Introduction to T4 Site Manager

Introduction to T4 Site Manager — Course overview

This practical, example-led guide helps editors and site managers use T4 Site Manager and its integrated TinyMCE editor to produce clear, accessible and consistent web content. Focused on everyday publishing tasks, the material emphasises reliable workflows for editing text, creating links, managing media, building tables and applying accessibility best practice so contributors can publish with confidence and keep institutional templates intact.

What you'll learn

• How to format structured content with TinyMCE: headings, paragraphs, lists and clean paste techniques that preserve semantic HTML.
• Effective link creation for navigation and usability: internal links, external links, mailto links and link text that supports screen readers.
• Practical image and media handling: uploading, optimising, choosing file formats, captions and positioning from the Media Library to balance visual impact and performance.
• Data presentation using tables: when to use tables, setting cell properties, and techniques to avoid using tables for layout.
• Editor workflows and content hygiene: full-screen editing, context menus, preserving clean HTML and applying CSS classes available in T4 to maintain consistent site styling.

Core concepts and practical tips

The guide stresses semantic structure as the foundation of accessible content — correct use of H2/H3 headings, lists and paragraphing to support readability and assistive technologies. It provides actionable advice on image sizing and basic optimisation to reduce load times, and explains how to use T4's CSS classes for alignment and responsiveness without altering templates. Readers learn to write descriptive link text, add meaningful alt text for images, and avoid inline styling that can create maintenance problems across pages.

Teaching approach and exercises

Content is presented through short, step-by-step examples designed for use in a staging or test environment. Exercises build practical competence: format an informational section, add internal and external links, embed media correctly, and create a simple data table with appropriate headers. A suggested mini-project guides users through assembling a concise, accessible information page that brings together editing, linking and media-handling skills.

Who should read this

Well suited to beginner and intermediate content contributors — web authors, communications officers and site coordinators working on institutional websites. The guide is aimed at people responsible for routine page maintenance who need clear, task-focused instructions on publishing standards, accessibility and maintaining a consistent site appearance.

Practical applications

Following the guide helps teams maintain departmental pages, publish news and events, embed downloadable documents and manage images correctly. It promotes workflows that reduce formatting errors, improve discoverability and create a more inclusive experience for visitors on desktop and mobile devices.

Key terms

• TinyMCE: the in-browser WYSIWYG editor used to create and format page content.
• Media Library: the central repository for images, PDFs and other media assets managed within T4.
• Semantic headings: using H2/H3 tags to define content structure and aid navigation and accessibility.
• Optimisation: resizing and compressing images, and choosing appropriate formats to improve performance.

How to get the most from this guide

Work through the exercises in a staging environment, preview frequently, and test pages with common assistive technologies. Adopt the guide's link and image conventions to keep content consistent and maintainable. Use the examples as templates for recurring page types to speed up publishing while preserving accessibility and template integrity.

Author note

Authored by Christian Oates, the guide pairs procedural instruction with real-world examples to help teams maintain accessible, well-structured web content using T4 Site Manager.

Ready to start

If you manage or contribute content in T4 Site Manager and want a clear, practical reference for editing, media handling and accessibility, this guide provides concise workflows and examples to get you publishing with confidence.