Basic page example

Basic Page Overview

Use a basic page for detailed text-based content. The basic page content type is a flexible informational page and the destination of many landing page links. Basic pages are used to provide information about a focused topic. Basic pages are ideal for providing full details about a benefit, service, or offering, or step-based information to complete a task with the state.

The bulk of information on many sites will use basic pages.

Use the basic page content type for information that is mostly text. The main content area, called the body, of a basic page is a rich text editor. You can style text using bold and italic, add headers, lists, tables, blockquotes, and more. You can’t create a custom layout, but you can embed images and add microcontent components and media items. The basic page requires the body field to be populated with content. 

Features

A powerful feature of a basic page is that it allows you to use automatic lists and link collections in the content area. This is useful for listing documents that are valuable for site visitors. The right approach depends on how much control you want and how the content should behave. Learn more about documents in automatic lists and documents in link collections.

Basic pages don’t have a character limit, so they can be as long as you need them to be. Use headers or a table of contents to structure your content and make it easy for site visitors to scan the page.

Key aspects of a basic page

Basic page formatting guidance

1. Use bulleted lists
   1. As you review content you’re placing, when you see a list with commas in a paragraph break it into a bulleted list! It makes it easier to read.
2. Fix subheadings and use appropriate nesting
   1. Your agency site may already use subheadings on some pages, but not always correctly.
   2. High level guidance for subheadings: H2s for new topics, H3s for sub-topics of H2s, and H4s for sub-sub-topics of H3s, etc.
   3. You’ll often only use several H2s, maybe H3s.
   4. Don’t choose subheadings based on design preference.
   5. Subheadings need to be nested appropriately for Google and search engines to understand the content on the page; they’re also crucial for accessibility. They’re not meant for design consideration. If the font size feels too big or too bold, just keep going.
   6. If you want to use a Table of Contents box on a busy page, subheadings need to be H2 to appear there.
   7. Example:
      1. [name of page]
      2. Introductory paragraph
      3. H2 - First subheading + text
         1. H3 - related content subheadings + text
            1. H4 - related subheading + text
      4. H2 - Second bullet

Maryland Platform Content Guide

Need more information? Consult the Maryland Platform Content Guide for detailed descriptions of the content and microcontent types available for use on your new site.

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