Site layout

Site Layout is where you build the header and footer that frame every page of your website, including the navigation menu, footer links, social links and copyright line. You can keep several layouts, choose a default, and give particular pages or sections of your site a different header or footer. Go to Strengthen → Content → Site Layout to get started.

Before you start

• You need permission to manage your content setup to open Site Layout, and permission to update it to delete layouts. Ask a subscription administrator if you can't see the page or a button. See Users, teams, groups and permissions.
• Create the pages you want in your menus first, so you can pick them from a list. See Creating and editing pages.

How layouts work

The page has two tabs, Header and Footer. Each tab lists your layouts with their Layout Name, whether they're the Default, their Status, and how many Navigation Items (headers) or Sections (footers) they contain. Select Open Builder on a row to edit that layout.

• The default layout is used on every page that doesn't have a specific layout assigned.
• You can assign a different layout to an individual page, and optionally to all of its child pages.
• Keep one default header and one default footer so that every page has one.

Create a header

• Step 1: Go to Strengthen → Content → Site Layout and stay on the Header tab.
• Step 2: Select Add Header. The Header Builder opens.
• Step 3: In the left-hand panel, enter a Layout Name, set the Status, and tick Use as default if this should be your main header.
• Step 4: Under Layout Tools, add items to the Canvas using Add Page, Add Custom Link or Add Dropdown. Use Search components to find a tool quickly.
• Step 5: Select an item on the canvas to edit it in the Inspector under Selected Item. Drag items to change their order.
• Step 6: Select Save to keep working, or Save and Close to return to the list.

Select Back to List to leave the builder. Save first if you want to keep your changes.

Create a footer

Footers are built from sections, such as columns of links.

• Step 1: Open the Footer tab and select Add Footer. The Footer Builder opens.
• Step 2: Enter a Layout Name, set the Status, and choose whether to Use as default.
• Step 3: Replace the Copyright text with your own. A new footer starts with placeholder text that you should change before you use it. Type {{year}} where you want the current year to appear.
• Step 4: Select Add Section above the canvas. Select a section to set its Section title and Width. Widths are twelfths of the footer, so two sections at 6/12 sit side by side. A new section starts at 3/12.
• Step 5: Add items. Tools under Layout Tools add to the last section. To add an item to a different section, select Add Item on that section and choose the item's Type in the Inspector. As well as pages, custom links and dropdowns, footers can use Add Child Pages, Add Header, Add Text and Add Socials. Drag sections, or the items within a section, to change their order.
• Step 6: Select Save or Save and Close.

Item settings

Depending on the item type, you can set:

• Page: the page to link to, with an optional Label Override if you want different wording from the page name.
• Custom Link: a Label and URL, for example a link to another website.
• Dropdown: a label plus its Dropdown Links.
• Child Pages (footers only): a Parent Page. Its child pages are listed automatically.
• Header and Text (footers only): a heading or a block of text.
• Socials (footers only): a list of Social Links, each with a Platform and URL. Use Add Social Link to add more.
• New Tab: tick this to open the link in a new browser tab.
• Item Class: an optional styling class for your web developer, for example mb-5.

Select Preview in the builder to see the layout on your website in a new tab before you save. The preview updates as you edit.

Assign a layout to specific pages

• Step 1: Go to Strengthen → Content → Pages and open the page.
• Step 2: Open the Information tab.
• Step 3: Under Site Layout, choose a Header Layout and a Footer Layout, or leave Use default.
• Step 4: To use the same layout for every page beneath this one, tick Include child pages under that layout. The header and footer each have their own tick box.
• Step 5: Publish or save the page.

Delete a layout

Select Delete next to a layout and confirm. You can't delete:

• The default layout. Choose another default layout first.
• A layout that's assigned to pages. Reassign those pages first.

Hover over a greyed-out Delete button to see why it's unavailable.

Troubleshooting

• No layouts yet: select Add Header or Add Footer to create your first one.
• A page shows the wrong header or footer: check the page's Information tab, and whether a parent page has Include child pages ticked.
• A page is missing from the item list: make sure the page exists in Pages and try reopening the builder.
• Preview unavailable: your website needs a homepage before a layout can be previewed. See Creating and editing pages.