Specialized Content
9.1 Site Settings
All websites have Site Settings that allow editors to manage the global settings of their website. Site Settings include:
- Contact Block — The department contact information displayed below the left-hand navigation. This includes the department's mailing address, phone and fax numbers, email address, hours of operation, and social media links.
- Shared Site Content — A special content zone that appears at the bottom of every page on your site. Any component added to this zone is displayed across the entire site.
9.1.1 Accessing Site Settings
There are two ways to access Site Settings:
- After logging into Drupal and navigating to your website, click Site Settings in the administration toolbar at the top of the page.
- While viewing a page, click Site Settings located between Edit Page and Page Revisions.
9.2 The Contact Block
Every website includes a contact block that appears below the site's navigation in the left column. Because this information is managed through Site Settings, it is displayed consistently across every page on your website.
The Contact Block includes:
- Address
- Phone/Fax
- Hours
- Social Media — Links to your department's social media accounts.
- Contact and Social Media (Deprecated) — A legacy field that allows fully customized contact information. Unless you have a specific need for custom formatting, use the built-in contact fields instead.
There are two ways to manage the Contact Block:
- Built-in Fields — Recommended. Uses standardized formatting.
- Deprecated Field — Allows fully customized formatting.
9.2.1 Using the Built-in Contact Fields (Recommended)
- Enter your mailing address.
- Enter your phone and fax numbers.
Note: The Phone Link field must use the format tel:610-328-8000.
- Enter your department email address.
- Optionally, enter your hours of operation.
- Optionally, add social media accounts.
- If you are using the built-in contact fields, do not use the deprecated Contact and Social Media field described in Section 9.2.2.
Built-in fields display like this:
These fields are managed in Site Settings:
9.2.2 Using the Deprecated Contact Field
- Enter all contact information into the Contact and Social Media field and format it as needed.
- Optionally, add social media information.
- If you use the deprecated field, do not use the built-in Address, Phone/Fax, Email, or Hours fields described above.
9.2.3 Working with the Contact and Social Media (Deprecated) Field
The Contact and Social Media (Deprecated) field includes a menu (three vertical dots) in the upper-right corner. Selecting this menu opens the editor toolbar, allowing you to format text and create links.
Every website includes a special Shared Site Content zone. Components added to this zone automatically appear on every page of your website.
- Open Site Settings.
- Scroll to the Shared Site Content section.
- Edit any existing components directly within this section.
- Click Save at the bottom of the page.
- Open Site Settings.
- Scroll to the Shared Site Content section.
- From the Add Component to Shared Site Content drop-down menu, choose the component you want to add.
- Complete the component fields.
- Click Save.
The following component types can be added to Shared Site Content:
- Call to Action
- Feature
- Feature Link List
- Link List
- Open Site Settings.
- Scroll to the Shared Site Content section.
- Locate the component you want to remove.
- Click the Remove button in the upper-right corner of the component.
- Click Save.
9.4 News
Some departments include a News Feed component on their website. The content displayed in the News Feed is produced by the Communications Office. Whenever a news story is published on the Swarthmore website, the Communications Office tags it so it automatically appears in the appropriate News Feed components across the website.
Some departments also publish their own news stories. If you want your department's stories to appear in your site's News Feed, complete the following steps:
- Create a News Page in Drupal using the News Page content type.
- When your story is ready for publication, contact the Communications Office at webeditor@swarthmore.edu. Communications staff will tag the story so it appears in the appropriate News Feed components.
If you have questions about news that appears (or does not appear) in your department's News Feed, contact the Communications Office at webeditor@swarthmore.edu.
9.5 Events
Many departments also include an Events Calendar Feed component on their website. The content displayed in this component is pulled directly from the Campus Calendar (SwatCentral/25Live). Whenever an event is entered into Swat Central, it can be configured to appear in the appropriate Events Calendar Feed component in Drupal.
Using an Events Calendar Feed is a convenient way to promote upcoming events on both your department website and the Campus Calendar.
- For questions about reserving space or using the Campus Calendar (Swat Central/25Live), contact the Events Management office at space@swarthmore.edu.
- For questions about events that appear (or do not appear) in your Events Calendar Feed component, contact the Campus Calendar administrators at calendar@swarthmore.edu.
9.6 Acalog
Academic departments manage course information through the Acalog system maintained by the Registrar's Office. Questions about Acalog should be directed to the Registrar's Office.
Course information from Acalog is syndicated to each department's course pages in Drupal (for example, the History department).
Questions about how this content appears on the Drupal website should be directed to the Web Team at web-update@swarthmore.edu.
9.7 Videos
Drupal supports both YouTube and Vimeo videos. Videos can be used in several components, including:
See the documentation for each component for instructions on adding videos.
- Videos must include closed captions to meet the College's accessibility standards.
- Videos must not contain copyrighted material (including music or images) unless you have permission to use it.
9.8 Forms
There are three primary options for creating online forms. The best choice depends on your project's requirements.
- Google Forms — A simple way to create forms, surveys, and quizzes.
- Qualtrics — A full-featured survey platform available to the Swarthmore community. Qualtrics is commonly used for faculty and student research, committee voting, order forms, course evaluations, and more.
- Drupal Forms — Forms built directly within Drupal. Drupal forms must be created by the Web Team. Contact web-update@swarthmore.edu for more information.







