The most common job of all: something on the site is out of date, and you fix it.
Contents
Before you start
Have the new text ready, ideally written in a plain document first. Copying from a word processor works, but keep formatting simple: headings, bold, lists and links.
Steps
- Find the page. Open Content structure and click through the tree, or type a word from the page into Search... (Finding something). Click the page's name.
- Press Edit. If the page exists in several languages, choose the language in the list next to Edit first. The edit form opens with a draft: a copy only you can see (Drafts, versions and publishing explained).
- Find the field. The bar at the top of the form has one button per field (Title, Intro, Body ...); a click jumps to that field (The edit form).
- Make your change.
- Look before you publish. Preview in the left column shows the draft as it will look.
- Press Send for publishing. On most sites the change is on the site at once. If your site uses approvals, it waits under My pending items until someone approves it.
- Check the site. Open the page on the public site. If you still see the old text, see Caches explained.
Working in the text box
Long text fields (rich text) have a small toolbar: paragraph styles, bold, italic, lists, links, tables, pictures and Fullscreen (Rich text). Good habits:
- Use the paragraph styles for headings instead of making text big and bold. Screen readers and search engines understand real headings.
- Keep paragraphs short.
- Write link text that says where it goes ("our opening times"), never "click here".
Pressing Enter in a one-line field (such as Title) is the same as pressing Send for publishing. In a long text field, Enter makes a new paragraph as usual.
Not finished yet?
- Store draft and exit keeps your draft. Continue later from My drafts on the dashboard.
- Discard draft throws your change away; the published page stays exactly as it was.
- The draft is saved automatically every few minutes while you type, so a closed browser tab costs little.
If it does not work
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| The form comes back with a red message | A required field (red star) is empty, or a value is wrong. The message at the top and at the field says which. |
| Possible edit conflict | You or a colleague already has a draft. Continue your draft, or start a New draft (When someone else is editing). |
| Edit is grayed out | Your role may not change this page. Ask your administrator. |
| The change is not on the site | Was it published, or is it pending? Then a cache (Caches explained). |
| You published something wrong | Go back to the previous version (Undoing a mistake). |
Related pages
- First steps
- Before you publish checklist
- Creating and editing content
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
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