Knowledge Base for Sitecore Users

As a Sitecore editor, you are part of a college-wide team of contributors and owners making updates within the CCBC content management system (CMS).

We've assembled a knowledge base of information to assist you in making updates to Sitecore pages. Content contributors can edit, add or delete content within the website. Content owners may also make edits to pages within Sitecore, but they provide departmental level approval of content as they are the subject matter experts.

The Web Management Team is here to support and guide your efforts according to the established Web Content Standards and Management Procedures.

We also assist by:

  • Reviewing pages submitted for approval
  • Adding or removing renderings from a page
  • Adding events to the online calendar
  • Adding new pages/sections to the website (paused)
  • Optimizing the search
  • Improving navigation
  • Host training sessions (paused)
  • Monitoring workflows
  • Maintaining the content management system
Turnaround time for web requests from Sitecore users have not changed; however, web requests from other CCBC employees will be delayed.

Estimated Completion Time

Services Trained Web Content Contributors & Owners All Other Departments
Update existing page 2-3 business days 1-2 weeks
Add new event up to 5 business days up to 5 business days

New website coming fall 2023

We’re moving away from Sitecore. CCBC launched an eight-phase, multi-year project to redevelop its website (www.ccbcmd.edu) in September 2021.

Learn more about the website redevelopment project»

How do I...

Become a Sitecore Contributor or Owner?

Sitecore training has been discontinued. We will be selecting a new content management system during our website redevelopment project. Training for the new CMS is expected to begin in early 2023.

In the meantime, we also need to ensure the current CCBC website remains up to date. We encourage you to work with a trained Sitecore contributor to make edits on a webpage. If one is not assigned or available for a page, we have developed Microsoft Word based content templates to format page updates. Learn more »

View list of trained Sitecore content contributors and owners by department »

Know what content belongs on CCBC’s website?

www.ccbcmd.edu is our largest and most visible publication serving the marketing and communications needs of the college. It promotes the college and informs the public of what CCBC has to offer.

If the content is of broad interest to the community, then it goes on the CCBC website.

The goals of the website are to:

  1. Attract and engage prospective students.
    • Encourage them to apply, visit the campus, request info, etc.
  2. Provide web resources for current students.
  3. Provide web resources for other key audiences.
    • Alumni, community businesses, donors and potential employees.
  4. Promote the wide variety of academic opportunities offered at CCBC.
  5. Present a consistent brand and message.

Content that is meant solely for our internal audiences (faculty and staff) or intended for small groups of students should not be on the public website.

Confidential, work processes and proprietary information should not appear on the public website.

Learn more about CCBC’s Web Content Standards »

Access Sitecore training materials?

Good news! Everything that you learned in the Sitecore training session is available within the knowledge base. See we didn't leave you hanging! And of course we're here to answer any additional questions too.

Sitecore definitions

Learn the lingo. This section covers concepts and definitions that are foundational to working in CCBC’s Sitecore Page Editor environment. Pages, media, user interface, content fields and terminology are explained in this section. View a typical Sitecore page with definitions»

Sitecore manual

This training manual is designed to provide a framework for using Sitecore to manage content on the CCBC website. It provides instructions for core tasks that a Sitecore user must be familiar with in order to manage their designated content. It’s not a comprehensive user manual; however, the fundamental concepts and procedures explained here provide a foundation for new Sitecore users and serve as a reference guide for them in the future. View the CCBC Sitecore Manual»

Sitecore tutorials

Remember all of the fun videos we showed during the training session? You can re-watch them whenever you want to. Every video from logging in, to making basic edits and tackling the media library are always available. Watch the videos »

Request a new page or delete one?

Sitecore Contributors and Owners cannot add or delete pages in Sitecore.

Currently, we are not accepting new page requests. If you need to redesign or edit an existing page, we can help with that. Learn more »

If a page needs to be removed, please let us know the URL and briefly explain why it needs to be deleted. The Web Management Team will take care to ensure a page is properly removed and that all links pointing to that page are disabled.

Create an accessible PDF?

Portable Document Format (PDF) is a user friendly file format to consistently present and share documents across operating systems and application environments. PDFs must be in a format that individuals with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with in the same manner as individuals without disabilities. Text, links, buttons, form fields, audio, video and diagrams in the PDFs must be fully accessible by all. It's not only the right thing to do—it's the law.

Get started on creating an accessible PDF »

Submit an event to the CCBC website?

If you have an event happening at CCBC that would be of interest to our students, faculty and staff and the general public, we want to know!

Upon completing a form and going through our approval process, your event may appear on the CCBC event calendar.

Learn more about the process »

Only trained Sitecore contributors or owners may use this form at this time.

Request a shorter URL?

The CCBC website houses hundreds of pages which in turn means that the URLs (web addresses) for webpages can be quite long. When directing outside traffic to a page within the site or when the URL appears in print, it is usually easier to assign the page a “friendly” URL also known as an alias.

An alias, or different name for a URL, provides an alternative, usually much shorter, name for a page.

For example, instead of providing this link “https://www.ccbcmd.edu/Resources-for-Students/Student-Records-and-Transcripts/Graduation/Commencement.aspx” to get to the commencement page, the alias “https://www.ccbcmd.edu/commencement” has been created.

It is short, clear and easy to remember. Most importantly it takes students to the same page as the traditional, long URL.

How do I request an alias?
  1. Review our list of current active aliases.
  2. If the alias you desire is not listed, email us:
    • The current URL of the page.
    • The desired alias.
  3. The Web Management Team will then create the alias and then inform you when it's ready to use.

All aliases are created and maintained by the Web Management Team.

Request web traffic statistics?

The Web Management Team uses Google Analytics and Sitecore to monitor website content, traffic, leads, server resources, data feeds and searches.

View our Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) »

Request a Google Analytics traffic report »

Create an accessible video?

Video is a versatile and engaging content format that not only gives students a real-life picture of what is going on; it's also easy to share across multiple platforms. Many students prefer watching video to reading. However, we have to ensure our videos are accessible by all. Video accessibility requirements depend on the content in the video file. If the video also includes audio, captions and audio descriptions are required. In addition to text alternatives, the content must be adaptable, distinguishable, and keyboard accessible.

Get started on creating an accessible video »