Website content maintenance best practices

This guide provides best practices for maintaining website content in iMIS RiSE. It covers routine content hygiene, how to handle duplicate content that appears in search results, how to retire old content without breaking live pages, and how to permanently purge archived document versions when needed.

Content folder fundamentals

Every content record in iMIS RiSE inherits its management rules from the content folder it lives in. The folder controls which websites the content is published to, who can approve it, and whether search engines can index it.

Understanding folder settings is essential before making any structural changes:

• Never create content records in the root content folder (the @ folder). Management criteria set at the root level are copied into every new folder created beneath it, which can cause unintended inheritance.
• System content records in the Core Content and Quick Start Sites folders cannot be edited or deleted. Copy them first, then edit the copy.
• When a website is copied, its content folder structure and all content records are duplicated automatically. Always work from copied content and never directly modify out-of-the-box records.
• The content folder's Default Website (for search) and Include content in Searches for these additional Websites settings determine which websites will surface a content record in search results. These settings cascade to all records created inside that folder.

Handling duplicate content

Duplicate content records can appear in search results when the same or very similar content exists in more than one published record — for example when a page is accidentally copied, or when a record is updated by creating a new one instead of editing the existing record. The following are complementary approaches.

Suppress a duplicate from search engine indexing

Use this approach when the duplicate page must remain accessible via a direct URL (for example, it is still linked from navigation or email campaigns) but should not appear in search results or be indexed by external search engines such as Google.

To suppress a duplicate from search engine indexing, do the following:

1. Go to RiSE > Page Builder > Manage content.
2. Open the duplicate content record.
3. Click the Properties tab.
4. Deselect the Allow search engines to index this page setting. This inserts a noindex directive into the page's meta tags, instructing search engines to exclude it from their index.

   ⚠️

   Warning

   Unchecking Allow search engines to index this page only prevents future indexing. Already-indexed pages may continue to appear in external search results until the search engine re-crawls and drops them, which can take days or weeks. Submitting a removal request through Google Search Console accelerates this process.

5. Click Save & Publish.

Determine which copy is canonical

When two records contain identical or near-identical content, decide which one is the authoritative (canonical) version before suppressing the other.

• Keep the record whose URL appears in navigation, sitemaps, and any external links as the canonical version.
• Suppress the duplicate, or retire it entirely.
• If canonical URLs are enabled (Settings > RiSE > Quick Setup > Use canonical links for SEO), iMIS generates canonical link tags automatically. Verify the correct page is the one referenced in the sitemap.

Retiring and archiving old content

When content is no longer needed on the live website, move it to an archive content folder rather than simply unpublishing or leaving it in place. This prevents the content from appearing in search results while preserving it for reference if needed.

Create a dedicated archive folder (one-time setup)

Before retiring content for the first time, create an archive content folder that is intentionally not associated with any active website search:

1. Go to RiSE > Page Builder > Manage content.
2. Create a new folder named Archive (or similar).
3. In the folder's Properties, leave the Default Website (for search) field blank, or set it to a website that does not surface content in public search results.
4. Ensure Include content in Searches for these additional Websites is also empty for this folder.
5. Set appropriate access permissions so only content administrators can move content into this folder.

Move old content to the archive folder

To move content to the archive folder, do the following:

1. Go to RiSE > Page Builder > Manage content.
2. Open the content record to be retired.
3. Click the Properties tab, change the Folder Name to the archive folder created above.
4. Click Save & Publish.
5. Once published, the record will inherit the archive folder's search settings and will no longer appear in website search results.
6. Remove any navigation items or shortcuts that point to the retired content record to prevent broken links on the live website.
7. If the retired record was referenced as the Default Website (for search) content for any navigation item, update that navigation item to point to the replacement content record.

Purging archived document versions

iMIS retains a version history for every content record. Over time, older versions accumulate and remain accessible via the Version button in Page Builder. While this history is useful for auditing, old published versions generate URLs that remain live, which can cause outdated content to surface if someone accesses a direct link to a previous version.

To ensure older archived content is always cleaned up and removed, be sure to configure the Data retention settings for Archived content versions.

Do the following:

1. Go to Settings > Data retention.

2. Toggle On the Archived content versions settings. Archived content versions include previously saved versions of navigation items, RiSE pages and folders, community posts, website properties, and business objects in iMIS. This also includes items in the recycle bin, where deleted content is temporarily stored so it can be restored if needed.

   See Data retention settings for full details.

General content maintenance best practices

Review the following best practices.

Publishing and workflow

• Always publish content records after editing. A record in Working status is not visible on the website until published. The status bar shows red (Working/Unpublished), yellow (Publish Pending), or no bar (Published).
• Set content expiration dates on time-sensitive records (events, campaigns, announcements) so the workflow notifies approvers before content goes stale.
• Use a mock public-user account when reviewing the website to see exactly what visitors see. The On behalf of feature does not replicate the public view.
• Require Content Approver permissions in a Content Authority Group before allowing self-publishing. Staff without this permission must submit content for approval.

SEO and search settings

• Enable Use canonical links for SEO in Settings > RiSE > Quick Setup to prevent duplicate-content penalties from external search engines.
• Enable Use simple URLs in sitemap navigation to shorten URLs in Settings > RiSE > Quick Setup. Previously bookmarked URLs remain active after enabling this setting.
• Give every content record a unique, descriptive title and meta description. Avoid generic titles like 'Home' or 'Page 1' on multiple records.
• Add meaningful tags to content records to improve site-search relevance and support content gallery filtering.
• Create a useful custom 404 page and link it in website settings so visitors who land on a broken URL are guided to relevant content.

Theme and CSS hygiene

• Never edit an out-of-the-box theme's CSS file directly. Always create a separate custom style sheet (e.g., zz_ClientName.css). Style sheets load alphabetically, so prefixing with zz_ ensures the custom file loads last.
• Do not rename CSS files when updating a custom theme. Renaming requires uploading an entirely new theme instead of updating the existing one.
• When pasting content from external sources (Word, web pages), use the Format Stripper in the Content HTML editor to remove inline styles that may override the site theme.

Images and files

• Keep regular images under 10 KB and homepage banners under 50 KB to maintain fast page load times.
• Store images in RiSE > Page Builder > Manage images ($/Images). Store downloadable documents in $/Common/Uploaded files.
• Use descriptive alt text on all images to meet WCAG 2.2 accessibility standards and improve SEO.

Upgrades and version control

• Always work from a copied website and a copied theme. Out-of-the-box websites, navigation items, and themes may be overwritten on upgrade; copies you create are not.
• After each iMIS upgrade, review any custom Cookie Policy content records and add new cookies introduced in the upgrade.
• Test the website at various screen sizes after every theme change to confirm responsive behavior is intact.

Accessibility

• Use semantic HTML heading tags (H1, H2, H3) in proper hierarchical order. Do not use font-size changes as a substitute for heading markup.
• Ensure all links have descriptive labels. Avoid link text such as 'Click here' or 'Read more' without context.
• Verify color contrast meets WCAG 2.2 AA minimums after any theme customization. Out-of-the-box style sheets are compliant by default.
• Ensure all form fields have associated labels and that error messages are plain-text and clearly identify the problematic field.