Using the GOV.UK travel advice publishing system
Go to the preview or the production site using the relevant 'signon' URL, and log in using your username and password (these details should have been provided separately by GDS).
You will arrive at the screen below.
Fig 1a
Start editing a country by clicking on its name - you will be taken to the screen below.
Fig 2a
This screen lists the current and all previous versions of the travel advice guide for the country you’ve chosen.
If a version is currently being worked on, click ‘edit’ on the right-hand side to continue working on it.
Otherwise, click the ‘Create new edition’ button to create a new version of the guide (see fig 2b).
See the glossary for an explanation of versions.
Fig 2b
Like all content on GOV.UK, travel advice is written and formatted using ‘govspeak’ - a simplified 'markup' language that lets us easily and consistently apply a standard set of styles and formats across the site. There's a separate guide about govspeak.
Once you’ve clicked ‘edit’ or created a new edition, you’ll get to the edit screen (see fig 3a) - this is where you can start making changes and adding pages to the travel advice guide you’ve selected.
Fig 3a
The edit page has a list of editable fields.
This is the heading that will appear in the search results. The heading on the actual page is locked, and shouldn’t need to be changed.
When a user searches for the page, the search description will appear beneath the page title in the search results - it will give them a brief overview of the page.
Note down what changes you have made to the page - this will prevent people making the same changes again.
Upload an image of a map by clicking ‘choose file’. You should make sure it has the right dimensions to fit on the site (images should be no larger than 430 x 450, and should be as close to this size as possible).
Click the relevant box and the status will automatically appear on the country's summary page.
Add to text to this box that will appear on the summary page.
Parts are simply pages in the guide - it might be that all the required pages are already added and you just need to make an edit to the text. It might be that you need to add a new page - in this instance just click ‘Add new part’ (see fig 3b).
Each part has a title field and a body field. The title will appear below the main country heading, eg 'Safety and security' (see fig 3c)
Fig 3b
Fig 3c
You can move parts around to change the order they appear in the guide by dragging and dropping.
Once you’ve made the edits to the text, click ‘save’ or ‘cancel’ at the bottom of the screen.
To preview, click ‘Preview saved version’ in the bottom-right-hand corner of the screen.
The first time you do this, you’ll see a message saying that the server requires another username and password (which will be provided separately):
Once you’re happy, click on ‘Save and publish’. If you need to make further changes you’ll need to create a new edition of the guide.
Each country has a travel advice guide - this is the collection of pages for each country, eg summary, safety and security, health etc.
Versions are used to manage updates. Whenever a version is published, a new version will need to be created to make any further updates. Old versions will be archived once a new version is published.