Tutorial: Using the Site Manager

A number of useful and important functions are grouped together under the Site Manager. Once you know your way around this set of functions in Yola, you will start to feel like you really are in charge of your site, and you will be able to make important changes quickly and effectively. The aim of this short tutorial is to introduce you to the Site Manager, so that you know when and how to use it to your best advantage.

From the screenshot above you can see how all the key functions related to the management of your site are right at your fingertips! The Site Manager is always available to you in a tab on your Yola toolbar.

Step 1: Managing your pages

In "Site Pages" you get a clear view of all the pages in your site. You can open a page to work on it by clicking on "Edit", rename a page by clicking on "Rename", or trash it by clicking "Delete". When you need to add a page, simply click on "Create New Page".

In the dialog that opens up, you have 3 important decisions to make about the page you are busy creating. These functions are all related, and so they are conveniently grouped together in a single dialog box.

1. You can choose a standard web page or blog page by clicking on either option.
2. In the "Name" field you type in a name for your page which will be both the filename and the link text in the menu (or navigation bar).
3. By default your page's "Heading" is the same as the name of your site. You can type a different heading into this field if you wish.
4. You can decide whether you want to include your page in the menu or not. If it is one of your main pages then you should include it. If it is a sub page that you plan to link to from a main page, untick this box. Then the page will not appear in the main menu and visitors will navigate to it via a hyperlink you create (see the Creating Links tutorial).
5. You can choose to password protect this particular page. If you have selected to password protect the page, a dialog box will open open asking you set your login and password.

Once you have made all your selections, click "ok".

Step 2: Managing your files

Soon after you start building your site, you will realize the importance of the File Manager. The File Manager is what you will use every time you want to add content from your desktop to your site. With the File Manager you can upload images, audio, videos, text files, PDF's etc.

Click on the "File Manager" button on the top toolbar and the file manager dialog will open up.

To upload files, click on the "Upload" button near the top of the dialog box.

Browse your desktop for the file, or files, you want to upload and when you are done, click "ok". Depending on the size of your files and how many you are uploading at once, this process might take a few seconds. As soon as your files are uploaded they will appear in the File Manager. You can use the graphics or photos you upload in the Image or Text Widgets, or link to other files you have uploaded with the Link Editor.

More info available on the tutorial Using the File Manager.

Step 3: Editing The Menu

The "Edit Menu" button in the Site Explorer gives you access to a set of functions related to how your pages are organized in your menu (navigation bar). Click on this button to open up this dialog.

Drag and drop pages vertically to edit the order which they appear in the menu. Drag and drop pages horizontally to move them out of or into the menu. This is useful as you may find that you need to re-shuffle your pages. Remember the "Edit Menu" function in the Site Manager (or on the middle toolbar) whenever you need to do this.

Step 4: Publish your site

The whole point of creating a website is so that you can share it with the world! As soon as you publish your site it will be live on the internet and people can start visiting your brand new web creation! You can access the Publishing Settings of your site by clicking on the down-arrow next to the "Update my Site" button. You can do this any time you need to:

1. Publish it
2. Update it
3. Change tags
4. Change the domain name
5. Unpublish it
6. Download your site

For further information about publishing options and what they mean, please take a look at this tutorial: Publishing Your Site.

Well done! Now that you know all about the Site Manager and what it can do for you, you are well on the way to becoming a master website builder!