Table of Contents
Tips & Tricks
Troubleshooting
FAQ(s)
Related Articles
Tips & Tricks
Slugs | Navigation Image | Headers and Org Structure | Default Catalog
Images | Email Link | Public Catalog Default Term Logic
Slugs
When selecting slugs, choose intuitive, simple, and short labels, as this will help with the accessibility of your site.
Navigation Image
Ensure that your navigation image's background is transparent and that the image is cropped to solely include the navigation image and no negative space. This allows the Catalog builder to properly size the navigation image to the header.
Headers and Org Structure
Be intentional with your use of H1 headers and subsequent organizational structures for your pages as your header structure, paired with how your Sidebar-navigation is set up. This will guide how your auto-generated PDF catalog will organize its Table of Contents.
Default Catalog
Setting your primary catalog as your default catalog in the "Catalogs" tab of your website settings will let you not have to worry about setting the catalog scope every time you edit your navigation or pages.
Images
When using the WYSIWYG editor with images, ensure you use the preview function to see how it will appear on a webpage. The editor's size is based on the size of the screen and how zoomed in one is; it's not helpful when considering fit. As a rule of thumb, use images that are at least 1000px wide (sample shown below).
Email Link
If you would like to include an email link in a WYSIWYG field / Page editor, use the mailto: prefix in the inserted link.
Public Catalog Default Term Logic
Overview
The public catalog supports the Course Schedule card, which will default to display the "Current Term" as it is defined in scheduling.
Caveat
PATH: Catalog > Settings > Terms
If the term is not set as public on the Terms page (shown below), then there will be no default term in the public catalog course schedule card.
Troubleshooting
404 Errors When Using Navigation| Unable to See Your Catalog| Internal Links Lead to 404 Errors
Columns Don’t Align| Changes to Settings Aren’t Taking Effect| Requisites Take Too Long to Load
404 Errors When Using Navigation
Problem Overview
You’re getting 404 errors when you use the navigation.
Solution Overview
This could be caused by a few different things:
You have a Scope > Catalog mismatch.
You haven’t connected pages to the navigation links in the nav-builder.
You've used (not updated) "courses," "programs," or "departments" as your base slug (our pre-built pages use these slugs, so you're mismatching the query when you continue to use these slugs).
You’ve repeated your slugs.
Solution One: Scope > Catalog Mismatch
Check your scopes in the navigation tab and ensure that it is in proper alignment with the appropriate catalog.
Ensure that in the "Catalogs" tab of the website settings, that you've also selected the appropriate top and sidebar navigation.
Solution Two: Navigation Links Not Connected
Ensure that:
Navigation links are connected with pages
Slugs have been added
All warnings have been addressed so the navigation isn't red and indicating a broken link anywhere (shown below).
Solution Three: Mismatched Query
Change the slug to anything other than those specific terms – it can be similar, it just needs to be unique. For example, you are free to use "program" instead of "programs":
Solution Four: Repeated Slugs
Double-check all of your navigation links and ensure that there aren't any duplicate slugs that are placed in the same position in the navigational hierarchy.
Unable to See Your Catalog
Problem Overview
You’re unable to see your catalog when you click “view public catalogs” even though you’ve built it and configured your navigations correctly.
Solution Overview
This is an issue that has to do with URL settings. When you build a new catalog(s), Coursedog supplies and links a relevant URL(s) to your staging environment. If your catalogs are not attached to the appropriate URL in the URL tab within settings, it will not be viewable. Ensure that your catalog is attached to the appropriate URL (shown below) at the following path: Catalog > Settings > URLs.
Internal Links Lead to 404 Errors
Problem Overview
All of your internal links lead to 404 errors in production even though they worked in staging.
Solution Overview
All hyperlinks should be built and structured as internal relative links— meaning they don't have the base url (eg. https://staging.coursedog.com) attached to them; rather, they're just the slugs (e.g. /programs/business/ba/accounting). Ensure that all hyperlinks are structured as relative links before the clone to production, otherwise, when SSL is set up and the base URL becomes https://catalog.<institution_name>.edu, your internal links will not work:
Columns Don’t Align
Problem Overview
The columns in your tables don’t align when there are multiple tables on the same custom page.
Solution Overview
The alignment of tables is dynamically determined based on the content, which also allows for a responsive design, as the table will change shape to accommodate smaller screen sizes. The downside is there is no current way to enforce alignment of table columns.
Changes to Settings Aren’t Taking Effect
Problem Overview
You’ve changed settings, but they aren’t taking effect.
Solution Overview
There are catalog-specific website settings. If a user is trying to change global catalog settings, and they see the changes are not taking effect, the first thing they should check is if they have catalog-specific settings set up, because those will override all global website settings.
Requisites Take Too Long to Load
Problem Overview
The loading time for requisites seems to take awhile.
Solution Overview
A small lag is to be expected, as the data for the requisites is loaded dynamically when the user opens the requisite accordion. A load time of a few seconds is to be expected. If there are load times in the range of multiple minutes, however, that may call for investigation.
FAQ(s)
How can I get images onto the program page?
Use Case
You want to add photos to your Catalog that represent different programs.
How to Do It (Overview)
To Add Photos One-by-One for Programs
The ability to add program images to catalog pages resides in Curriculum Management.
Step One: Follow this path: Curriculum Management > Settings > Program Template
Step Two: Make sure “Catalog Image” is already part of your program template. If it is, skip to step five. If it isn’t, process to step three.
Step Three: Select “Program Template Fields”.
Step Four: Drag and drop “Catalog Image” onto your template.
Step Five: Follow this path, select “Add Image”, and follow the on-screen prompts: Curriculum Management > Programs > [Select Program ] > Edit Program
To Add Photos En Masse
Work with your Coursedog team to have photos added in bulk for multiple programs.