Finalsite CMS Media guide

Uploading media to your Finalsite CMS is more than dragging a file into place. The right dimensions, formats, and file sizes affect how your site looks on every device, how fast pages load, and whether your content meets accessibility standards. This four-part series covers everything you need to know; from logos and file formats to video compression and hero images.

Have questions about your site's specific dimensions or media setup? Every site is unique! Look in these two places first for your site's custom treatments, enhancements, and site-specific directions:

• Your Production branch > Style Guide
• Your Instructions branch > Instructions

Part 1: Setting up your site's branding and global standards

Start here before uploading anything to your site. This article covers the foundational standards that apply across your entire website: school logos, favicons, recommended file formats, upload size limits, and a quick-reference glossary of media terminology.

Topics include: logo dimensions and file format recommendations (SVG, PNG, JPG), global upload limits for images, PDFs, and video, and key terms like aspect ratio, resolution, cropping, and poster image.

Read Media guide part 1 →

Part 2: Image specs for every module

Your go-to cheat sheet for recommended image dimensions across every content module in the CMS. Covers specs for more than a dozen elements, organized by task so you can find what you need quickly. 

Topics include: Page Pops popup images, Forms banners, Mobile App thumbnails, Calendar event images, Posts module thumbnails, Constituent Manager profile photos, Athletics Manager roster and team photos, and Finalsite Store logos.

Read Media guide part 2 →

Part 3: Building hero areas, banners, and sliders

Covers the difference between banners and hero areas in Composer, recommended dimensions for homepage heroes, interior page banners, sidebar banners, footer banners, and more! Also includes best practices for slideshows and WCAG 2.1 accessibility guidance.

Topics include: banner types and their structural roles, hero and banner image dimensions, slideshow and slider best practices, and links to the step-by-step how-to companion articles.

Read Media guide part 3 →

Part 4: Optimizing and uploading video

Walks through the complete video workflow from defining your video's purpose and compressing the file before upload, to adding it to Resources and connecting it in Composer. Covers how Finalsite's transcoding engine automatically serves optimized versions to every device.

Topics include: video specification standards, compression tools, audio removal for background heroes, and .vtt caption files for WCAG 2.1 accessibility compliance.

Read Media guide part 4 →