Creating a New Page

When you create a new page, the first time you check it in it will automatically be added to the menus, both the left-hand and the top drop-down (when applicable). All editors and approvers will be able to see the page in the navigation after it has first been published. The public will only be able to see the page in the navigation after it has first been published.

If a page is not show up in the navigation and you'd like it to- or if it is showing up in the navigation and you'd prefer it didn't - please contact the Help Desk. Also, if your pages are not showing up in the order you'd like them to in the navigation, please contact the Help Desk and indicate the exact order you'd like reflected.

Read more about changing navigation titles.

When you create a new page, SharePoint will ask you for the Page Name. This is the name that will become part of the URL.  You will set the name that appears in the navigation menus and the heading after the page has been created.  When creating a name for a new page URL, please keep in mind the following guidelines:

• It is important to name the page purposefully and clearly, as it becomes the end of the URL of the page and can affect search engine optimization (SEO).
• Use all lowercase letters.
• Do not use any spaces.
• Put dashes between words like so: new-page-title
• No other special characters can be used in a page name for the URL. This is critical because while SharePoint may or may not allow certain characters in page names (URLs), some mobile and desktop browsers won’t allow them to work as a link. They also get flagged with 406 errors on broken link reports and other scans. Plus, they are not SEO-friendly. (Remember that you have the opportunity to use these characters and uppercase letters when you change the Page Heading and Navigation Title after the page has been created.)

The following should not be used as part of page names:

• No “ ” ’ ‘ smart quotes.
• No { } curly braces.
• No [ ] square brackets.
• No … ellipsis.
• No ^ carrots.
• No | pipes.
• No \ backslashes.
• No + plus signs.
• No , commas.
• No . periods.
• No & ampersands.
• No ? question marks.

Only the single dash - to separate words in the page name (URL) is acceptable.

1. logging in to your site, go to the place where you want the page to live. This is the subsite or parent page that you want the new page to live under – any page that ends in "/Pages/default.aspx" is a subsite that you can create a page under. To have a new subsite created, please contact the Help Desk.
2. In the top right corner, click on the gear icon, and select Add a Page.

   

3. A box will pop up to give your page a name. This is the name of the page as it will appear in the URL. It is important to name the page purposefully and clearly, as it becomes the end of the URL and can also affect search engine optimization (SEO). For the URL page name: Use all lowercase letters and put dashes between words, like so: new-page-title. Do not leave spaces between words in a page title. No other special characters can be used in a page name for the URL. (Don't worry, you will have the opportunity to correctly format the Navigation Title and Heading of the page in step 5 and 6.) Please see Naming Guidelines for URL below for more information.
   

   

4. Click Create.
5. At the top of your new blank page, you will see two fields. In the first Page Heading field, retype the page name, removing the dashes and using appropriate capitalization and punctuation. The Heading becomes the page title at the top of the page — it will appear once you Save & Close the page.

   

6. Copy and paste the Page Heading into the Navigation Title field. This will become the name of the page that will appear in the menus. It will be visible in the menus once you check-in the page. It is important to keep the navigation title short. Using an "&" instead of "and" helps with navigation title length.
7. Check In the page. You must check in the page upon creation in order to create the first minor version of the page. If you do not check in the page, it will not exist. Once you have checked-in the page, the Navigation Title should automatically show up in the left-hand navigation menu and the top navigation drop-down menu, if applicable. (You may need to refresh the page after checking it in to refresh the menu.) If the page is not showing up in the menus after check in, please contact the Help Desk.
8. Click Edit to begin editing the page. You can now change the page layout, add and format content, add web parts, etc.
9. When you are done editing the page, don't forget to Save & Close and Check In. The page will not be live to the public until it is published.