HOW TO USE THE VELOCITY CMS Welcome to this introduction to the Velocity CMS. Here you will be able to create and edit activities that will be viewable in the Velocity learner portal. You can control all aspects of your curriculum, from re-ordering activities to setting milestones and mandatory assessments. To get started with the Velocity CMS, head to the login page: dev.comcastvelocity.com. From here you can access any activity synopsis that is viewable in the learner portal. Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 1
CONTENTS Updating the Velocity timeline... 3 Saving and publishing... 5 How to add a new activity... 6 Activity types... 7 Generic activity properties... 9 Activity specific options... 14 How to create a Form activity... 16 Field Types... 18 Two part forms (learner/manager)... 20 Support requests... 21 Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 2
Updating the Velocity timeline The Velocity CMS has a defined file structure; it dictates the chronological order of learning materials with each step representing a different period of time. The usual order is: Curriculum map > Timelines > Curriculums > Individual weeks > Activities. Pressing different areas in the timeline produces different results. For example clicking the black arrow will expand the contents of a folder (note: black arrows only show when you are hovering over the timeline). If you click the title text of an element on the timeline the Settings and Properties menus will display (as applicable). Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 3
If you left click the three dots to the right of a title you will be given options to create new activities. If you right click the three dots to the right of a title you will be given the actions menu. From here you can perform a variety of actions including creating, deleting, moving and copying activities and files. Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 4
Saving and publishing Whenever you make any changes within the Velocity CMS it is important that you press Save, or your changes will be lost. To Save, scroll to the bottom of your screen and press the Save or Publish arrow and select Save. In order for your changes to be viewable in the learner portal you must press Publish. To Publish, scroll to the bottom of your screen and press the Save or Publish arrow and select Publish. If you are happy to both Save and Publish press the Save and Publish button. Note: Once you have made changes and published them in the CMS only NEW learners will be able to see the changes you made. If you need to change an existing users timeline, you would need to reset their account. Un-published activities will be displayed with faded-out text, in the example below Application is yet to be published. Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 5
How to add a new activity An activity is the basic building block of the Velocity CMS, it is a task or piece of information that will help your learner to improve their skills and complete the curriculum. To add a new activity. Press the folder title that you wish to add a new activity to, in this case I wish to add to the Demo items folder. Pressing the title should display a new tab called Child items Press the Create button and several activity type options will display: Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 6
Activity types You can create several different activity types: Elucidat activity: This will open an activity created in Elucidat, these may include questionnaires, videos and other interactive features. Form activity: These can be created in the CMS, forms are built from combinations of usereditable areas such as drop-down menus, checkboxes and text fields (see image below), we will explain how to create one and what additional features there are in Form activity section. Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 7
SAP: Details coming soon. Text activity: These activities are purely text and an image. In a text activity the Synopsis region in the CMS refers to the main text that will be displayed in the portal. Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 8
Generic activity properties In the Velocity CMS, different activities share many of the same properties. To access your activity properties click the name of your module (or specific week) and then from the Child items tab click the name of the activity. Note: The Section properties and Properties tabs are for Administrators only. Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 9
1.) Title: The Title; of an activity. 2.) Day: The Day; upon which an activity will be available to your learner, this day is relative to when the course begun, for example if you enter 1, the activity will be available on the first day. 3.) Icon: The Icon that will be displayed in a learner s Program and To do list, the Icon refers to activity type, we will look at these in detail later. Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 10
4.) Image: This is the Image that is displayed when opening an activity, for example in the Text activity below the Image of the clock is the activity image. 5.) Poster: The Poster image is the image that will display on the Dashboard when the activity is due. Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 11
6.) Synopsis: The Synopsis is the description of the activity, or in the case of a text screen it is also the text for the activity. 7.) Help text: The Help text is displayed when pressing the About button: In this section we would suggest adding... 8.) Duration: Duration is the recommended amount of time that an activity should last, this amount should be in minutes. 9.) Milestone: If this box is ticked, the learner will require their managers approval to allow you to advance. 10.) Notify Manager: If you tick the Notify Manager box they will see how you are progressing though your task from the To-do list in their account. 11.) Scored: If you tick the Scored box, the learner will receive a score upon completion of the task, these will be displayed in the Program menu. The score is displayed as star rating: Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 12
12.) Passmark: The required mark for the activity in percent (%). 13.) Categories: Categories only work if the activity is scored, they are a way of labelling the score. Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 13
Activity specific options There are some settings in the Velocity CMS that are specific to individual activity types: Elucidat: When creating an Elucidat activity, if you scroll to the bottom of the activity you will see the heading Course. In this section you can define the Course and Version of the release. Form: When creating a Form activity, if you scroll to the bottom of the activity you will see the heading Form definition. This is where you select a Form which you built in the Form Builder. If you are yet to create a form, look at the section How to create a Form activity. SAP: When creating a SAP activity, if you scroll to the bottom of the activity you will see the heading SAP ID... Changing the order of activities To change the order of activities. Click the module name. The Child items (activities) should display. Press the button in the top right of the screen called Actions. Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 14
From the Actions drop-down select Sort. The Sort menu will open, all the activities in the module will display: Now when you hover over an activity name the move icon ( )will display. Click and drag your activities into the correct order using the move and press Save to keep your changes. Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 15
How to create a Form activity Unlike other activity types, you can build forms inside the Velocity CMS. Forms are built from combinations of user-editable areas such as drop-down menus and text fields that allow your learner to provide a variety of information from answering questions to submitting their date of birth. To create a Form select Form builder in the blue left hand column. Then click the grey text that says Form builder. From here you can browse and edit existing forms or create a new form, by entering a name and pressing Create. After pressing Create your new blank Form will open. Start by adding a new Field by pressing the Add Field icon. Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 16
In the Caption field, add the title/prompt/question that you wish to display in your form. When you create a Field you can choose from several different Types. Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 17
Field Types Checkbox: Allows you to add a single checkbox to your form. Checkbox List: Allows you to add multiple checkboxes to your form. Date: Allows you to add a Date field to your form, the Date field has a useful calendar button to make selecting dates easier for learners. Dropdown: Allows you to add a Dropdown where your learner can select from fixed values. File upload: Allows your user to upload video content. It will accept most modern video formats. Hidden field: Allows you to add a field without any editable content, these are useful for adding description text or for using as dividers. Password field: Allows your user to securely type their password by translating letters to dots. Radio button: Allows your user to select from several options by selecting Radio buttons. Recaptcha: Allows you to add a Captcha field to ensure that the form is filled by a human. Note: The Velocity CMS is already protected by SS) and should not require the Captcha field. Textarea: Allows you to add a large area for your learner to add text. Textfield: Allows you to add a small area for your learner to add text. Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 18
After selecting your field type choose whether you want the field to be mandatory or not using the checkbox. You may also want to add more parameters, you can do this by pressing Additional settings. Invalid Error Message: The message that is displayed if your learner attempts to send the form with completing this field. Tooltip: The message that is displayed if your learner hovers over the Tool tip icon. Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 19
Two part forms (learner/manager) You can segment forms so that different parts are viewable to different people. For example I may want Part 1 to editable by the Learner and Manager and Part 2 to be editable by the Manager. To this you need to add a new Form step, click Create new form step. The Velocity CMS will automatically open a second Form step. The new Form step will be automatically configured so that it is sent to the manager once part 1 has been completed. Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 20
Support requests For any additional support requests please contact support@comcastvelocity.com Comcast University Velocity Portal CMS Manual 21