Getting Started

To begin building your insite, follow this link and log in to the CMS using the provided credentials. Each insite is created from a single CMS project. If you are working on multiple projects or wish to refer to an earlier project, you can switch between them using the menu in the top left corner.

Layout

The CMS is laid out in both a spreadsheet and a text entry form. You can hide the text entry panel on the left-hand side by clicking the arrow in the top right corner of the panel.

Spreadsheet

The left-hand panel works similarly to common spreadsheet editors. You can drag the columns to rearrange them,

You can also order the rows alphabetically by clicking on the column headings.

To enter text in the spreadsheet, simply double-click on the cell and fill it in.

When you have completed it, click on another cell or hit save. Clicking on any cell will select its product in the text entry form.

Adding, Deleting, and Enabling Products

To add a product, click the “add product” button in the bottom left corner.

To delete a product, click the waste bin symbol on the far right of the spreadsheet.

The “active” checkbox controls whether a product’s details will be displayed in your insite. Unticking it disables the product.

Labels and Titles

Your product is referenced in your insite in various ways. Full Title, Menu Title and Mouseover are set in the content management system and the result is visible in the Insite once it’s been reloaded.

Full Title

Mouseover

Menu Title

• Full Title – The name that appears at the top of the floating info panel.
• Menu Title – How the info item appears in the menu. This may be shorter or more concise or need to clearly differ from other items
• Mouseover – the wording that appears when the use of hovers over the info point. This also can include a sub line like “click for information”

Automatic labelling

When Menu Title and Mouseover are left empty they will automatically display the wording from Full Title. So to save time you only need to enter a value for Full Title. But if you want to have special wording you always have the option.

Text Formatting in Menu Title and Image Label Fields

Commas and apostrophes in the Menu Title and Image Label fields will not render accurately in your Insite. Please use the following formatting shortcuts to replace them.
Comma (,) = §
Apostrophe (‘) = ª

Backing Up Your Project

It’s important sometimes to know that you can make changes and then restore the status from before. In order to do that go to the top left hand menu and click download project. This will store the status of the CMS at that point.

Please be aware that restoring a project will delete the current content. If you have any reservations simply contact us and we can organise it for you.

Working in a Team

It is possible to work with a group of colleagues on the same project, but it is important to avoid having two users editing the exact same product at the same time, as you may overwrite each other’s changes.

During teamwork, it is helpful to refresh the project regularly from the server to see the most recent changes created by your colleagues. To reload the project, simply select Refresh Project from the top left menu.

You can see the timing and author of the last edit to a product in the update columns of the spreadsheet and at the bottom of the text entry form.

Transferring Content from a Spreadsheet

We can populate the CMS based on a spreadsheet upon request. Alternatively, you can manually enter products one by one.

Viewing the Results

During the building process, we will normally set up a live project for you. That means that you can make edits in the CMS and then see the results as soon as you reload your project in our LMS or Server.

If you find that reloading the site does not reflect the changes you’ve made in the CMS or authoring, you might need to empty the cache of your browser. This is done in slightly different ways depending on the browser that you are using. The simplest way to find out is to google ’empty the cache in Firefox’ for example.

Organizing Your CMS Menu

The content of your CMS project can be displayed as a menu in your insite.

Defining Menu Titles

The name of a product in the menu is defined in the Menu Title field.

Menu Limitations

The height of your web browser limits the number of menu items displayed. We recommend a maximum of **12** for desktop-only insites and **8** for multi-platform insites.

If you have more menu items than this, it is helpful to arrange them into **sub-menu folders**.

Creating Folders in the CMS

In the CMS, it’s simple to organize items into folders. First, define the **folder items** by using the Folder field and assigning a name in the Menu Title field.

Using the Menu Organizer

You can easily arrange products into folders using the **Menu Organizer**, located in the **top left-hand menu**.

Simply **drag and drop** items to place them within a folder.

Keeping Items Outside of Folders

If you want to keep an item **outside** of a folder, write “none” in the Folder field.

Hiding a Product from the Menu

If you don’t want a product to appear in the menu at all, enter “hide” in the Folder field.

Text Entry Form

The text entry form allows you to enter all of the information required to build your product.

Simply click in the field you wish to edit and make your changes. Clicking in another field will save your changes.

Tabs

The text entry form contains tabs for inputting the main text panel, labels and titles, and image & PDF resources.

The Text Field

The text field represents the body of content displayed when a product is clicked.

Entering Your Text in the Text Editor

The CMS text field uses the markdown system to create HTML text that displays text in your insite consistently.

Previewing Your Product

The eye symbol at the top of the text window splits the markdown editor and gives a quick preview.

Markdown Text Formatting

The Look.insite CMS provides a custom range of markdown formatting buttons above the text window.

Custom Formatting and HTML

HTML formatting is possible within the text window for more advanced users.

We recommend using HTML only where markdown or custom shortcuts are insufficient.

Line Returns in the Title

Type <br> to add a line return in the full title of a product.

Images, Videos, and PDFs

Images and videos are displayed in a floating panel when the hot-point is clicked. Left and right arrows allow navigation through media items or fullscreen viewing. PDFs can be opened in an extra tab or in a floating window.

Adding media to your insite is simple. We provide a storage folder to organize your files. Reference them in the CMS, adding labels and deciding their order. Updates appear immediately in your site.

Resources such as images and PDFs can be displayed within insites or as links to extra browser windows. Simply fill in the resource names accurately in the resources tab and provide us with the relevant files.

