Switching to the wide page layout

The ETHZ content page (wide) and the new wide homepage are now the standard for AEM websites. For those websites that still have legacy homepage and content pages with the right column, these pages can still be edited in the Classic UI for a short time, but both deprecated page templates will soon not be editable due to the shutdown of the Classic UI. We, therefore, recommend switching any legacy templates on your website before the Classic UI shutdown to better control your website's content.

As part of the ongoing design refresh of the ETH websites, the ETHZ content page (wide) and the new wide homepage have become the standard. The following are reasons for the template changes in the system:

We are aligning the display of the desktop version with the displays on smartphones and tablets, ensuring that the hierarchy/weighting of the content desired by the author is the same on all devices.
We increase user-friendliness by offering users a clear focus on the actual content and standardising the reading guidance.
The presentation on the wide page template allows more white space, which serves the general readability and accessibility.
The wide page template allows more flexibility in the design of the components and pages. The different widths of the components (on the desktop view) can be deliberately played with in order to highlight individual content and thus provide visual variety. Overall, images in particular are given much more space with the changeover.
The focus on a single wide content page template reduces the effort for future development.

What does this mean for authors?

Content page switching

Existing content pages with the right context column must be switched to the wide page template, before they can be edited. Editing in Classic is only possible until the beginning of June, then the Classic UI is shut down. The following pages are not required to or cannot switch:
- Most footer and utils pages. Only Contact, RSS and Imprint can be edited and switched by authors. All other pages including the utils and footer are controlled by admins of the system.
- Newsletter configurator templates
- Dynamic detail pages (e.g. person, event, etc.)
After the switch content from the right column is moved to the bottom of the page and is no longer displayed on the frontend after publishing the page. Inherited content will disappear. Tips and tricks on how and where to place this content in the content column can be found on the corresponding help pages.

Homepage switching

Existing homepages with the right column should be manually switched to the new wide homepage template.
All content will be wiped clean and a website owner will need to rebuild content on a homepage with the new components that have been created specifically for the new homepage template. Therefore, it might be important for authors to test the new solution in the training system first before implementing the page switch for their productive homepage. Information about the switch and training system can be found on the protected page ETHZ Wide Homepage template page in the Touch UI manual.

Tips & sample pages

The ETHZ content page (wide) offers numerous design options. While you will find all of the configuration options in detail in the old Classic UI manual while still available and in the new AEM Touch UI manual, the following pages offer some examples to help you layout your pages: