Content types

Every piece of content on a LocalGov Drupal microsite is built from a content type. Choosing the right one makes your content easier to find, easier to read and easier to keep up to date.

A content type is a template for a particular kind of content. A news article needs a date and a summary. An event needs a time and a place. A guide needs pages that link together in order.

The Microsites platform includes these content types:

Content type	What it includes	Use it for
Page	Page	General information built from flexible sections
News	Newsroom, news article	Announcements and updates, grouped in a newsroom
Events	Event	Things happening on a particular date, in person or online
Directories	Directory channel, directory page, directory venue, directory promotional page	Lists of things people want to search or filter, such as venues or groups
Blogs	Blog channel, blog post	Regular, more personal posts
Guides	Guide overview, guide page	A set of connected pages on one subject
Forms	Microsites webform	A page with a form embedded in it

Your microsite may not show all of these. Microsite administrators can switch content types on or off for each site. A site set up only for news, for example, will not let editors add other types of content.

Choosing a content type

Start with what your user needs to do, not with the format you are used to. Ask yourself:

Is this information tied to a date, and will it go out of date? Use News or Events.
Will people want to search or filter a list of similar things? Use Directories.
Is it too long for one page, but the parts belong together? Use Guides.
Do you need people to send you information? Use a Microsites webform.
Is it a personal or regular update from a team or person? Use Blogs.
If none of these fit, use a Page.

Page

The Page is the most flexible content type on the Microsites platform. Use it for general information that does not need the structure of a news article, event or guide.

You can build a page from sections, each with a one, two or three-column layout. This lets you place text, images and other components side by side without needing a developer.

Use a page for:

A homepage or landing page for your microsite.
An "About us" or "Contact us" page.
A single page of information that stands on its own.

Keep it simple. More columns are not always better. On a phone, columns stack one above the other, so a three-column section becomes a long scroll. Use extra columns only when the content genuinely sits side by side.

News

Use News for announcements and updates that are tied to a particular date. News comes in two parts:

The newsroom is the landing page that lists your news articles, newest first.
A news article is a single story or announcement.

Create the newsroom once. After that, each news article you publish appears in it automatically.

Use news for:

Announcing a new service, project or consultation.
Sharing results, milestones or funding news.
Telling people about a change that affects them.

Write the headline and summary first. Most people will only see these in the newsroom list. If they cannot tell what the story is about from the headline alone, they will not click.

Events

Use Events for anything happening on a particular date: a public meeting, a workshop, a drop-in session or an online webinar. Each event has its own page, and your events appear together in an events listing. You can also add an event to a directory, so people find it alongside related entries.

Use events for:

One-off activities with a fixed date and time.
Regular sessions, such as a monthly drop-in.
Online events, where the location is a link rather than a venue.

Put the practical details where people expect them. Readers want to know when, where, how much it costs and whether they need to book. Make sure those answers are easy to spot, not buried in the description.

Check your events listing from time to time so it still feels current.

Directories

Use Directories when you have a list of similar things that people want to search, filter or browse. A directory brings them together in one place, with filters that help people narrow the list down.

Use a directory for:

Local venues, such as halls, libraries or play areas.
Community groups, clubs or support organisations.
Approved suppliers, providers or contacts.

A directory is made up of four content types:

A directory channel is the main landing page, where people search and filter the entries.
A directory page is a simple entry, such as a community group.
A directory venue is an entry with a location, such as a hall or library.
A directory promotional page gives you free-form content areas within the directory, for example to introduce a category or highlight something seasonal.

Create the directory channel first, then add entries to it.

Plan your filters before you add entries. Think about how people will look for things: by area, by type, by age group. Agree the categories first, then tag every entry consistently. A filter only helps if every entry uses it.

Blogs

Use Blogs for regular, more personal posts from a team or person. Blogs come in two parts:

A blog channel is the landing page that lists posts, newest first.
A blog post is a single entry.

You can have more than one blog channel, for example one for a project team and one for a service.

Blogs and news are different. News tells people what has happened. A blog tells people what you are working on, what you have learned and what you think. Blogs can be more conversational.

Use a blog for:

Sharing progress on a project as it happens.
Explaining the thinking behind a decision.
Behind-the-scenes posts from a team.

A blog with no new posts for months can look abandoned. Only start one if you can keep it going.

Guides

Use Guides when you have a lot of information on one subject that is too long for a single page, but where the parts belong together. Guides come in two parts:

A guide overview introduces the subject and lists the pages in the guide.
Guide pages each cover one part of the subject.

Create the overview first, then add guide pages to it. Readers can move through the guide in order using the navigation, but they do not have to. Each page should make sense on its own, so someone arriving from a search engine is not lost.

Use a guide for:

Information about a programme or scheme, split into eligibility, how it works and what happens next.
A handbook or set of rules for a group or venue.
Background on a project, split into clear parts.

Give every page a clear, specific title. The titles appear in the guide's contents list, so readers use them to decide where to go. "Who can apply" helps. "Part 2" does not.

Microsites webform

Use a Microsites webform when you need people to send you information: a contact form, an expression of interest or a feedback form. It is a simple page with an embedded form.

The page has settings that let you change how the form behaves for this microsite, such as which email address receives submissions. Check that address is monitored before you publish.

The form itself needs to be set up separately. If you need a new form, ask your microsite administrator.

If you cannot find the content type you need

If a content type listed here does not appear when you add content, it has probably been switched off for your microsite. Ask your microsite administrator whether it can be switched on.

If you think your microsite needs a type of content that is not listed here, talk to your administrator. Some content types from the main LocalGov Drupal CMS can be added to microsites, but this may need some development work.