Multiple Images

Multiple images are displayed in your insite using a slideshow in the floating product panel and maximized view.

To enter multiple images in one product, input the exact filenames in the resources fields labeled Image 2, Image 3, etc.

Image Labels

To add a label under an image, type the file name followed by two hashtags. Example: my_image.jpeg##this is my first image

Text Formatting in Menu Title and Image Label Fields

Commas and apostrophes in the Menu Title and Image label fields will not render accurately in your insite. Please use the following formatting shortcuts to replace them.

comma (,) = §

apostrophe (‘) = ª

PDFs

Entering a PDF resource in the CMS generates a button at the bottom right of the text. Clicking this button opens the PDF in a new tab.

Setting up your storage area (Blob)

Each project will have a storage area called a blob assigned to it. To access this, use Microsoft Azure Storage, which you can download here.

Simply follow the instructions. You do not need to open an account, just download the app and run it.

Accessing your storage area

You will receive a link via email, which you can use to access your storage area or Blob. The first time you open the app, you will see a window like this. Click on Attach a resource or the 2-pin plug icon in the top left.

This will open a window like this – click on Blob container.

Then select Shared access signature URL and hit Next.

Paste the link we sent you into the box below and hit Next.

You will reach a confirmation page where you can check the details before connecting to the storage.

When you click Connect, your storage area will be opened. This one already has resources in it, but it might be empty and ready for you to add your content.

If you have any trouble using your storage, please contact us, and we will ensure it is available to you.

Missing Resources

It is important that the file name is written exactly as it appears in your storage area, including the suffix (e.g., .jpg, .JPG, .png, .mp4). The image name is a URL and, just like an email address, it must be written exactly to function correctly.

If the file name specified in the CMS does not match the name of a file in the storage area, a placeholder image will appear.

If the placeholder appears, please check the naming of your file against what you have written in the CMS.

You can see here that the file name has an underscore (‘_’) that does not appear in the actual file.

Special Characters in Resource Names

Similar to web addresses, umlauts and other special characters can cause issues when used as a file name. If you find an image is missing, it may be because the special characters have been automatically replaced by the storage tool. To check this, right-click on the file in Storage Explorer and look at its properties.

As you can see here, the ‘ü’ has been replaced by a complicated code. You can either copy this highlighted text into the CMS or replace the image file with one that does not include special characters.

Text Formatting in Menu Title and Image Label Fields

Commas and apostrophes in the Menu Title and Image label fields will not render accurately in your insite. Please use the following formatting shortcuts to replace them.

comma (,) = §

apostrophe (‘) = ª

Authoring Online

The items you have created in our content management system contain detailed information about actual objects or areas in a space that have been photographed or created in 3D. These appear as floating panels of text, image, and/or video within the 3D simulation. We call these info items.

In-Site Authoring defines the hotspot or live area in the 3D space which, when clicked, will trigger the display of a product. Normally, a product panel appears next to the object displaying text, images, PDFs, videos, or even links to other sites.

With Insites‘ authoring tools, you can specify where this object is in the 3D space from within the site itself. The same object may be visible from multiple vantage points or more than one may exist, so it is often necessary to define the same hotspot from multiple points of view.

Entering Authoring Mode

When building a new Insites project, you will have access to the authoring tools and content management system for a specific period. During this time, you can enter authoring mode whenever you access your project.

You’ll recognize authoring mode by the yellow button in the bottom-right corner. Clicking this button opens options for adding and editing hotspots within the 3D environment. When in authoring mode, all interactive hotspots will be highlighted with a light blue outline, indicating they are editable.

To see the site as an end user would, simply exit authoring mode, and you can test its functionality as it will appear once published.

Adding and Placing Hotspots

To add a hotspot to your scene, open the editing tool by clicking on the authoring button. It will automatically go into add/move mode. Then select the product from the bottom right-hand menu that you would like to add to this particular view.

Your new hotspot is automatically placed directly in the middle of the screen; then you can drag it into its preferred position.

To move the hotspot, simply click and drag it. While you’re in add/move mode, if you hover over any hotspot, you can drag it into a new position. If you’ve already drawn a live area, the live area will be left behind, but if it’s sitting over a diamond shape, then it will come with it.

Deleting or Swapping a Hotspot

If you wish to remove a hotspot, click on the swap/delete button in authoring mode and then click on the hotspot you wish to delete.

At this point, you have a choice to completely delete the hotspot or swap it for a different info item. If you want to delete it, simply click delete in the text box. If you would like to swap it for a different one, open the menu and select a different info item.

Variations & Examples

Info items can have the same content but appear in different variations or situations, or there may be more than one appearance of a product in the same view. We refer to these situations as variations.

When you look at these examples in the published site, you’ll notice that there is an option to choose another example. These examples can exist in different views or in the same view.

To create one, click on the variations tab and then select the specific hotspot of the info item you’d like to edit by clicking on it. You’ll have a choice either to create a new variation or to assign an existing variation to this particular hotspot.

The wizard will help you to follow the steps to create your new variation. You always have the chance to re-edit the name that you write or to exit the whole process if it’s not correct. You can always start again.

Finding the best point of view for an info item

When you select an info item from the menu, it must be linked to a specific point of view. In some cases, the item may appear too small in the frame or be partially obscured. The Best View feature allows you to define the optimal perspective for each info item, ensuring clear visibility.

If your project includes variations, you’ll need to set a Best View for each one, so that when switching between examples, the most relevant perspective is always displayed. The authoring wizard simplifies this process—just select the Best View and follow the step-by-step instructions.