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Changing standard node settings

We are updating our documentation library to be ready for the Sector 10! Find out more in our Sector 10 roadmap or head straight to our collection of Sector 10 - Changes and Updates.

User role
Content Editor Content Administrator
Task
Content editing
Topic
Content curation Content editing Metadata Revisions Search and search results
Product
Sector Starter kit

Standard node settings are part of the node edit form and let you change various aspects of a content node - such as its URL alias and metadata.

What is a node edit form?

Get acquainted with node edit forms in Navigating a node edit form. Don't know what a node is? Get started with Drupal 101 - Before you start.

The standard node settings for each node can be found in the sidebar of the node edit form. The settings available to you will depend on the content type of the node and your user role. In this guide we have listed the common settings available to Content Editors and Content Administrators.

In this guide

Node information


Screenshot of node information

Screenshot - Node information in the standard node settings


At the top of the standard node settings is basic information about the node. This tells you if a node is saved, published, or unpublished. It also includes revisions settings - see Creating and reverting revisions for more about using revisions.

Menu settings


Screenshot of menu settings

Screenshot - Menu settings in the standard node settings


For content types hooked into menus - for example, Pages - the menu settings allow you to add the node to an existing menu on your site. For more detailed information about managing menus, see Working with menus and menu items.

Metatag


Screenshot of metatag settings

Screenshot - Snippet of metatag settings in the standard node settings


In Metatag you can configure a the HTML metadata for the node. For the Sector Starter Kit we have preconfigured a few basic settings to get you started. The settings use tokens to pull information from the site and node into the tag - see Preconfigured HTML metadata to see what is included.

The Metatag module provides a long list of available tags that are sorted into sections:

  • 'Basic tags' - used in browsers and search engines
  • 'Advanced' - tags for language, geography, and more
  • 'Open graph' - used in link previews on social media sites

URL alias


Screenshot of URL alias setting

Screenshot - URL alias in the standard node settings


In Sector, the URL alias for all content nodes is generated automatically based on a preconfigured URL alias pattern. The patterns are based on the title of the node and its parent content type or, if your content has a menu item, the position in the menu. 

Can I overwrite automated URLs? 

You can untick the box and enter your own URL - but you shouldn't.

Keeping your URL paths consistent and maintainable is the job of your content management system. If you think a pattern is not right, or too many words are excluded, ask a sitebuilder to adjust the pattern and settings in the URLs . If you need a shorter URL, ask a Content Administrator to add a URL redirect

If you move a page node to another section of the menu (i.e. change its parent item), you may need to change its URL alias - see Working with menus and menu items for more on this.

URL redirects 

Administration Interface Screenshot

Screenshot - URL redirects

URL redirects allow you to redirect from one URL path to another path. The most common use is to provide a short URL for a longer URL alias. Content Administrators can add URL redirects by going to Configuration > Search and metadata > Redirect. 

<your-domain>/admin/config/search/redirect 

Authoring information


Screenshot of authoring information

Screenshot - Authoring information in the standard node settings


The authoring information shows the the editorial user who created the node and the time the node was created. Using the 'Authored by' autocomplete box, you can assign another editorial user as the author - e.g. if a staff member leaves.

We recommend to not change the date/time the node was created - it's part of the record of the site and its audit trail. If you want to manipulate dates in the public frontend, you can use the Sector issue date and the Sector last updated date

XML sitemap


Screenshot of XML sitemap settings

Screenshot - XML sitemap in the standard node settings


Search engines like Google read your XML sitemap file to better crawl and understand your site - learn about sitemaps on Google's Search Console help page. 

For most content types in Sector, your nodes are configured to be automatically included in the sitemap - you can view the map at <your.domain>/sitemap.xml. In the XML sitemap settings, you can change whether the node is included, its priority, and how often the node should be checked for changes.

URL alias URL redirect XML Sitemap

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