Carnegie Mellon University

CMU Web

A service provided by the University CMS Team

Training Opportunities

The Marketing & Communications and Computing Services teams have put together extensive documentation and a variety of training opportunities to help you become a CMS pro.

Learn

eLearning

Browse our extensive library of video tutorials to learn how to do everything from building a page to publishing your website.

How-to Documentation

The Documentation section of this website contains all the essentials you need to hit the ground running when creating your website.

Workshops

Come to one of our focused workshops to hone your CMS skills.

CMS Demo Site

Take a look at the CMS Demo Site to get inspiration for various ways to lay out your pages and utilize the CMS's many features.

LinkedIn Learning

Watch our recommended videos on LinkedIn Learning (formerly lynda.com), free for the CMU community. Brush up on HTML basics, learn website design theory and more.

Office Hours

We periodically hold office hours where you can come ask a question about the CMS or your website.

Workshops

screenshot of CMS grid layout

Layouts with Grids

Check back for the next workshop time and location.

Content grids are one of the most versatile features in the CMS. This workshop provides you with the knowledge to incorporate grids onto your site’s pages, empowering you to take control of your content and page layouts.

You will learn:

  • How to create grids
  • The various types of grids
  • Examples of grids in practice

categories block in v6

Categories and How to Use Them

Check back for the next workshop time and location.

Categories are a new feature in the CMS that grant you additional control and organization of your news and bio content. This workshop shows you how to take advantage of categories to help manage your content, saving you time and effort.

You will learn:

  • Why categories are great
  • How to incorporate categories into your site
  • Examples of categories currently in use

screenshot of Photoshop

Using Image Editors for Web Images

Check back for the next workshop time and location.

Having images on your website is important to attract site visitors and keep them engaged. Preparing your images for the web is just as important.

You will learn:

  • What free and paid image editing tools are available
  • Basic editing techniques (e.g., cropping, resizing, color correction, etc.)
  • Uploading images to the CMS
  • Resources for advanced image editing techniques

sitemap of a website

Information Architecture for Web

Check back for the next workshop time and location.

Perfect for information architecture beginners, this workshop is designed to give you tips and guidelines for developing a working content structure for your website.

You will learn:

  • Content structure and flow theory
  • Content outlines and sitemaps
  • Common mistakes
  • Best practices

screenshot of cmu.edu

Working with Images in v6

Check back for the next workshop time and location.

Having rich imagery on your website greatly enhances user experience and can improve messaging effectiveness. This workshop is designed to give you an introduction to using images and photography in the university CMS.

You will learn:

  • Where to find images to use
  • How to edit and format images
  • How to add images to your pages
  • Best practices

photo of man and woman looking at CMU website on different devices

Digital Accessibility: CMS and Your Website

Check back for the next workshop time and location.

Are you responsible for using the university's Content Management System to create digital, electronic, multimedia or other content that is available online? Learn to design your digital materials to foster a more technologically inclusive environment in our diverse campus community, so that persons with disabilities can access your electronic resources—including websites, audio and video content—using software, e-readers and mobile and other devices. Participants will have the opportunity for assisted hands-on work on their digital projects to make them accessible.

You will learn:

  • How screen readers and other tools interpret digital content
  • How to apply the principles of digital accessibility to your specific needs

search engine results page

SEO and Website Analytics

Check back for the next workshop time and location.

Almost everyone uses internet search engines to quickly find content online. This workshop aims to provide a foundational working knowledge of search engine optimization (SEO), to make your website search-engine-friendly.

You will learn:

  • SEO: What is it?
  • How keywords help SEO
  • How to measure web analytics 
  • What not to do

close up image of a computer keyboard

Writing for the Web

Check back for the next workshop time and location.

People read and digest words on web pages unlike any other medium. For this reason, your messaging needs to be tailored to your site visitors’ preferences and habits.

You will learn:

  • How to effectively write for the web
  • Best practices
  • Tools to check your writing