3/6/26 Workshop Recording: New CMS Features and Migration Tips

As more teams begin rebuilding their websites in the new templates, we are seeing many of the same questions come up around setup, migration, page layouts, components, images, and people pages. This recording highlights several new features now available in the platform, along with a few common patterns and trends we are seeing as departments move through their rebuilds. Use this article as a quick reference alongside the video.

Start with the Web Support Site

Before you begin building, make sure to spend time on the Web Support site. It’s being updated continuously with tutorials, walkthroughs, videos, configuration guides, accessibility resources, and answers to common setup questions. This is the best place to find guidance for items like headers, footers, breadcrumbs, side navigation, image recommendations, components, snippets, and migration steps. Some sections are still being expanded, so check back often as new help content is added.

Use Support Tickets and Office Hours Strategically

As demand increases, support tickets are the best way to report issues, ask questions, and make sure requests do not get lost. Open office hours remain available for live questions and troubleshooting, especially while editors are getting started with their new shells. In general, support tickets are best for specific issues that need follow-up, while office hours are best for quick guidance and discussion.

Understand the Structure of Your New Site

Each new site is organized into folders that help keep assets and configuration files manageable. Your site will include folders such as images, includes, css, and media. Images should stay in the images folder, while PDFs and other downloadable files belong in media. The includes folder is especially important because that is where your header and footer files live. These files control items like your main navigation, department title, footer links, and certain sitewide settings. If you need to update navigation labels or footer content later, this is where much of that work will happen.

Check Out Pages Before Editing Page Properties

One of the biggest things editors may miss at first is that page properties become more useful only after a page is checked out. Once a page is checked out, you will see the settings that control page layout and other options. This is where you can switch between boxed layout, full-width layout, and side navigation display depending on the kind of page you are building. In most cases, standard interior pages will use a boxed layout, while landing pages or component-heavy pages may benefit from a full-width layout.

Use the Shared Image Library When Needed

All editors now have access to a shared image library that includes university-approved images already sized for common component use. This is especially helpful for teams that are still gathering their own photography or need polished placeholder imagery while rebuilding. These shared images are meant to supplement your content, not replace your own site-specific image folders. If you already have images you want moved from your old site, you can prepare an Images to Migrate folder and indicate that in your site request form.

Components Are Flexible, but Not All Homepage Features Are Ready for Department Use

Many new components have been designed to be more flexible than older snippets and promo regions. In most cases, content now lives in a single main content area, which means components can be reordered more easily by dragging and dropping them. This makes page editing much easier than in the old system. At the same time, some components originally built for the university homepage or high-level landing pages may not yet work properly in department templates. If something looks broken or incomplete, it may simply still be in progress for department-site compatibility.

Component and Snippet Previews Are Improving

A helpful quality-of-life enhancement is the return of visual previews for components and snippets within the CMS. These previews make it easier to understand what you are inserting before placing it on the page. This is especially useful because some component names are not self-explanatory on their own. Additional thumbnails and preview support are continuing to roll out.

The New Zigzag Is Easier to Manage

For anyone looking for the old zigzag-style layout, there is a new version available. One major improvement is that you no longer need to manually alternate content from left to right in the editor. In the snippet itself, content stays in one consistent editing pattern, and the live page automatically handles the zigzag display. It is also more flexible than the older version and does not require every field to be used.

Schema Is Now Available in Page Properties

A new schema dropdown is being added to page properties to help editors identify what kind of page they are building. While this does not change anything visually on the site, it adds structured data in the background that helps search engines and AI-driven search tools better understand your content. Pages will default to a general content type, but editors can select more specific page types such as course, event, blog, or faculty profile where appropriate. Combined with proper heading structure, this gives pages a stronger foundation for discoverability.

Canonical URLs Are Now Handled Automatically

Another important improvement is that canonical URLs are now built into the new templates by default. In the old environment, the same page could often be reached through multiple URLs, which diluted search performance and created confusion for search engines. In the new templates, canonicals are handled automatically so each page points back to its preferred version. For most editors, this is a behind-the-scenes improvement that requires no action but results in cleaner indexing and fewer duplicate URL issues.

The People Directory Utility Is Rolling Out

One of the biggest new features introduced in this demo is the first phase of the People Directory Utility. This new setup allows editors to manage faculty and staff listings through a spreadsheet rather than manually editing each person block on a page. Editors fill out a Google Sheet, export the locked output as a CSV, upload it to the site, and use the utility to generate the data file that powers the people directory component.

This tool supports tabs, optional subgroup headings, alphabetical sorting, featured individuals, profile links, contact information, LinkedIn URLs, and headshots. Images are matched automatically when they are named using the expected first-name-last-name format and placed in the correct people folder within images. Once the initial setup is complete, ongoing updates become much easier because most changes only require updating the spreadsheet and re-uploading the CSV.

People Pages Are Meant to Be Easier to Maintain

The goal of the new people utility is to give departments a cleaner and more maintainable way to publish faculty and staff while larger university-wide directory solutions continue to develop. Departments will still be able to create individual profile pages, but this utility gives teams a faster way to get directory content live now, even if all profile pages are not finished yet. Additional enhancements, such as more custom fields and profile-related tools, are being considered based on feedback.

Existing Component Gaps Should Still Be Reported

As departments rebuild, some older layouts and use cases may not map perfectly to the current component library. In cases where there is no direct replacement, the recommendation right now is to use the closest available option so your site can continue moving forward, then submit feedback about the missing functionality. Specific examples and links to current pages are especially helpful. New components, enhancements, and adjustments are still being added regularly.

Subdomains and Special URLs May Require Extra Planning

Sites that currently use special subdomains or separate hostnames may take longer to migrate because they require additional setup. In many cases, moving to a standard stonybrook.edu/path structure is cleaner and better for long-term maintenance and search visibility, while redirects can still preserve older URLs so users can find the site. These cases are being handled individually, so editors with subdomain-based sites should expect a slightly different process.

Summary

The new site templates are live, active development is continuing, and editor feedback is shaping improvements in real time. As you rebuild, rely on the Web Support site, submit support tickets for anything specific, attend office hours when needed, and keep an eye out for future demos covering additional components, profile options, and migration tools.