This article refers to a legacy WMS process
This article refers to a process used on sites that have not been migrated to the New WMS yet.
If your site is already migrated, consult the Index of documentation for the McGill Web Management System.
OVERVIEW
Target audience: Site Administrators, Site Managers, Channels Editors
McGill Channels is a feature of the Web Management System (WMS) that enables News and Events content to be published and displayed on McGill websites. Channels uses RSS feeds, a standard for content syndication across the web.
In this article:
What are Channels items?
There are two categories of Channels items:
- News items, such as news releases and major announcements.
- Events that are date-specific, such as lectures, conferences, and notices of important academic dates and deadlines.
Posting to Channels
All Site Managers are allowed to post Channels items on their own sites.
Site Sponsors and Site Administrators can request access for individuals representing McGill units (such as Directors, Deans, or Chairs) to post News and Events on the "Channels - Contribute" site, by filling out the form: Request/Remove Channels Permissions.
TIPS & BEST PRACTICES:
- Categories within Channels are chosen from a pre-set list. They are intended to be generic topic-driven categories that can become targeted by adding more specific tags. Although some categories still use a legacy unit-specific name, these are being phased out.
- Create custom Tags to classify your content and make it easier to search.
- When posting news and events items you must specify a Target Audience. This classification helps other websites pull in and display your content appropriately.
- When creating or updating translated Channels items, make sure that matching categories are entered in both the English and French versions.
If you are interested in posting Channels items, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the documentation links below.
Viewing information
Once contributors have posted information in McGill Channels, anyone can view it wherever syndicated content is displayed, including:
- The Channels "hub" site (www.mcgill.ca/channels) allows users to search all available categories of content and subscribe to RSS feeds from one convenient location.
- The News and Events blocks on many McGill websites.
- The events search pages when configured on McGill websites.
- Through RSS feeds.
Displaying Channels items on a website you manage
As a Site Manager, you can post and display Channels items on your own website. You can also import Channels items from other McGill websites and display them within blocks on your site. You can select Channels items to import by specifying a combination of:
- "Category" under which the content is classified, or
- WMS website where the Channels items were created.
Documentation
For Channels contributors and site editors:
- Creating a Channels Event or News item in the WMS
- Importing Channels content and creating blocks in the WMS
- Pinning Channels Events
- Channels Events Search
About RSS feeds:
About submitting a request or issue:
