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• • 1. Use the staging site before publishing to the public website. It lets editors review layouts, check links, and catch errors before changes go live.
    2. Understand the folder and index-page structure. Each section's index page serves as its main page; the folder hierarchy determines much of the site's organization and navigation.
    3. Organize images in dedicated folders. Moving or renaming assets unpublishes them, so they need to be republished along with their parent folder.
    4. Use version history to recover previous work. Cascade retains earlier versions that can be restored and republished.
    5. More training resources are coming. The internal Student Affairs site, The Thread, will house Cascade training resources, existing university documentation, and eventually additional instructional videos.

1. Dashboard and site navigation

• • • The Cascade dashboard is customizable. Users can add or remove widgets.
    • My Sites shows the websites the user can access.
    • My Content helps users find recently edited or owned content.
    • The content tree on the left shows folders, pages, images, files, and other site components in parent-child relationships.
    • Each folder generally contains an index page, which is the main page for that section.
    • The Details and Versions options help editors check publication dates, authorship, and earlier versions.

2. Editing pages and content

The main editing interface has four tabs:

Key guidance from the training:

• • • Understand the difference between Include when publishing and Include when indexing. The former controls whether content is published; the latter affects whether it appears in site navigation or indexing.
    • Use appropriate heading levels in sequence, with one H1 per page, followed by H2s and lower-level headings as needed. This supports screen-reader navigation and search engine optimization.
    • Content blocks can include standard text, grids, slideshows, and wide-format elements. Alternate text and visual elements where appropriate to improve readability.
    • Wide-format elements should be used sparingly, in part because of accessibility concerns.

3. Linking and navigation

The group discussed how to handle links within and between websites.

• • • Within the same website: Keep links in the same window rather than opening a new one.
    • To an external website: We recommend opening links in a new window.

For navigation, the index pages in parent folders generally populate primary navigation, while other pages are typically part of secondary navigation. 

4. Creating and managing content

• • • Create folders, pages, and files through the plus (+) button, top left.
    • Use lowercase names without spaces for Cascade content names; distinguish the internal page name from the public-facing page title.
    • Right-clicking content provides options to edit, publish, move, rename, unpublish, delete, and inspect relationships.
    • Before deleting a page, check Relationships to identify other pages linking to it and avoid broken links.
    • Moving or renaming content can unpublish it. Republish it afterward and verify that the public-facing page works.

Important distinction: Edit existing index pages directly rather than replacing them with newly copied pages, because removing an index page can cause problems for the folder. For longer redesigns of other pages, copying an existing page to create an unpublished working version may be appropriate.

5. Publishing, staging, and version control

• • • CMS staging: Visible to people with editing access to the site.
    • Live website (cmu.edu): Publicly accessible.
    • Check Content and Submit: Useful for identifying spelling issues before submitting changes.
    • Versions: Previous versions can be restored, but restoring a version does not automatically make it live; it must be published afterward.

Cascade is generally forgiving: mistakes can often be corrected by restoring an earlier version or republishing content. Staging remains the recommended safeguard.

6. Image management and optimization

This was a particularly practical portion of the meeting, prompted by questions from communicators.

• • • Store images in dedicated image folders rather than leaving them scattered among page content.
    • When moving images, select the assets in the content tree, use the bulk Move option, and choose the destination folder.
    • Moving images unpublishes them, which can cause images on live pages to appear broken until the assets are republished.
    • Renaming an image also requires republishing it and its parent folder.
    • Organize images into subfolders where useful, and use Cascade's thumbnail view to identify images visually.
    • Compress large images before uploading them to improve page-loading speed and user experience.

We recommend as a tool for reducing image file sizes. I suggest adding -min to the compressed filename to distinguish it from the original.

This session covered linking to external documents, building visual content, image management, and digital accessibility in the CMS.

1. Linking to Box, Google Drive and other external resources

• Documents and folders can be linked directly from Box or Google Drive rather than uploading files into Cascade. This is particularly useful for frequently updated documents, presentations or resources that need to remain current across multiple webpages.

• When adding an external link in Cascade, select External and paste the URL.

• Set the link to open in a New Window so users don't lose their place on the original website.

