The main feature of the Community Engagement module is consultation pages. OC Consultation pages are used to inform your community of any ongoing projects being completed in their area and are a way for them to have some input into the project.
This article will discuss:
- How to create a consultation page
- How to fill in the page fields
- The templates available for consultations.
Each consultation page is created with 3 folders: 'Discussions', 'Latest Updates' and 'Timeline'. Pages created within these folders will automatically display on the OC Consultation page in accordions or side panels, creating one page that your community can visit to learn about and have their say on the proposal.
See it in action: Check out an in-progress consultation on our demo site.
How to create an OC Consultation page
- Right-click in the site tree where your consultation listing page is. This will probably be the 'Have Your Say' page we set up when we installed the module for you.
- Select Create Page
- Choose OC Consultation as the content type.
- Select which template you would like to use from the Template Name dropdown menu.
- Fill in the necessary fields.
- Publish the page.
What to include on your OC Consultation page
While there are a number of fields to complete for the consultation page, you will be unable to complete the timeline side panel or discussions and latest updates accordions from this page. These aspects of the page are completed by creating OC Discussion, OC Blog, and OC Consultation Timeline pages under the folders below the consultation page. The following fields can be found on the consultation page:
| Field | Function |
| Page name | Completes the unique page URL |
| Consultation title | The name displayed as the title of the page, in the consultation listing, and in search results. |
| Add consultation summary | A brief overview of the consultation for listing pages and search results. |
| Add main image |
Main image for the consultation, used on the listing page, in search results, and on the consultation page. Note: when choosing an image, make sure it is at least 900px wide. This size will work for both templates available. |
| Choose how this content will display on homepage listings |
This dropdown menu will give you 3 options:
Note: Past consultations will no longer show on the homepage listing, regardless of whether or not they are pinned. |
| Submission date | |
| Ongoing consultation | Check 'Yes' if the consultation is ongoing and does not have a closing date. |
| Or, consultation closes on | Select a closing date for the consultation if there is one. |
| Hide closing information | Check 'Yes' if you want to hide the closing date information. |
| And display following instead | Add any additional information here, if you have selected to hide the closing date information. |
| Contact details | |
| Contact name | Name of the contact person or organization |
| Contact email | Email of the contact person or organization |
| Contact phone number | Phone number of the contact person or organization |
| Alternate phone number | Alternate phone number of the contact person or organization |
| Website (starting with http:// or https://) | Website URL for the consultation |
| Location details | |
| Venue name | Name of the venue that this consultation relates to |
| Street address | Street location of the consultation for Google Maps |
| Locality | The suburb of the consultation for Google Maps |
| Postal code | Postcode or ZIP code of the consultation for Google Maps |
| Latitude Longitude (in decimal "lat, lon" format) |
The latitude and longitude to determine the consultation location on a map. You can add this yourself, or it will be automatically generated from the street address when the page is published. We recommend manually entering the lat/long for consultations that don't have a fixed address. This will drop a map pin at the coordinates you specify. Note: if you are adding this manually, please ensure the 'Overwrite lat/long values when the page is published' setting is set to 'No'. Access this setting from More > Site Management > your site > Settings > Location |
| Supporting information | |
| Additional accordion panels | Add additional accordion content. Use the field provided to name the panel and the edit button to open the WYSIWYG Editor. |
| Additional side panels | Add additional side panel content. Use the field provided to name the panel and the edit button to open the WYSIWYG Editor. |
| Add supporting images | Consultation-related images for an image gallery on the consultation page |
| Add supporting documents | Consultation related documentation |
| Add supporting links | Related internal/external links for the consultation |
| Add common search terms people would use when looking for this consultation | Keywords to boost the page in search results |
| Content labels | These labels organize your content internally (i.e. your site visitors won’t see the labels). You can make lists out of content with the same label. |
Please note that you will need to either choose a closing date or select 'Ongoing consultation' for your OC Consultation to display on your listing page.
OC Consultation templates
There are 2 templates available for an OC Consultation page: OC Default and OC With Full Width Image.
Choose the template that's right for you from the Template Name dropdown menu. If you want to preview your page with the template applied, Save before you press Preview.
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OC Default:
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OC With Full Width Image:
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Once you've made a consultation page, you need to start adding discussions, blog posts, and timeline items: