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April 11, 2024

Niiwin CMS - Easily Updated Websites Upgraded

Niiwin Content Functions

Northern Village is pleased to announce that the backend CMS (content management system) that we have been using to create and edit websites has been upgraded, and we are starting to move sites over to the new platform. Thanks to Animikii, our Indigenous B Corp partner for this upgrade. It will make all of our lives easier.

Perhaps the most important feature is how well organized it is for both content creators and for coders. The software embraces modern techniques of having a long page, with many different sections organized for an optimal user experience. Below is a screenshot of the main screen to illustrate the many end user functions available. See below for some of the features.

Niiwin logo 7
Northern Village website blog post about Niiwin CMS upgrade with purple logo and maroon header.

Manage Page Blocks

  • Manage the page, while looking at the preview of the page.
  • Add Blocks to make a content-rich page.
  • Click on one of the blocks to edit the content, including images and custom data.
  • Manage the images including alt-tags.
  • Block names can be updated to give context to find content that needs to be updated easier.

Pages - Content - Settings

  • The Pages - Content - Settings submenu allows a content creator to move between Page functions (move, delete, add a subpage), Content functions (shown here) and Settings.
  • Settings control meta-functions of the page including Page data, meta-tags (Title, Description, Date, Name, etc) and the Page Type and Page Type of subpages. And more.

The View Page Button

  • The page while in preview mode may have some irregularities. To view how the page will look in a browser, click on View Page, which opens in a new tab, so you can return to the edit page if changes are necessary.

Code Editor - Site Settings

  • Niiwin provides configuration of many Site Settings including default colours, type of nav-bar, turn on or off breadcrumbs and / or search, type of footer and place to put a land acknowledgement.
  • The Code Editor allows programmers to update the code for existing pages, or create new ones in a way that it is easy for content creators to keep the website up to date.
Web content management interface showing code editor with HTML and Liquid syntax highlighted in dark theme.

Page Types

  • Choose which Page Type you would like to edit. The Page Types are selected by Content Creators. Selecting one allows you to edit the code, including managing the Page Data associated with this page.
  • Similarly, Blocks can be edited, including Block Data. Includes are reusable snippets that are used in different places ie. breadcrumbs, navbars, footer, etc. Stylesheets, Javascript and Theme Images can be managed.

Code Editor

  • Niiwin Code Editor is based on the Liquid Templating Language that allows a modest HTML / CSS coder to perform basic functions to customize a Page or a Block.
  • As the templating language used by Shopify and many others, it also has powerful features that allow complex functions be performed quite efficiently. The code here is for displaying a blog post. You just have to remember to Save.

Fields for Pages

  • One of the most powerful features of Niiwin, is the ability to have Fields attached to the Page in order to make it easy for the Content Creators to do customizations. In the above screenshot, you can add a custom Title for SEO, add a Post Image or booleans to select Categories (used in the blog dropdown).
  • In a Block it is possible to control background colour, how much a section is indented, or add images for a carousel. Fields can be added at the top of the column.