Person items
Use this for information about elected officials, board members, or other state employees.
Why use this content type
A Person item can include information about elected officials, board members or other individuals affiliated with state government. The Person item can include an individual's name, photo, organization, role in government, and any relevant biographical information.
When you create a Person on Mass.gov, you’re creating a chunk of information that can be added to other content types. If you update it, the information will update on whichever pages it resides.
Alternatives to the Person content type
Use the Contact Information content type if you need to link to information about a person via the Contact field found on many content types.
Hint: The Person content type has a publicly accessible URL if you check the box reading “Publish a bio page for this person.” The Contact Information content type does not have this option, and never has a public-facing URL.
Where Person information can display
A Person item can be added to other content types, such as:
Boards or Elected Official subtypes of Organization pages
Media Contact field on News items (news, speech, press release, and press statements)
People and contacts subtype of Curated Lists (also called a directory)
If you've published a biography for the Person you can also add it to the following fields:
Referenced Sources on Advisories and Rules of Court
Related Links on Information Details, Binders, Location Detail, News, and Service Details,
Links on Events, Location Detail, and Guides
Key Actions on Guides
Important: Only link to a Person in the above fields or content types.
Adding a Person as a Board Member on an Organization Page
Overview tab
Person type
Check off the Board Member box.
Description
Optional. Text will appear on a Curated List if the Person is part of a directory.
Medium image
Optional. This image will be displayed on the Organization page. This image must be exactly 172 x 228 pixels.
This image will display at full size when you add a Person to the “Featured Board Members” section of the Boards page. A slightly smaller version will display (72 x 96 pixels) if you add it to the “Board Members” section.
First name and Last name
Will appear wherever the Person item displays
Role/Title
Optional. This field is for the person’s secondary title (in addition to their role on a board). An example of when you would use this field is if the person holds an official title in state government, such as “secretary” or “governor.”
Don’t add their board role here — you’ll do that on the Org page. This will display as an “eyebrow” above the individual’s name.
Organization
Required. The person’s organization or organizations.
Short Bio
You can add an optional short description about the board member’s duties or general background. This will display on Boards-type Organization page after you add this Person.
Bio page
Check the “Publish a bio page for this person” box.
This will result in a “Bio page” tab appearing to the right of the “Contact information” tab. Use the fields under “Bio page: to add bio content for the official, including:
Biographical info, achievements, etc.
Social media links
A high-resolution image
Parent page
The required Parent page field appears on all public-facing content types and it powers the breadcrumb-based navigation system.
The Mass.gov team prepopulated the field based on an analysis of which child pages belong to which parent pages. Each child can be assigned only 1 parent, or higher-level page.
These connections, displayed in the form of breadcrumbs (i.e., links) above the page title, will help Mass.gov visitors find their way to relevant information regardless of where they start on the site. The breadcrumbs are shown below the Parent page field as well within the CMS.
Label(s)
Use the Label(s) field if you plan on using this Person item to build an automatic list for a directory.
Contact Information tab
Contact information source
Choose between either adding contact information on the Person content type screen or by adding it via an existing Contact Information content type.
If you choose “Entered on this page,” then fill in the Address, Phone Number, Fax Number, and any related Links.
If you choose “From contact item,” you can link to an existing Contact Information item via an autofill field.
Adding a Person as an Elected Official on an Organization Page
Overview tab
Check off the Elected Official box.
Profile Image
Optional. This optional image will be displayed on the Elected Official subtype of Organization Pages. The size of this image should be 235 x 235 pixels.
Description
Optional. Text will appear on a Curated List if the Person is part of a directory.
First name and Last name
Will appear wherever the Person item displays.
Role/Title
Optional. Additional information about the person.
This optional image will be displayed on the Elected Official subtype of Organization Pages. The size of this image should be 235 x 235 pixels.
Organization
Required. The person’s organization or organizations.
Bio page
To create a biography page, check the "Publish a bio page for this person" box.
This will create a new tab called “Bio Page” where you can add bio content for the official, including:
A main content area for biographical info, achievements, etc.
Social media links
A high-resolution image
Note: The image that appears on the Elected Official Page is the one you add to the Profile Image field, which is located in the “Overview” tab.
Short bio
Optional. Displays on the person’s bio card, such as on an Organization page.
Parent page
The required Parent page field appears on all public-facing content types and it powers the breadcrumb-based navigation system.
The Mass.gov team prepopulated the field based on an analysis of which child pages belong to which parent pages. Each child page can be assigned only 1 parent, or higher level page.
These connections, displayed in the form of breadcrumbs (i.e., links) above the page title, will help Mass.gov visitors find their way to relevant information regardless of where they start on the site.Parent page field
Labels
Use the Label(s) field if you plan on using this Person item to build an automatic list for a directory.
Contact Information tab
Contact information source
Choose between either adding contact information on the Person content type screen or by adding it via an existing Contact Information content type.
If you choose “Entered on this page,” then fill in the Address, Phone Number, Fax Number, and any related Links.
If you choose “From contact item,” you can link to an existing Contact Information item via an autofill field.
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