What's inside this article:
- About Regions
- Recommendations and best practice
- Create a new Region
- Navigate the Editor screen
- Add widgets
- Add layout blocks
- Publish the Region
- Assign a Region to a Category
About Regions
What is a Region?
A Region is a collection of widgets that you can choose to display on content pages. Regions are visible on the right side of the page on desktop or below the main content on mobile and tablet.
Regions are assigned at Category level. When a Region is assigned to a Category, the Region will appear on all supported content pages that use the Category as the Primary category.
What are the benefits of using Regions?
The main benefits of Regions are as follows:
- When implemented effectively, Regions increase audience engagement and keep visitors on your site longer.
- Assigning a Region is a convenient way to quickly share the same widgets across multiple content pages.
- Regions are assigned at Category level. This means the widgets in each Region can be tailored for the specific Category and its audience.
How can I assign a Region to a Category?
To learn how to assign a Region to a Category, see the following article:
Are Regions displayed on all content pages?
No. Regions are supported on the following content page types:
- Article
- Blog
- Document
- FactCheck
- Feature
- News
- Photo gallery
- Poll
- Slider gallery
- Transcript
In the Category settings, you can specify which of the above listed content page types will display the assigned Region. More information here:
Recommendations and best practice
Regions are assigned at Category level. So we recommend tailoring the Region content for the specific Category and its audience. The following widgets are commonly used in Regions:
- Trends: Can be configured to list the most-viewed pages from the relevant Category. More information here:
- Content: Can be configured to promote the latest pages from the relevant Category. More information here:
- Subscription: Lets visitors subscribe to a newsletter that delivers the latest content from the relevant Category.
When creating a Region, consider mobile users. On mobile, every item in the Region is displayed on a new row below the main page content. Including too many items will make the Region very long and create an overwhelming experience for mobile users.
Create a new Region
To create a new Region:
- Go to Sections > Regions in the top menu.
- Hit + Add new at the top of the screen.
The Editor screen for the new Region opens. The following conditions apply:
- The Region is automatically saved in Pangea CMS with the Private status. When you are ready, change the status to Public via the Region settings.
- The Region is assigned a default name (such as My Region ID:1234). Before setting the status to Public, you need to change the default name via the Region settings.
Navigate the Editor screen
The following options on the Editor screen are useful for creating a Region:
- (A): Versions: Manage current clones or create a new clone.
- (B): Widget controls: Hide or show the labels / controls on the top of each widget box on the Editor screen.
- (C): Widgets: Add a new widget to the Region.
- (D): Widgets from library: Add a library widget to the Region.
- (E): Settings: Manage the Region settings.
- (F): Layout: Add Layout blocks.
The Editor screen does not have a Save button. This is because when you add, edit, or remove widgets on a Region, the changes are saved automatically.
To edit a Region privately without impacting the published version, use cloning. For instructions, see the following article:
Add widgets
Widgets are the visual components used to construct Regions. The following widgets can be included in a Region:
- Content widgets
- FactCheck widgets
- HTML widgets
- Live blog widgets
- Manual stream widgets
- Multimedia widgets
- Podcast widgets
- Poll widgets
- Subscription widgets
- Trends widgets
To create a new widget, locate your chosen widget type under Widgets in the left panel. Then, drag and drop the box to the correct Layout block in the right window.
You can also add an existing widget from the Widget library. More information here:
Add Layout blocks
By default, the Editor screen for a Region includes 3 Layout blocks. Each layout block can contain one widget. If necessary, follow these steps to add a new Layout block:
- Hit Layout at the top of the screen.
- Under Layout blocks, drag and drop the box to your chosen position on the page.
- Hit Back to section editor to add a widget in the new Layout block.
Publish the Region
Before publishing the Region, you need to complete the required settings:
- Hit Settings in the top-right corner.
- Update the Localize title (can be in any language). The Localize title is only visible in Pangea CMS. Ticking the box next to Localize title has no effect for a Region.
- Update the English Name (must be in English). The English Name is only visible in Pangea CMS. Using English helps ensure the name is universally recognizable.
- If you want to publish the Region, select Public under Status.
- Hit Save Settings to confirm and apply your preferences.
The Region is now published. However, it is not visible on the public site until you assign it to a Category.
Assign a Region to a Category
Regions are assigned at Category level. Each Category can be assigned one Region. However, the same Region can be assigned to multiple Categories. For detailed information, see the following article:
