Instructor FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Have a quick question about the CMS? Try looking through our FAQs below.

How do I login to the CMS?

Visit https://cms-uwaterloo.cloud.contensis.com

Why don't I see the changes I just made?

It may take a few minutes for your changes to appear in the live version of your course. There is a publishing queue through which your pages need to pass before you will be able to see your edits. The time this will take varies.

How do I make a link open in a new tab?

When inserting a link, enter a Target of ‘_blank’, and in the CSS Class field, type ‘cel_z-icons-new-tab’. This will display the icon after your link to indicate that it opens in a new tab.

How do I change text to a header?

Select the text you want to change to a header and, from the Format dropdown, choose the header level desired. Headers must be applied in order (Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, etc.): this means that once you have one or more Heading 2, you can add a Heading 3, and then a Heading 4, etc. You should not jump over a header level (from Heading 2 to Heading 4, for instance). NOTE: A page must only have ONE Header 1, for accessibility reasons.

Can I copy and paste links in the CMS?

Yes and no.

If you are working within the editor of the CMS, you may copy and paste links as long as you are grabbing the links from the editor view and you are copying/pasting them within one course (if you grab a course schedule link from one course and paste it into another course, it will be linking to the wrong course).

You should not copy links from a published page (whether on the live or preview server) and then paste them into the editor. This will cause errors and should be avoided.

What is the difference between 'Save' and 'Submit and Approve'?

The Save button saves your changes on a page to the preview version of your course. To publish this new version of a page and make it live in your course (visible to students), click the Submit and Approve button.

This allows you to make and save changes to your course and then publish them at a later date when you are ready to share these changes with the students in your class. To save and publish your changes immediately, click Save and then also the Submit and Approve button.

What do you mean by 'check in' and 'check out'?

When you edit a page in the CMS, it is checked out to you. To make it available for editing by others (i.e., CEL staff) it needs to be checked back in.

Consider each page like a library book: If you have the page checked out, no one else can check out that same page. Once you have finished working on a page, click Save, then Submit and Approve to check in the page so others have access to edit the page. If you have made no changes or want to discard the changes you made, just Check In the page.

Why can’t I make a new page?

If you cannot create new content in your lecture-content folder, please email learnhelp@uwaterloo.ca to update your permission level.

Why can't I edit the Table of Contents or the University Policies page?

The Table of Contents (TOC) cannot be edited. The TOC is auto-generated based on the pages and files in your course.

The University Policies page cannot be edited. It is standardized across all online courses and maintained by the Centre For Extended Learning.

How is the CMS used in my online course?

The CMS empowers course authors and instructors of online courses to have a greater role in creating and editing their course content. The CMS provides a space for course content that is editable for instructors and seamlessly integrated into a course for students.

What is the difference between Preview and Live servers in the CMS?

The Preview server is used to view and test your page during its development. Students will not have access to content on the Preview server. Treat anything on the Preview server as 'draft' or 'in-progress'. Clicking Preview or Save will send your page to the Preview server.

  • The URL for content on the Preview server looks like: https://preview-uwaterloo.cloud.contensis.com/sites/...

The Live server is where finalized content is hosted for your course. Content on the live server will be accessible by registered users in your course (students, TAs, course editors, etc.). Treat anything on the Live server as 'final' and ready for student viewing. (Note: There is a publishing queue for the Live server, so you may not see your completed page until it is processed in the cue, usually 5-10 minutes). Clicking Workflow --> Submit --> Submit and Approve will send your page to the Live server.

  • The URL for content on the live server looks like: https://contensis.uwaterloo.ca/sites/...

What are elements?

Elements are reusable building blocks within the CMS. They allow instructors to easily add features to pages and create engaging layouts without the need for coding or styling knowledge. Simply drag and drop elements directly onto your page.

Popular elements include:

  • Content elements
    • Images
    • Callouts
    • Tables
  • Interactive elements
    • Accordion
    • Multiple-choice questions
    • Short-answer questions
  • Embed elements
    • Videos

Related:

For more information on how the CMS is used in online courses, see the Welcome to Contensis help page and the Instructors help page.