Overview
This guide is for the webmaster who is ready to convert SLS2. When finished, you’ll be ready to publish your new site. Also, please review our Updates and Issues page for news that might affect conversion.
Make Sure You Have Webmaster Rights for SLS2
Any SLS2 Webmaster or Senior District Webmaster for SLS2 can give you webmaster rights. When you have those rights, you will see a link to the Site Center in your toolbox at the top of the right column on your portal homepage.
Senior District Webmaster can get to Site Center for any site via the Admin Center.
Step-By-Step Guide
1. Convert Your Site
The first time you use your link to go to the Site Center, you'll see this message:
Click the large blue button to start the conversion process. You’ll be taken to a status page that shows conversion progress. Conversion must complete before you can do anything else. Most sites take under 15 minutes. If you have a big site with a lot of documents in the locker, it could take up to three hours. You can shut the tab and come back later.
Note: If you or someone else clicks Convert Later, you will go directly to the Site Center. Here’s an article on converting later.
Once the conversion is done, go back to the Site Center to see all your converted pages.
2. Configure the Homepage
If you know that you do not want to use the Snap template and would like to choose one of our other homepage templates you may skip step 3 of this guide. Use our Easy Start Guide: Choose a new homepage template, when ready. Once the new template is selected, return to this step of this guide.
From the Site Center, select the homepage in the Site Map and click the Edit button.
You are now in the editing mode for the homepage. To the left of the header, there's a menu with options to configure the color palette of your site, the header and footer, and the body of the homepage. You may configure these parts of your site in any order you like.
2A: Choose a Color Palette
Click Colors in the menu on the left, select a color scheme. You may change color as often and whenever you want. Learn about getting custom colors.
2B: Configure the Header and Footer
In this section, you will be working with modules, so it's a good idea to review our Easy Start Guide for working with modules.
Click Header and Footer in the menu on the left. Your view will change to show only the header and footer at this point.
2C: Fine Tune the Homepage
Although the Snap conversion process does convert the content of your old homepage, you may want to makes some changes. To add, edit, delete, and move modules on your homepage, learn more about working with modules.
2D: Configure the Carousel
Click Homepage in the menu on the left. Your view will change to show the entire homepage, though only the body of the page will be editable.
The Snap conversion process does not transfer the images from your old slideshow. Fortunately, it's easy to add new images. Just drag and drop one or several images onto the carousel.
Learn more about working with the Carousel Module.
If you prefer not to have a slideshow on your homepage, click the Carousel module once to select it then click the trash can icon on the toolbar.
3. Prepare Interior Pages
3A: Tables
You will also want to apply an SLS2 format to make your tables responsive.
Learn more about making your tables accessible and responsive.
3B: Fix Formatting Issues
Converted content may still have styling that does not match SLS2. To improve the look and consistency of your site, you should remove old styles such as font, color, and size.
3C: Other Preparations
Your old site may have made use of redirects or hidden folders. If so, these will need to be fixed as well. See our complete list of preparations for interior pages.
4. Publish Your Site
If you're ready to go live, awesome! From the Site Center click Tools and then the Publish button.
When you publish your new site, your old site will go offline. If remained unpublished, your old site will remain live.
Site Conversion Time Frame
Just the conversion process of transferring your pages over to the new system depends on the size of your site and the number of files stored in the lockers. Small sites will convert in under 5 minute whereas large sites with hundreds of pages and thousands of files can take several hours to convert.
The time required to fully switch your site over from the old system to the new, including template setup, conversion, build homepage content, clean up interior pages, etc., also depends on the size of your site. A small school site could take 1 to 3 hours of work. An average size middle or high school site could take 4 to 10 hours. A large district site could be 15 or more hours.