Before you get to work on your Web site, it's best to understand the principal components of the CMT system: content, display format, and navigation. Your Web site can be broken down into three basic components:

  • Navigation consists of the menu items and links that guide your site visitors to the content.
  • Format is how the content is displayed on the Web page and is determined by the page template selected.
  • Content can be in the form of articles, forms, calendars, graphic slideshows, photo galleries, forums, etc. and is added to the CMT database using specialized tools such as the Form editor and Article editor.
Creating navigation is creating your Web site menus. These menus can be either standalone or multi-tiered with sub-categories grouped under a major header. In this case, when a viewer clicks on the major header, the sub-categories are revealed. Navigation may also be in terms of links you have created in articles or on the pages themselves. More about creating your Web site navigation is covered in Chapter 1.

Creating format is done by choosing from a variety of page templates on which you place single articles or a combination of articles (in either abstract or complete form) links and slideshows. You can also select special page formats to display online calendars, forms, and membership lists. More information about setting up your Web page format is covered in Chapter 2.

Creating content is creating the information that you want to present to your viewers. Often this content will be in the form of articles -- text that may or may not have an image associated with it. Other times, you may want to display a series of images for the viewer to peruse -- this content, then, would take the form of a slideshow. You may also want to provide a place for event registration or viewer feedback -- this content then would take the form of an online form. More about creating your Web site content is covered in Chapter 3.