• Check sharing permissions in Box or Google Drive before publishing. Make sure access is configured appropriately for the intended audience (e.g., Student Affairs employees or the general public).

• Use descriptive hyperlink text rather than generic phrases such as "click here," "learn more" or "read more." Links should clearly communicate where they lead.

• When available, use the link's Title field to provide additional context or instructions, such as "Download the strategic planning presentation PDF."

2. Adding visual content, timelines and embedded elements

There are several ways to incorporate visual elements into Cascade pages:

• Embedded content: External tools that provide HTML embed code can be incorporated into Cascade. Examples include timelines, slideshows, YouTube videos and social media posts. Copy the embed code and insert it using the Source Code option in the WYSIWYG editor.

• Alternating content grids: Cascade's grid functionality allows communicators to combine text and images in multiple columns, alternate image and text placement, and apply different background styles.

Whenever possible, keep important information in actual webpage text rather than embedding it entirely in an image. Text-based content is easier for search engines to index and screen readers to interpret.

Design considerations:

• Be intentional about color choices and maintain consistency across related pages.

• Limit the number of colors used on a page. A combination of one primary color and a neutral accent is generally effective.

• White, gray and dark gray are useful background options.

• Be mindful of color contrast. Some CMS color combinations, including certain gold headings and plaid backgrounds, may not provide sufficient contrast for accessibility.

3. Image optimization and alt text

Large image files can slow down webpage loading, negatively affect the user experience and hurt search engine optimization (SEO).

Before uploading images:

• Compress large images to reduce file size without significantly sacrificing quality.

• One free resource demonstrated during the session was .

• Rename image files with descriptive names rather than leaving generic camera-generated filenames.

Uploading images in Cascade:

• Upload images to the appropriate Images folder within your site (or a relevant subfolder, such as Bio Photos).

• Keeping images organized makes it easier to navigate the asset tree and locate webpages.

• When adding an image to a webpage, provide descriptive alt text.

Writing effective alt text:

• Describe what is actually happening in the image, including relevant people, activities and context.

• Avoid generic descriptions such as "students at commencement" or simply using the image filename.

• A useful test: If someone couldn't see the image, would the description give them a clear understanding of what it depicts?

• Alt text supports screen reader users and helps search engines understand image content.

The image description field in Cascade is where alt text is entered when placing an image on a page. The image title serves a different purpose, functioning more like a label when someone hovers over an image.

4. Managing Cascade assets: Moving, renaming and deleting files

Moving or renaming assets:

• Moving or renaming an image, PDF or webpage automatically unpublishes it.

• After making these changes, you must republish the asset to restore it to the live website.

• The same principle applies when copying webpages: the new copy is initially unpublished.

• Use the Last Modified sorting option to help locate recently updated assets when possible.

Deleting outdated documents

Before deleting a document:

1. Download a copy if it needs to be retained for departmental records.

2. Check the asset's Relationships to identify any webpages or other locations linking to it.

3. If there are no remaining relationships and the document is no longer needed, delete it.

Deleted assets are moved to Cascade's Trash, where they can generally be recovered for up to 30 days before permanent removal.

General recommendation: Cascade should not serve as a long-term document archive. Retain documents on the website when users need access to them; otherwise, maintain archival copies in an appropriate storage location, such as Google Drive.

• Image sizing
• Compression
• Cropping
• File naming
• Alt text
• Accessibility
• Uploading/replacing files
• Recommended image dimensions for different placements
• JPG vs. PNG vs. WebP
• Uploading PDFs
• Naming PDFs
• Reducing PDF size

• SEO fundamentals
• Calls to action
• Keeping pages current
• Headings
• Link text
• Alt text
• Accessible PDFs

• Auditing your site
• Finding outdated content
• Broken links
• Updating profiles
• What to do when something changes
• Updating faculty/staff information
• Updating dates
• Updating contact information
• Updating policies
• Maintaining department information

•  
• Pages vs. folders vs. assets
• Setting up your site
• Managing your site
• Publishing 
• Web manager’s playbook, which includes:
  • Content strategy
  • SEO and keywords
  • User experience
  • Accessibility 
  • Images and media
  • Maintenance
  • Information architecture
• • . WYSIWYG stands for What You See Is What You Get. Text, images, links, tables and more. Similar to a word processor.