Creating and Adding an Announcement Directory Page

What is an Announcement Directory Page?

An announcement directory page is a page that is automatically formatted to display child pages, called announcement detail pages, that are active. They will display as cards on the directory page. There is a featured announcements area at the top that allows you to feature certain news and a lower area that can be filtered or searched according to dates. You would create pages called announcement detail pages as a child or sub page under the directory page.

You could also use an Announcement Directory Page to share information about alumni or share photo albums. It will work well if you want to share a collection of items.

Do You Have an Announcement Directory Page?

The Announcement Directory page may have a different name, but the page type is correct. Not all schools have an Announcement Directory Page set up. To find out what type of Announcement page you have, click on your Announcement page. If you are not in the All Properties view, click your View Options button in the upper right corner and change to the All Properties view. In the gray area above the content for your page you will see the page type.

If you have the correct page type you can proceed. If you don't have an Announcement Directory Page you can create one. If you need assistance setting up an Announcement Directory Page on your school site, please submit a Web Support Ticket and provide those details.

How to Create an Announcement Directory Page

If you already have an Announcement Directory Page you can modify the following things.

• Add a New Announcement (Announcement Detail Page)
• Review Adding the Announcement Directory to Your School Home Page
  • To change the number of cards that display automatically
  • To change how the cards look

Create a New Announcement Directory Page

1. From a School Home Page use the Options menu  to select New Page.
   
   
2. Enter a page name. Example: Announcements
   Note: A shorter page name is recommended because it becomes the page's URL. You can create a longer title for the page after you create it if you want it to say "News & Announcements" using the Title field on the page.
3. Select Announcement Directory Page.
   
   
4. Add a Default Thumbnail (thumbnail or mobile image size).
   • You can select from our shared images by browsing to the Shared folder under the Media tab in the Assets Pane on the right or by searching at the top of the Media area.
     
     
   • Or you can add your own picture - How to Add Media (images, pdfs, etc.)
     
     
5. Add a Section Title for Featured Announcements area if desired. The default is "Featured Announcements" (Example: Featured News)
   
   
   
6. Left click and drag any announcements you want to feature into the Featured Announcements area. If you don't manually add them it will use the most recent active Announcement Detail Pages.
7. Select how you want the announcement cards to be displayed.
   
   
   
   
   • Title/Page Name + Link
   • Title/Page Name only - clicking on the card will not show the announcement page with text on it. This could be used for a Save the Date card or general message like Enjoy Spring Break
   • Title/Page Name + Description (no link) - This could be used if you have very little information or just want to share an event date, time and location with no other details
   • Title/Page Name + Description + Link
   • Using this setting on the Announcement Directory page effects how Announcement Detail Page cards display unless the page itself has a different PPV Options setting.
8. Once you are done adding Content you can publish your page.
   • Keep in mind the page only displays the title and any active Announcement Detail sub pages.
     • Until you create an announcement the only item on your page will be the page title or name and the Featured Announcements area title. You may want to create some announcement cards for events you know are coming up or redirect pages to important resources, like the PGCPS School Year Calendar.
   • If you have added your own image for the Default Thumbnail be sure to publish the image prior to or at the same time as when you publish your Announcement Directory Page. You can use the Project Overview to publish multiple items at once.
9. Publish the page.

Adding the Announcement Directory to a School Home Page

An Announcement Directory Page works differently on a School Home Page. If you add the Announcement Directory Page to the Announcements area of a School Home Page it will display active announcement cards in that area. You do not need to manually add the individual announcements to the content area.

1. Click on your School Home Page in the Navigation Pane on the left.
2. Change to the All Properties View if you are not in it already.
   • Click on the View Options button in the upper right corner.
   • Select All Properties
     
     
3. Scroll down to the Announcements area of your School Home Page
   
   
   
4. Add a unique Section Title if desired. (Example: News & Announcements or Tiger News) The default title is "Announcements" if you don't add one. 
5. Left click and drag the Announcement Directory Page into the Content area.
6. Select select the Number of Announcements you want to display. It will display them in rows of 3, so multiples of 3 are recommended. We recommend 3 or 6.
7. Left click and drag the Announcement Directory page into the View All Link area or click the options button and browse to the page to select it.
8. Publish your School Home Page

School Home Page With Announcement Directory Added

You will see active announcements. (Note: If you see an extra card you did not add, the Web Services Office is broadcasting it to all schools or certain school levels by request.)