Managing Content Tables

You can augment your course's Home page with Content Tables containing text, files, or links related to your course.



Creating a New Content Table From Template

In CMSX, you can create a new Content Table from a template, saving you valuable time and effort. To use this feature, navigate to the Content link on the Navigation bar on the left side of the page. Then, click "(show)" next to the Create Content From Template heading. You can choose from one of the available content options:

1. Lecture Slides - "Number", "Date", "Topics", "Slides", and "Remarks"
2. Office Hours - "Day", "Time", "Location", "Staff", and "Remarks"
3. Office Hours Calendar - "Google Calendar iframe"

You can always add or remove columns after creating the Content Table, and all tables start off visible only to Staff, so any changes you make will not be visible to students until you decide to release them.

Creating a New Content Table From Scratch



You define the basic attributes of the table and give types to each of its columns.  Then you can add rows to your table corresponding to those types.

1. Click the Content link on the Navigation bar on the left side of the page.
    
2. Complete the General section:
   • Name: The title appearing at the top of this Content Table
   • Sort Order: Choose Ascending/Descending ordering for contents display (based on chosen Sort By Col)
     
   • Max Items to Show: This table will only display this number of rows of this table by default.
   • Content Accessible By: You can choose to restrict who has access to view this table and download files stored in it. (More about Access Levels)
   • Content Release Date: You can choose whether to allow release dates to be added to each of the rows of this table. If no release date is set, the row will be visible to everyone with view access to the table. If a release date is set, it will be viewable by students only after the date has passed. Staff are able to view all rows, regardless of the current date.
    
3.  Add columns to your table by clicking (New Column).
    
4. Choose one column to be the Sort By Col, which will be used to determine the order rows of this table are displayed
    
5. Use the Column Order option to determine the left-to-right ordering each column in this table (1 is the left-most column).  Also choose a Column Name.
    
6. The following choices are available for the Column Type option:
   • Text: a block of HTML-enabled text (8000 character limit)
   • Date: month, day, and year (useful for ordering things chronologically)
   • File: any number of files can be uploaded
   • URL: a link to another site (will be displayed in new window)
   • Number: an integer (useful for ordering, but accepts negative/zero/positive)
    
7. You may also choose to make a column Hidden if you don't want it shown to students. This is useful, for example, for user-defined sorting: create a hidden column of Number type.
    
8. Click Submit to finalize your choices and create a new empty table.

You can edit these options after finalizing by choosing this Content Table from the Edit Layout menu on the Navigation Bar, or by following the Edit Layout link underneath the table on the course's Home page. 


Adding Content to a Table



After deciding on a layout for your table, you can start adding information to it.

1. Select the table you want from the Add/Edit Data menu on the Navigation Bar, or click the Add/Edit Data link underneath the table on the course's Home page.
    
2. Click the (New Row) link to start a new row in the table.
    
3. Provide data for each of the columns you defined earlier.
    
4. Click the Submit button at the bottom of the page when you're ready to finalize your changes.