2. Setting Up Your Site Basics | Civio Engage Knowledge Base [ ![Civio Knowledge Base](/civio-light.svg) ](https://nginx.deploy-lagoon-production.civio-engage-docs.dh1.amazee.io) [Articles](/articles) [Releases](/releases) [Home](/) [Knowledge base](/articles) [Getting Started with Civio Engage](/articles?category=15) 2. Setting Up Your Site Basics ============================== Updated 1 month ago Search Go Before you start creating projects and content, there are a few site-wide settings worth checking. This article walks through the key configuration areas — navigation menus, logos, your home page, community registration, categories, and participation defaults — so your site is ready for your team and community. Your site navigation -------------------- ![](/storage/L2YpdD6c7TJ8IyL1Ib9MdfMsylemoMIx4viz4uDo.png) Your public site has two navigation menus: the **Main navigation** (header) and the **Footer navigation**. These control the links your community sees when browsing your site. To update your navigation menus: 1. Click **Settings** in the left-hand menu. 2. Under **Structure**, click **Menus**. 3. Click **Main navigation** or **Footer navigation**.![](/storage/OSnARisgJxVjJJn1ChuveRd1srHKCWgA0u1rpEYt.png) 4. Click **+ Add link** to add a new menu item. 1. Provide a **Title** and **URL**. For internal pages, use a relative path (e.g. `/page/about-us`).![](/storage/tSCaBKzosjoRAVkXyJFY8wt5WNGiGpCyOK8SU5bD.png) 2. Drag items to reorder![](/storage/qTethvMfM7Kj5NgdRFDGe3OZgvfHfNDeqL4lk1w2.png) 5. Click **Save**. ### Creating navigation drop-downs ![](/storage/Q77rzZVaoLhcYTjR3LIagzwfFabW9w06pERJ4Y9s.png) You can create links under each other by dragging one beneath another to create dropdown menus. For a full guide including linking existing pages, removing items, and reordering, see [Edit the site menu](/articles/9176561415567-Edit-the-site-menu). Logos ----- Your site logos are managed in Appearance settings. There are three image slots to be aware of: - **Main logo** — displays in your site header and in email templates. - **Footer logo** — displays in your site footer. - **Icon** — displays as the favicon in the browser tab. ![](/storage/0mLIFEGKWAKhKmkwBQ3FM9eGuOEX5ZgGWFPLd43J.png) To update a logo: 1. Click **Settings** in the left-hand menu. 2. Under **Configuration**, click **Appearance**. 3. Scroll down to the **Frontend footer** section. 4. Click **+ Add Image** to upload a new one. 5. Click **Save**. For best results, logos should be PNG or SVG format and no larger than 400 px wide. See the [Image Dimensions Cheat Sheet](/articles/10194106560527-Image-Dimensions-Cheat-Sheet) for recommended sizes across all image types. For more on styling your site including colour palettes, fonts, and layout styles, see [Guide to Site Styling and Appearance](/articles/13614903662479-Guide-to-Site-Styling-and-Appearance). Assigning a home page --------------------- Your home page is a site page that has been assigned as the default landing page. ![](/storage/jdWl96DFpE2hSHTCbDU4mJOOstjA9qSpvJjmovRR.png) To choose which page displays as your home page: 1. Click **Settings** in the left-hand menu. 2. Under **Structure**, click **Home page**. 3. Select a page from the **Home page** dropdown. 4. Click **Save**. For details on editing your home page content, see [Editing the site home page](/articles/9176489815567-Editing-the-site-home-page). Community profiles ------------------ ![](/storage/J3f486dDlgODseqH8Qx1ME7VDAwTQRL9ZMzXgPHv.png) For community members that register on your site, you can collect additional demographic information by enabling optional profile fields. To configure registration profile fields: 1. Click **Settings** in the left-hand menu. 2. Under **People**, click **User settings**. 3. Scroll down to **Show additional profile fields**. 4. Tick the fields you want to collect: **Language**, **Gender**, **Year of birth**, **Postcode**, or **Education**. 5. Click **Save**. This data helps you understand who is participating and can be used for reporting and segmentation. For a full guide on customising the registration form including adding custom text above and below the form, see [How to configure user sign-up text and profile fields](/articles/12078016018959-How-to-configure-user-sign-up-text-and-profile-fields). Categories (tags and regions) ----------------------------- ![](/storage/IvHXpzADCst4s3IXXqebMyVlnmo8YcyS8iSjt434.png) Categories organise your projects by topic (**Tags**) or location (**Regions**). Setting these up before creating projects makes your content easier to discover and helps connect related consultations. ![](/storage/EPul4nH9gHagM5LLtW6JRU0ja9Fa7PwwqI43Yq80.png) To view and add categories: 1. Click **Settings** in the left-hand menu. 2. Under **Content**, click **Categories**. 3. Click **Region** or **Tag**. 4. Click the **+** button to add a new category. 5. Fill in the **Title**, **Summary**, and optional **Body** content. 6. Click **Save**. Categories can also function as their own pages with content blocks, and community members can follow categories to receive notifications about new projects. For a full guide on creating, editing, and using categories in projects, see [Manage site categories (regions and tags)](/articles/9176480859023-Manage-site-categories-regions-and-tags). Participation settings ---------------------- ![](/storage/RdNsQRX3ps5Ld1R3YDzI49ixWEf3gZEUnnLOkupP.png) Before creating participation tools, there are two site-wide defaults worth setting under **Settings > Configuration > Participation**. 1. Click **Settings** in the left-hand menu. 2. Under **Configuration**, click **Participation**. ### Default confirmation message This is the message displayed to community members after they submit a response to any participation tool. You can customise the text using the rich text editor. ### Default submission moderation This controls how public responses to participation tools (such as idea boards and Q&A boards) are handled before they appear on your site. Under **Default submission moderation**, choose from: - **Automatic moderation** — submissions are reviewed by automated moderation and published or rejected automatically. - **Manual moderation** — submissions require manual review before publishing. - **Publish immediately** — submissions go live straight away with no review. Click **Save** when done. Both defaults can be overridden on individual tools when you create or edit them. For more on reviewing and managing submissions, see [View, moderate, and export participation tool submissions](/articles/9184083413647-View-moderate-and-export-participation-tool-submissions). What's next? ------------ Your site structure is now configured. Continue to the next article to learn about creating and editing content on your site pages. **Next:** [3. Creating Site Pages](/articles/getting-started-article-3) [ Back to articles ](/articles) Table of contents ----------------- © 2026 [Civio](https://civ.io) [Privacy Policy](/articles/privacy-policy) [Terms of Use](/articles/terms-of-use)