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Migrating from Homepage Manager to Appearance Editor
Migrating from Homepage Manager to Appearance Editor

Everything you need to know to move from Homepage Manager to Appearance Editor

Tess O'Brien avatar
Written by Tess O'Brien
Updated over a week ago

Appearance Editor is EngagementHQs new visual builder for your community engagement site.

All clients have access to Appearance Editor as part of their license. Site administrators will see "Appearance" in the left-hand navigation.

Appearance Editor offers more flexibility and functionality than Homepage Manager. Including:

  • Better search and filtering - Automate which projects feature on your homepage. Make it easier for participants to find what they're looking for with flexible project displays.

  • Optimise for accessibility and devices - Ensure your community can access engagements anywhere, anytime, with ease.

  • Access new features - Project Showcase, Unsplash Image Library, Homepage widgets and Participant Profile are just some of the new awaiting functionalities.

On top of this, it's easier than ever to design a consistent and a comprehensive engagement experience, pick from three project page themes, set global styles and align with brand colours and logos. Read eight steps to a well-designed site here.

Homepage Manager is deprecated.

Now that you have access to Appearance Editor, Homepage Manager is obsolete.

You have until 30th Jun 2022 before support for Homepage Manager ends.

This gives you plenty of time to migrate to Appearance Editor and take advantage of new capabilities.

Important Dates:

  • Appearance Editor released: 20th Feb 2020

    • Appearance Editor introductory campaign

    • New customers no longer access Homepage Manager

  • Appearance Editor turned on by request: 3rd Mar 2020

    • Existing customers begin to opt-in to Appearance Editor

  • Homepage Manager Sunset date: 30th Jun 2022

    • Support for Homepage Manager ends

This article covers:

You can also watch this video:

Starting the Migration Process

1. Create a record of your existing Homepage Manager content.

As a safety precaution, you might like to copy existing homepage content into a centralised document for you and your team. This will serve as a backup in the event you accidentally publish or edit your homepage during the migration process. The copy of the existing homepage could be created by taking screenshots of the entire page, or in parts, with relevant notes if needed and put together in a document. There is no option to create an automatic backup of the homepage within EngagementHQ.

2. Choose a Template

  • Find Appearance in the left-hand side navigation, click Homepage Editor > Templates

  • If a template is already selected, click Change Template > Select a Template > Confirm Selection

3. Set Global Styles

  • Select Brand Color and click Save

  • Click Font select Global Font Family from the dropdown for Title Font and Content Font

  • Adjust Font Sizes using font sizing scale

  • Adjust Shadow and Corner styles

4. Save as Draft

5. Preview your draft

6. Share your draft

  • Select Save as Draft > Preview > Share a Draft

7. Publish your new homepage


⚠️ Warning ⚠️

This is a legacy feature. If you 'Publish' your homepage in Appearance Editor, you are disabling Homepage Manager, and the menu item will be removed. You cannot re-enable it.


Frequently Asked Questions

Can I keep my Homepage Manager template in the Appearance Editor?

Your Homepage Manager template will not transfer to the Appearance Editor. Instead, choose an Appearance Editor template and build your new homepage.

Updated versions of the Bondi and Whitehaven templates are available on Appearance Editor with changes to the function and aesthetic from Homepage Manager.

Select any template you like to start; add various sections and tools to your chosen template.

You can switch templates in the Appearance Editor anytime you like. However, content does not transfer between templates, so be sure to store a copy of existing content before you switch or use sections to change the look and feel of your chosen template.

What happens to my Hubs?

Publishing your Appearance Editor home page will not impact existing Hubs.

What happens to my Projects?

Existing engagement projects will remain live and unchanged while your Appearance Editor homepage is in a draft.

The Project Styles menu allows you to refresh your project pages. These styles won't take effect until your Appearance Editor Homepage is published—preview project styles with dummy content by exploring the menu.

If I publish a new homepage using Appearance Editor, can I still reference the old one in Homepage Manager?

Publishing your new Appearance Editor homepage will remove access to Homepage Manager. Do not publish your new homepage until the migration to Appearance Editor is complete.

Until you hit 'Publish' on the new Homepage design, your current site remains as it is. Existing Homepage content lives under Site Management. After publishing, you will manage homepage content from the 'Appearance' section. In the meantime, click 'Save as Draft' while working on a design.

Will all my content transfer to the new Appearance Editor automatically?

Existing homepage content will not transfer to the new Appearance Editor.

EngagementHQ's Homepage Manager will be retired in June 2022.

Publishing your new Appearance Editor homepage will remove access to Homepage Manager. Do not publish your new homepage until you have finalised the migration process.

I have accidentally published my homepage; what do I do?

If you 'Publish' your homepage in Appearance Editor, you are disabling Homepage Manager, and the navigation item will disappear. You cannot re-enable it again. You must now move all editing activity to Appearance Editor and inform all site administrators of this change. Our support team can assist with any urgent content transfers at support@engagementhq.com or via the chat function.

What if I have a custom Homepage?

If your existing engagement site has customisation in place, you will not be able to press 'Publish' in the Appearance Editor. Get in touch with us via the chat function or email support@engagementhq.com to publish your new homepage.

Who has access to the Appearance Editor?

Site Administrators. If you would like to add an administrator to EngagementHQ navigate to Team > Click 'Add Admin'> Complete the registration process and select 'Site Admin' as role.

Will the migration impact my reporting?

Migration will not impact your reporting. EngagementHQ will calculate unique visits, total visits, traffic source as usual without any downtime.

Do I need to rebuild my navigation, header or footer?

No - your header and footer will automatically be displayed within the new Appearance Editor. You don’t need to edit this unless you would like to change functionality.

What happens if I want to change my template?

You can switch templates in the Appearance Editor anytime you like. However, content does not transfer between templates, so be sure to store a copy of existing content before switching.

One of the key benefits of Appearance Editor is that you can completely transform the look and feel of your template using sections, you can add and delete as many sections as you like. Sections can contain widgets, projects, banners or registration buttons.

What happens if I can't migrate before 30th Jun 2022?

If you have not migrated to Appearance Editor and customised your new homepage, support for Homepage Manager will end and the content will gradually be transferred to the default Bondi Appearance Editor theme. Colour and content are subject to change based on the default theme.

If you are interested in adding a Homepage Refresh service to your license, speak to your engagement manager.

What's Next?

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