing the main colors or background of your site.

Retrieving Deleted Content

See an example of how to restore a deleted content block.

Exploring Other Content Options in SmartCMS Videos

Embedding a YouTube or Vimeo Video

This video demonstrates using SmartCMS to embed a YouTube or Vimeo link to play a video in a responsive format on your site.

Setting up a ChamberMaster/MemberZone Widget

Learn how to add a database-populated widget to your site (such as Upcoming Events, New Members, Member Login, etc.).

Adding Custom Links or Buttons

This video shows how to add custom links or buttons to a page.

Embedding HTML Code

Find out how to embed raw code such as a social media feed or third-party widget code into your SmartCMS site.

Adding a Search Box

This video shows how to add a search bar to your site.

Creating and Editing an Icon Group

Learn how to add or edit a row of icons such as social media buttons or module icons.

Adding Navigation Links within a Page

This video walks through setting up a section of your page to pull a list of links that you have created within a menu dropdown.

Using Accordion or Tab Features (Available with Pro Software Only)

View a demonstration of how Pro subscribers can organize lengthy content into condensed areas that expand on click to reveal hidden content.

Advanced Tips

Facebook Page Plugin

Create a Channel for Videos

Create Module Page Custom Templates

Managing Your SmartCMS Site

The Page Properties Box

The Page Properties box allows for updating of individual settings for each page.

Published: When the Published checkbox is checked, the page content will be visible and live on the website. If the Published checkbox is unchecked: you will be able to see the page when logged into your website, however individuals viewing the live website won’t be able to see the page. Scheduled Publishing (Pro Edition) is available with the ability to select dates, times and time zones for the page to be published.
Layout: Click the dropdown to select with layout to use for the page. We recommend using “Home” on the homepage.
Title: The title text that displays in the browser tab can be changed in this section.
URL: Modify the text here to change the page URL. Updating the URL here will automatically create a redirect from the old page URL to the new one. Redirects are listed under Site Settings.
Page Description (Meta): The Meta Page Description describes what can be found on the page. We recommend adding a short description to all the pages created, as search engines look for this to display on search engine results pages.

The Menu Box

The Menu Box is where you can make additions or changes to the main menu.

One Tier Menu or Basic Mega Menu can be selected. Both options display optimally in mobile devices.
One Tier Menu – The sub links will display in a one tier dropdown format
Basic Mega Menu – For websites that have many links, the Basic Mega Menu provides grouping of links while organizing the links in sections, all in an optimal display for multiple devices.
By clicking on Add Menu Item, you are able to add a new navigation or page. Here you will be able to create a new page, dropdown menu, Module link, or external link. The same navigation options will display if you click the “+” box next to the menu heading titles.
For a New Page, type in the desired title, make sure the New Page is selected, and click save. A dialog box will appear with page options. A new page creation will automatically create a Heading 1 title for the page. Heading 1 titles are an important SEO element.
For a new menu title, select Dropdown Item and hit save. The new title will automatically display in first in the menu. You can now drag the menu title to preferred location. Menu titles can be edited, disabled, or deleted to the right of the title. Clicking the “+” on the left hand side will expand the dropdown to show the pages within the main menu item.
To add a Module page, type in the title of the page, selected Module and then use the dropdown menu to select a module before clicking save. Modifications can be added to the module link to add extra parameters.
Select External Link to add a page title and hyperlink. You have a choice to have the link open in a separate tab.

The Appearance Box

The Appearance box allows you to customize the colors on the website and change the background.

Primary, secondary, and optional third colors can be chosen. Appearance Profiles can be created for different design ’looks’ for your website. These settings are then saved as their own profile with the current date and time. This allows you to easily change back to what you had at a previous point in time. Example profiles could include holidays, special events, or a brand color change for your association.
The background color can be selected along with different design options. A photo or design pattern can also display as the background. A photo can be uploaded by browsing to the cloud and selecting a photo. A full-width display or repeating option is available. Recommended minimum photo size for full width display is 1024px wide x 768px high.

The Site Settings Box

The Site Settings box shows site wide settings for your website.

Add/change the favicon. The favicon is the small image that shows in your browser tab.
Custom code, such as html or Javascript, can be placed in the header/footer area by clicking that link.
Your Google Analytics ID is added for tracking traffic on your website, and a link to login to your google account to see your analytics.
Page redirects are also managed in this area.

The Deleted Content Box

Restoring Deleted Content - Have you ever deleted content from a page and wanted it back? With this software release, restoring deleted content is now available. When you delete a content block, it will be added to the Deleted Content box. Some details include:

Global content items will display at the top, and non-global items on a page level will display beneath the global items.
The most recently deleted content block will display at the top within the respected global and non-global sections.
To restore content, simply click and drag the content out of the box and into a content area on your page. Voila! Deleted content is restored.

Features of SmartCMS

Content Options

Text

When adding Text, a full selection of editing tools are available in the editor, including text formatting, adding of hyperlinks, and adding of images.

Text Content Styles: Available to add design interest to your content is the Content Style feature. Content Styles can be added to the text area by clicking the Content Style checkbox. Different selections for style, color, and icons are available. The content can be previewed before saving.