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The Citizen Space homepage - configuration options
At the root of your site is the homepage (e.g. https://yoursiteurl.com). It's the place where you'll usually find some homepage text, the list of your open and closed activities, and your 'We Asked, You Said, We Did' feedback if you've added any to your consultations or surveys.
There are a number of configuration options for this page which allow you to choose what content is shown and how it is displayed. You don't just need to stick with the default and it's possible for us to put together a page which really comes to life for your site visitors.
To make things easier, we have created three landing page examples to help you choose the right configuration option for you.
If you're a new customer, you may have already discussed how you would like your homepage(s) configured when you were chatting about buying Citizen Space. If that's the case, we'll most likely be copying the configuration from the mock-up which was done for you before set-up. If you're an existing customer, check with your customer success manager to get some ideas of different ways to display your site content on the homepage.
Citizen Space Pages
In addition to the homepage, we can add an additional Page to your site if you need it.
For example, you might find that you want to very clearly separate out your formal consultation activity from other exercises like surveys, feedback forms and events. Or you may want a homepage which lists your consultations, surveys etc. and another page which contains the outcomes and results of the work you've been doing like 'We Asked, You Said, We Did', and so on. You may even want a second page to focus on one particular area of your work, like all Planning activity or all Citizens' Panel activity so that you have a dedicated page URL to share which has just that curated content on it.
This added Page would have the URL format e.g. https://yoursiteurl.com/other-landing-page
We'll ask you to tell us what you want that last part of the URL to say, so in the examples given above you might have something like:
- https://yoursiteurl.com/project-name
- https://yoursiteurl.com/climate
- https://yoursiteurl.com/citizens-panel
Configuring the Page
As with the default homepage, this added Page can also be configured so the content is arranged and displayed in a variety of ways - you can choose from the templates we've already created. Find out more about Citizen Space Pages.
Images on landing page listings
These images can come from a couple of places:
- If you've added a featured image to your activity this will be what's displayed.
- If you don't have a featured image but you've added a banner image this will be the image shown.
If you don't have an image added in either of these places then the image block will be your site's button colour. Our example templates include some button-colour blocks so you can see what they look like. In the image below, the blue block for the 'Smokefree Homes Quiz' is one where an image hasn't been added.
If you want an image shown instead of a coloured block, simply add one to the Featured Activity section of the dashboard for that activity.
A word of note: If you've requested that we configure your Pages with image-style listings, then the pages will look a lot better if you actually have feature images added. If you're finding you have a lot of items on the Page with a colour shown rather than an image, or you're struggling to find images to add, perhaps consider moving to a non-image-based listing component. We can change this over for you, just ask us.
Things worth knowing
The site needs content to display
The look of these Pages relies on your site having content in the form of consultations, surveys, title block content, 'We Asked, You Said, We Did' feedback, etc. If you're brand new to using Citizen Space or only have private consultations and surveys then these pages won't start to take shape until that content starts being published. Don't worry, we'll have set up your desired options in the background and it'll all start to take shape once your content is added.
Making changes
Your customer success manager can make small changes to your site's configuration. If you're a site admin, then some of the block content is editable via your 'Pages' link in 'Site settings'. You'll have access to change any text or details here at all times. The rest of the content is pulled through from the public activities and surveys you build.
It can be confusing for your site visitors if your page structure or display configuration changes regularly, so we'd recommend keeping any structural changes to a minimum. Full landing page reconfigurations should really only happen if your organisation has a rebrand or a radical change of direction, otherwise it's a bit like when they reorganise the supermarket and you've no idea where the baked goods live anymore. Consistency helps people find what they're looking for quickly and easily.
How many landing pages can I have?
The number of pages you an have depends on your subscription level.
Generally, as part of your subscription you can have up to a maximum of two configurable pages: that's the default homepage (https://yoursiteurl.com) and a second Page as explained above (https://yoursiteurl.com/other-landing-page). Customers on the Engagement Package subscription have an unlimited number of template Pages they can add to their site.
If you're interested in learning more about the Engagement Package, contact your customer success manager.