A&S Communications uses Adobe Contribute for content editors to edit webpages on the Arts & Sciences website. Contribute is a program that allows users to quickly and easily make updates to webpages or create new ones.
To purchase Contribute software use one of these methods:
Purchase Contribute in person from Cavalier Computers store which is located above the Central Grounds Parking Garage. Bring your PTAO. Call (434) 924-3475 for prices.
Purchase directly from Adobe online using your purchasing card (Cost ~ $169, $79 upgrade).
Follow the instructions in the Contribute Installation Guide. If you are experiencing problems downloading the Contribute software, please contact your LSP.
To find out which version of Contribute you are currently using, follow these steps
Mac users
PC users
A&S Communications provides support for Contribute CS3. Currently the Arts & Sciences website community uses Contribute CS3. Prior versions of Contribute work, but have a variety display problems, so we recommend that you upgrade.
Enter "connect:cps.clas.virginia.edu" in the address bar. To see detailed instructions with screenshots, follow the instructions Set up a Contribute Connection.
If you've used Contribute to edit A&S webpages prior to 2007, you may have an old Contribute connection. Follow the instructions to remove existing Contribute connections and then set up a Contribute connection.
Email the URL and request access to the pages you need to edit. You will need an Eservices account. For detailed instructions, complete the steps in " Request permission to edit webpages".
To add an email address or link in Contribute, complete the steps in "Add an Email Address or Link in Contribute".
There's more than one way to resize an image within the program, but some methods resize the actual image (therefor reducing download time and bandwidth usage) while others only resize the display of the image. To resize an image correctly, complete the steps in "Resize an Image in Contribute".
The page title in the dialog box that pops up should exactly match the text in the title section at the top of the page (i.e. New Page Creation on this page).
Pages should be logically named to reflect their content, and when possible should be no more than 31 characters long, including the .html suffix.
Most of the text within the A&S site is formatted as 'normal'. Sub-categories (such as the questions on this page) should be formatted as Heading 2, which will generate a sub-navigation at the top of the page if there are more than two of them. Heading 3 is available for sub-sub-categories, and Heading 4 for sub-sub-sub-categories. Heading 1 should never be used for anything other than the title region at the top of the page, and it's formatting is applied automatically. Doing so will cause the navigation that is automatically generated based on Heading 1 tags not to work.
Use tables only to display data, not as a way to layout images or text on the page (we can help you with that).
When creating tables to lay out data, make sure you use the following settings:
We have set up style sheets which will automatically “style” your tables, which is why it is important to maintain these settings with all of your tables. If you do not, it could cause the whole layout of your page to break down.
IMPORTANT: Do NOT drag and resize your table in the page, as this will cause the layout of the entire page to break
Set the number of rows and columns that you will need to display your data. Table headers are a great way to label your columns and rows, and should be used when possible.
NOTE: Do not use tables to “lay out” the content on your page unless you are actually going to create a table grid for tabular data. Using this method is outdated and not supported by current or future web standards.
If you open a page and get a warning that the page is checked out by a user, contact that user and ask them to log into Contribute and either publish or discard their drafts for that page.
Unless you publish your changes to a page, or discard your draft, the page will remain “checked out” by you.
Copy and paste text from Microsoft Word into a text editor such as Notepad or TextEdit, then copy and paste the information from that program into Contribute. Reapply formatting such as h2 styles, lists and links within Contribute so that the page displays properly.
Microsoft Office products carry over invisible formatting information when copy and pasted directly which can display incorrectly when published to the live site.
To link to a Word or PDF document in Contribute, complete the steps in " Link to a Word or PDF Document in Contribute.".
There is a bug in Contribute on Macs which disallows using “Shift – Enter” for single line breaks. When you need to create a single spaced line break, go to Insert Menu > Line Break
In cooperation with the ITC training group, we have developed a 2-hour training class for A&S Contribute users. Email to request training.
There are a series of training tutorials available within Contribute to help you learn how to edit your web pages. If you are working in Contribute and need assistance, you can use the "How Do I?" feature located in the sidebar.