Adding Sections

Sections are how you can organize content on a page. A section can have multiple types of content in it (i.e. text and image), and you can have multiple sections on a page.

The gear icon on the right side of the section will open the panel on the left which allows you to customize the style and background of the section. If you’d like to apply that customization to multiple or all sections on your ePortfolio, click the paint can icon next to Customize Style, and it will give you an option to Apply to All New Sections or Apply to Existing Sections.

Under Section Options, there are a couple options that can be helpful if you’re creating a template. You can toggle on Enable Short Text Prompt which can provide guidance to a user who’s interacting with that section, but will only be viewable while editing, not when published, submitted, or shared. You can also toggle on Turn Section Into Instructions, which will allow users who are editing the template to see the instructions, but automatically locks the section, so that it can’t be edited, and ensures it will not be viewable when the site is published, submitted, or shared.

Just like in other areas of the site, the crossed arrows icon allows you to move the section up and down on the page, and the trash can icon will delete the entire section.

Adding Content

To create content in a section, click the blue Add Content button in the middle of a new section, or the blue plus icon in the bottom right. You’ll then see a full page screen that says Library at the top with options to add different types of content, like Rich Text, Upload File, Embed, etc. As you add each new piece of content, there is a pencil icon to edit the content, a gear icon to adjust the settings for the content module, a crossed arrows icon to move the content around within the section, and a trash can icon to delete the content module. You can also make adjustments to the size and shape of the area by hovering over the module and dragging any of the four corners.

Types of Content

Rich Text

Likely the most commonly used content module you'll add will be Rich Text. When adding Rich Text content you can choose a heading (above), or paragraph text (like this), and write as much as you like. You make that choice with the option furthest left that looks like a big and small T next to each other.

The list icon allows you to

• create a bulleted list, if the order of the list isn't important, or

1. create a numbered list, if the sequence, order or ranking of the list is important.

The B/U icon shows you formatting options. You can format your text as bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, superscript or subscript - however you choose for your content.

The quote icon allows you to insert a quote with particular formatting that you can customize, which makes it stand out.

You can add hyperlinks directly into your text with the chain link icon. Or with the paperclip icon, you can also attach files as a hyperlink.

If you need to write equations, like you can do that with the Greek letter sigma - it looks like a backwards letter E on the menu bar.

And finally, to make it truly your own, you can click the paint palette icon to modify the font, size, paragraph alignment, color, or highlight your text.

Upload File

When you select Upload File from the Add Content menu, you’ll have the option to upload files by either dragging and dropping them from the folder on your computer into the window, or by clicking on the icon in the middle of the screen and navigating to the location of the file(s) you want to upload and clicking Open. You can upload any standard file type or size to your ePortfolio. You’ll see the files you added listed out on the screen, and once you’re ready to upload, click the blue Upload button in the bottom right corner.

Once you’ve added this type of content, the pencil icon allows you to add more items to the upload module, replace the item, or add/edit a caption (description) on the item. The gear icon brings up the module settings panel on the left, which gives you options like background color and opacity. It also has unique settings for this type of content which allow you to enable full screen mode for viewers, so that they can see the file in full screen if they choose, display a download option, change the scale at which the uploaded file appears, and customize the style of the caption (font, background, location, etc.).

On the right side of your uploaded content, in addition to the pencil, gear, crossed, arrows, and trash can, there are two more buttons: A box with “CC” on it and a box with dashed lines. The CC box icon allows you to turn on and off the caption option, and the dashed-line box icon allows you to preview the file in full-screen mode.

Embed (Media)

You can embed any link in an ePortfolio, including documents hosted on other websites, YouTube videos, and others by selecting Embed in the Add Content page and pasting the link to the media. As in the Upload File module, the pencil button allows you to add more items to the module, replace the item, or edit the caption (description). The gear icon allows you to customize the background and opacity of the gallery, as well as giving you an option for full screen mode, and customizing the style of the caption (font, background, location, etc.). You’ll also see, as in the Upload File module, the dashed-line box icon on the right of the module, allowing you to view the embedded media in full-screen mode.

Search Image

The search image function allows you to search for images that are free to use through Unsplash. Based on Unsplash’s photo license, all photos can be downloaded and used for free for commercial and non commercial purposes, and no permission is needed for use, though attribution is appreciated. You can attribute an image by adding a caption that says something like, “Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash.”

To find an image, type in the search terms in the search bar, and hit Enter on your keyboard or click the blue magnifying glass on the right side of the search bar. Then select the image(s) that you want to use, and click the blue View/Edit Selected button in the bottom right. You can edit the photo at this stage by clicking Edit and using the Crop, Circle, or Rotate functions. When you’re finished, click the blue Done button in the bottom right corner, and the blue Upload button in the bottom right corner.

As in the Embed (Media) module, the pencil icon allows you to add more items to the module, replace the item, or edit the caption (description), and the dashed-line box icon on the right of the module allows you to view the uploaded document in full-screen mode. The gear icon allows you to customize the background and opacity of the gallery, as well as giving you an option for full screen mode, and customizing the style of the caption (font, background, location, etc.).

There are two additional settings that are unique to images. First is making the image clickable. By toggling that option on, you can provide a link and title for the image to link to when a user clicks on it.

The other setting for images is enabling alt text. Alternative text, or “Alt text” is a text-only substitute for non-text content in web pages, documents, presentations, and more. It allows blind or low vision users of the site to perceive the content and function of the image, and provides an explanation of the content if an image fails to load, or a user has blocked images from loading.

According to WebAIM, alt text should generally:

• be accurate and equivalent in representing content and function

• be succinct

• not be redundant or provide the same information as text near the image

• not include phrases like “image of…” or “graphic of…” etc. as that is redundant for screen readers who already announce that something is an image

Other Content Types

• Google Docs URL allows you to embed a Google Doc.

• My Files shows all files you’ve previously uploaded to any of your ePortfolios, and is searchable by filename.

• Form allows you to add checkboxes, multiple choice options, or a dropdown menu.

• Equation inserts and opens Equation Editor to type equations into text boxes using LaTeX, MathML or ASCllmath syntax. This is also an option when you create a Rich Text module.

• Table creates a data table.

• Take Picture/Record Video/Record Audio allows you to take a photo or video with your webcam or built-in audio that is directly uploaded to Digication. Your webcam and your microphone will need to be enabled for video or audio recording.

• Prompt is most useful for building templates. Prompts can be used to guide template users on what to include on their page, such as “reflect on your experience”, and how to do that work, such as “use video or audio for that reflection."