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Brand Bar

Brand Bar

The Brand Bar is a way to highlight top-level audience landing page links or other page links at the top of every site page. These links display in two groups: Audience links, which can have additional text before them, and Global CTA links, which appear on the right end of the bar.

Brand Bar is a part of the header, along with Masthead and Main Navigation. These are found in a site’s Header folder inside the site’s Data node in Content Editor.

The brand bar on the MSU website includes Future Students, Current Students, Alumnni and Faculty & Staff audience links on the left and Apply, Visit and Give links on the right. This area is outlined in red.
Figure 1: The brand bar on the MSU.edu website is marked with a red box. This example includes Audience links and Global CTA links.

 

Note: While the search bar appears in this same area, it is a separate site configuration and not considered part of the Header component.

Component Information

Benefits

  • Use this component to display links at the top of every page on the site.
  • There are two sets of links possible: 
    • Audience Links appear at the top middle on desktop and are stacked below the main navigation on mobile.
    • Global CTAs appear at the top right on desktop and are stacked below Audience Links on mobile.

Example Use Cases

  • Link to audience landing pages, where units can highlight specific resources, links of interest and information relevant to specific strategic audiences. For example, an Employees landing page could have links to relevant pages (i.e., an intranet, MSU email, Human Resources) as well as recent news stories of interest to employees. 
  • Link to specific calls to action, such as “Apply,” “Donate,” “Visit” or “Sign up for newsletter.”

Frequently Asked Questions

No, having a Brand Bar is optional. Also, having both types of links in a Brand Bar is optional. Units can choose to include Audience Links, Global CTAs, both or neither. 

Instructions for Use

In Content Editor:

  1. Locate the site’s Brand Bar folder (sitename > Data > Header > Brand Bar).
  2. Right click on Brand Bar and select Insert in the pop-up panel.
  3. Choose either Audience Link or Global CTA to add the desired link.
  4. Enter a name for the link. The name is for internal use only.
  5. Click OK.
  6. Select the desired insert link option.
  7. On the Insert Link panel select or input the desired link and enter the Description/Link Description text. This is the text that displays on the site.

In Content Editor:

  1. Locate the site’s Brand Bar folder (sitename > Data > Header > Brand Bar).
  2. Select the Audience Link or Global CTA to edit.
  3. Use the desired insert link option and make the desired edit to the link or the Description/Link Description text.

In Content Editor:

  1. Select the Brand Bar if multiple additions or changes were made. Select a specific link if only one addition or change was made.
  2. Right click and select Publish Item. This is also available in the Publish tab under the Publish icon drop-down menu.
  3. In the Publish Item pop-up panel, make sure Smart publish, Publish subitems and Publish related items are all checked.
  4. Click Publish.
  5. On the Message confirmation panel click OK.
  6. When the publish process completes, click to close the Publish Item panel when ready.
  7. Return to Pages.
  8. To see the Brand Bar changes in Pages, reload the canvas.
  9. Once published, changes to the Brand Bar may take a few minutes before appearing on the live page. It may also require refreshing the browser tab/window.
The brand bar on the MSU website includes Future Students, Current Students, Alumnni and Faculty & Staff audience links on the left and Apply, Visit and Give links on the right.
Figure 2: The MSU.edu website utilizes a full brand bar with audience links (Future Students, Current Students, Alumni and Faculty & Staff) and global call to action links (Apply, Visit and Give).

 

The brand bar on the University Communications website includes Apply, Give and Visit links on the right.
Figure 3: The University Communications website (comms.msu.edu) utilizes a partial brand bar with no audience links and Apply, Give and Visit global action links.

 

The brand bar on the MSU Brand Studio website does not include any links.
Figure 4: The MSU Brand Studio website (brand.msu.edu) does not use either audience links or global call to action links.

Tool Use Guide

 

 PagesExplorerContent Editor
Add audience links  Optimal
Add global call to action links  Optimal
Publish changesOptimal Possible

 

Documentation updated: May 28, 2024

XMC Component Guide