Creating a contact block

To create a new contact block, you should:

1. Find an existing contact block that looks like the one you want to create, e.g., for a:
   
   • Department
   • Division
   • Person or group
2. Make a copy of the existing contact block and edit it:
   • Go to Contact Information for Mirroring in the T4 site structure
   • Duplicate the existing contact block to Contact Information for Mirroring (Note: T4 can take  minute to make the duplicate; please be patient.)
   • Make sure your new contact block is named in a way that people will be able to find it (see Add a clear T4 name under Best practices)
   • Edit the duplicated contact block with your new information
3. Mirror the new contact block back to the page where you want it to appear.
   • See Mirroring contact information to a page
4. Go to the page and make sure to move the contact block to the correct location on the page.

Contact block elements

Include contact block information in the following order (items with an asterisk are required):

1. Name* (column 1)
   • Department: Department name as an H3 heading
   • Division: Division name as an H3 heading, followed by line break, followed by department name without H3 heading
   • Person or group: Person or group's name as an H3 heading, followed by line break, followed by a title (if needed) without H3 heading, followed by department name without H3 heading
2. Email* (column 2)
   
   • Do not display full email address
   • Button should say, "Email xxxx" (where xxxx is the name of the department, division, person or group)
   • See formatting guidelines
3. Phone (column 3)
   • List the word Phone in bold on the first line, followed by a line break
   • Make sure phone number is hypertext linked so people can click the number to call
   • See formatting guidelines
4. Address* (column 4, or if no phone number, put in column 3)
   • List the word Address in bold on the first line, followed by a line break
   • Building name on first line
   • Street address followed by a comma and room number (follow web style guidelines for street address)
   • City, state and zip code on third line
   • If you list hours, make sure to include a line break and then bold the word Hours as a heading. Hours information follows the heading and should not be in bold.

* Required information

Below are examples of several Contact blocks. Note that there is a Contact us heading above the contacts.

If you don't find a contact block example you want to duplicate, contact your quality owner.

Not all pages need to have contact information. Here are some cases where you should add contacts:

• The content relates to a specialized group, division or staff member
• Site visitors have a lot of questions about the content and reach out to the City often

You should always add contact information to these kinds of pages:

• Department, division and ward pages
• Program/initiative pages
• Project pages

Do 

• Always mirror contact information to your page.
• Always include a Contact Heading above a group of Contacts. Your content will not display properly without this.
• Only include contact information for one person, team or department for each content type.
• Use bold text for labels like "Email" or "Phone."
• If email is included, make sure it has its own column
• Include content in all columns, if possible.
• Group similar contact information. For example, include office hours in the same column as the address.

Don't

• Don't include long blocks of text. Keep it brief.
• Don't include addresses where they're not needed.
• Don't mix and match contact info for multiple groups or people in one Contact.

Add a clear T4 name

We use the "Name" field (also known as the T4 Name) to look up contact information to mirror. It is not publicly displayed on the website.

When you create a new contact, make sure the name is clear so that other City team members can:

• Understand what the contact information is for
• Find the contact using the search function

Naming conventions:

• If you are creating a contact for a person, the Name field should say the name of the department followed by, in parentheses, the name of the person, e.g., CPED (Max Cervantes).
• You do not need to add "contact" to the contact name.

Options for grouping contact methods

If you have 4 or more items that could be their own column, group or limit your options. Where possible, group related information (mentioned above in the "Do" section). Alternately, consider limiting contact options, keeping the most important or common methods of contact based on your knowledge of how people generally reach out.

All contact information is stored in one global location called "Contact Information for Mirroring" in Terminal 4. From there, you will "mirror" it to where you want it to display on a page. Mirroring lets us quickly make one change to a piece of contact information and update it in every other place on the site. 

Reflections

Anytime you mirror contact information to your page, think of it as a reflection of the original. Editing a reflection will update the original, and vice versa. This means that any changes you make will also happen to every other reflection on the site. Keep this in mind anytime you want to edit contact information.

Read more about mirroring in TerminalFour's documentation.

To display contact information on a page you need to mirror it from the original. This will make a reflection of that contact.

1. Go to the site structure view in Terminal 4. You can either leave the page you're editing or open a new tab.
2. Navigate to Contact Information for Mirroring. Click the name "Contact Information for Mirroring" to view/edit.
3. Once in the section view, click on the Content tab.
4. Use the filter box to search for your contact's name. The list is organized alphabetically.
5. When you've found it, click on the "Actions" dropdown button on the right and select "mirror."
6. In the pop-up window, select the page you'd like to mirror it to.
7. Go back to your page and double check that the content was mirrored successfully. It will be at the bottom of your page and pre-approved.

After you've successfully mirrored the contact information, make sure you have included a Contact (Heading) before the contact content type.

Email addresses

Example: Email Phillipe Cunningham

• Always include a mailto: link (directions below)
• Always keep the email address in its own column
• Always use an action phrase instead of listing the email address
• Use the "Add/edit external link" option to add email links

Phone numbers

Example: 612-673-3737

• Include the area code, with no parentheses or spaces
• Include a tel:+ link (directions below)
• Use the "Add/edit external link" option to add phone links

Fax numbers

• Only list a fax number when needed
• Include the area code, with no parentheses or spaces

Building addresses

Example:
Flour Exchange Building, Suite 400
310 4th Ave. S.,
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Get directions

In most cases you should include the name of the building in your address. Make sure the building name includes text that tells the visitor what it is. For example:

• "Flour Exchange Building" instead of "Flour Exchange"
• "Hiawatha Maintenance Facility" instead of "Hiawatha Maintenance"
• "Public Service Center" is good as-is
• "City Hall" is good as-is

Other guidelines

• Add the building name and room number first, before the street address.
• Capitalize and spell out "Room" and "Suite"
• Abbreviate and capitalize directions and include "." (S., N.)
• Abbreviate and capitalize streets, avenues, etc. and include "." (St., Ave.)
• Optionally add a link to google maps directions using the "Add/edit external link" option that opens in a new window

Office or appointment hours

Help site visitors understand when they can call or visit you. List office or appointment hours only if you're also listing a phone number or a building address.

Feedback or contact forms

First, add a column label that tells the site visitor what to expect, for example: "Questions," "More help," "Message us," "Appointments," or "Feedback."

Next, include a button or link to your form. Use descriptive button language (e.g. “Contact Ward 2” instead of “Online contact form”)

Generally, we don't recommend having both an email button and a contact form button, but it's up to you to make the decision based on what's most helpful to your site visitors.

311 contact info (for departments besides 311)

Only list 311's contact information if you have no other way for site visitors to get in touch with you. Make sure you clearly label that this is contact information for 311 so site visitors understand what to expect.

Also include a link to 311's contact page so visitors can learn more about what 311 is, their hours of operation, and other ways to contact them. Do not include 311's hours in your contact information.

Phone numbers

To support click-to-call, turn phone numbers into links and prefix with tel:+ 

For example: 612-673-3000 uses the URL of tel:+16126733000

Email addresses

Use a phrase like "Email 311" for the text of a link to an email address. Highlight the text, select the link icon and choose "Insert/edit external link." Prefix the URL with mailto:

For example: Email 311 uses the URL of mailto:311@minneapolismn.gov