❖ Heads up! This article is only intended for Site Managers.
Your site offers a range of customization options to align with your organization's mission and purpose. One such feature is the Spotlight tool, which allows you to highlight key areas of your site or display clickable banners and buttons for volunteers to engage with.
Spotlights are an excellent way to personalize your site and draw attention to key content you want to share with your volunteers. Spotlights are perfect for:
Sharing links to custom pages you'd like volunteers to explore
Highlighting important upcoming events or volunteer Needs or Opportunities
Adding buttons to the main navigation menu for logged-in volunteers
Showcasing specific Agencies or Programs on your site's front end
ℹ️ So you know: Some sites have language overrides in place. This means you might see Needs in place of Opportunities, Agencies in place of Programs, or Prerequisites in place of Qualifications. You may also notice that your menu options are different from those in the examples since all sites are set up a little differently.
Creating Spotlights
Click Settings > Spotlights.
Select Add Spotlight.
Set up the Spotlight with the fields on the Edit Spotlight form.
Icon: Icons appear in the banner, card, and navigation buttons.
Color: This is the background color for the banner and card.
Text Color: This is the text color for the banner and card.
Title: The title appears centered on the card.
Sub-title: The sub-title appears below the title, centered on the card (255-character max).
Target URL: Insert a URL if you wish to make the Spotlight interactive. You can link to other pages on the site, Custom Pages you've created, external sites, etc.
Link Text: Include text for the Target URL—e.g., you could use action phrases like Click Me, Let's Go, or Learn More.
Show in Navigation: Select Show in Navigation if you want to add a button to the volunteer's navigation menu for the Spotlight, like so:
If you wish to remove a Spotlight from the navigation, you can change this setting to Disabled.
Navigation Title: This is the title of the button you added to the volunteer's navigation menu.
Click Submit Spotlight to finish.
Re-Ordering Spotlights
The first Spotlight listed in the Manage Spotlights table appears as the stretched banner on the front end of your site. The next two Spotlights listed appear as cards. Spotlights in the fourth spot and on, won't appear on the site unless you select Show in Navigation for them.
You can always reorder Spotlights to change which ones fall in the first three spots.
Go to Settings > Spotlights.
On the Manage Spotlights page, click and drag the hamburger icon to rearrange them.
Adding Links to Spotlights
1. Navigate to Settings > Spotlights from your site manager panel.
2. Click on the Spotlight you want to add a button or link for from the table.
3. Scroll down to the Target URL field and paste the URL you want volunteers to be taken to.
If you include a URL in the Target URL field, then you'll also be required to fill out the Link Text Field.
You can use the Link Text as an action button—e.g. Click Here, Volunteer Now, Learn More, etc.
Be sure to click Submit Spotlight before you navigate away from this page. You can always come back to add a URL after you've created a Spotlight.
If you want to include a link to a Custom Page you've created:
Navigate to Content > Custom Pages from your Site Manager panel.
In the table, click the Page Name for the Custom Page you want the URL for.
The URL is located under the Page Name field:
If you want to include a link to an Agency/Program on your site:
Navigate to Volunteerism > Agencies/Programs from your site manager panel.
In the table, click the Agency/Program Name you want the URL for.
The URL is located under Basic Info > Customize Link on the Edit Agency/Program page:
If you want to include a link to a Need/Opportunity on your site:
Navigate to Volunteerism > Needs/Opportunities from your Site Manager panel.
In the table, click the Need/Opportunity Title you want the URL for.
The URL is located on the right-hand side of the page beside the field that says Need/Opportunity Link:
4. Remember to click Submit Spotlight to save your changes!
Add Spotlights to the Main Navigation for Volunteers
You can also have your Spotlights appear as buttons on the main navigation menu for volunteers. This can be set up from the same area where you add the URL.
To have them show as a button, select Show in Navigation from the dropdown beside Show In Navigation. If you want to remove a Spotlight from the navigation, just change the selection to Disabled.
The Navigation Title is the title for the button in the navigation:
Here is what that button looks like on the front end to volunteers:
Remember to click Submit Spotlight to save your changes!
Examples of Spotlights
Your first three Spotlights appear on the front page of your site when a volunteer signs in. You can always re-order your Spotlights as necessary. The first Spotlight appears as a stretched banner and the second and third appear as cards:
In this example, the first Spotlight listed includes a link to the organization's privacy policy:
If you have an important volunteer opportunity that you want to showcase, then you can make it the first Spotlight to appear as a banner:
Do you have important training materials or resources that you want volunteers to review? You can use a Spotlight to direct them to that content:
The next two Spotlights appear as cards on the front end of your site:
You can share important volunteer opportunities:
You can also use Spotlights to share a Contact Us link:
After you've set up your Spotlights to Show in Navigation, they'll appear like this in the main navigation for volunteers:
These are just a few ways you can use this great tool to share important content with your volunteers!