Adding and editing content: the basics

Adding content

Log in to the site. If you a priveleged member or editor, you should see a link named 'create content' in the navigation menu underneath your username. Click this, then click on the type of page you want to add. In this example we'll add an article or story in the Magazine section. Click on the 'story' link.

You'll be presented with a form for adding an article, with a number of fields to fill in. Some of these fields are required and are indicated with a red asterisk: ***

For an article, you'll need to enter a Title and some text in the Body field.

Next, select a category for your article from the drop-down list labelled Articles. These categories are customisable, and you can even add a new category whilst editing your story: see the tutorial on Managing categories and creating categories on the fly.

You can use images is your article: see the tutorial on Working with images in articles.

When you're done, you can preview your article, or submit it immediately. Preview will allow you to check the page as you'd see it on the site before actually posting it. Both 'Preview' and 'Submit' will do some checking on your article, and display a warning if something needs changing.

Errors and warnings

If there is a problem with your article, a warning will appear in a red box at the top of the post when you preview or submit. The warnings should be clear, and the field that contains the error will also be highlighted in red:

Amend your field, and click the Preview button to re-check your article.

Bible references

The site will filter any bible references in your text, and create a link to the passage on the online bible on Bible Gateway.

For example:

>"A man can receive only what is given him from heaven."
John 3:27

will produce:

>"A man can receive only what is given him from heaven." John 3:27

Editing content

You will be able to edit your own content once it has been posted, and admins and editors will be able to edit most posts.

Minor edit

Selecting the 'minor edit' option when editing an article:

will mean the date that the article was created will not be changed, so articles will not show up as being new.

Use this for minor corrections, spelling mistakes and other minor changes.

Posting styled content with Markdown

This page briefly explains how to format your posts to include styles (bold, italic, lists, etc) or other content (posting and attaching images, and linking to other sites). If you've posted on a forum before then you've probably used a system similar to BBCode. This website uses a similar system, but one which is much simpler to use and read called Markdown. Full documentation is available here and here, and is recommended if you're a regular poster.

Basic text formatting

To create a new paragraph, hit return twice while typing. In other words, leave a blank line between seperate paragraphs.

To start a new line, put two spaces at the end of the line that you want to break. This isn't necessary if you just want to post a regular message, only if you want or need the extra control.

Style

To post bold text, put two stars (*) either side of the word or sentence.

Example: This is a sentence with a **bold** word.
Result: This is a sentence with a bold word.

To post italics, use a single star.

Example: This sentence has an *italic* word.
Result: This sentence has an italic word.

You can even include these in the middle of a word.

Example: un*believ*able
Result: unbelievable

Quotes

To quote a previous post or reference some text use > at the beginning of a paragraph, or at the start of each line you wish to display as a quote:

> This is a blockquote, I have included it here so 
> as people reading the thread later on will not get confused.

or:

> This is a blockquote, I have included it here so 
as people reading the thread later on will not get confused.

You can also nest quotes:

> This is the first level of quoting.
>
> > This is nested blockquote.
>
> Back to the first level.

and include other styling elements:

> ## This is a header.
> 
> 1.   This is the first list item.
> 2.   This is the second list item.

Links

To post a link to another site, you have two options.

• Surround your link with brackets <http://www.rivertown.org.uk/> and it will be converted automatically:

• Provide some link text and a target, like this: [click here](http://www.rivertown.org.uk/). Result: click here

Images

Posting an image is similar to the second linking method above. You need two things: the URL to the image you want to post, and a title for it, which should be two or three words that describes the image you're posting. :

\!\[logo\]\(http://www.rivertown.org.uk/site/themes/rivertown/images/rurc_logo.png\)

Result:

Don't forget the exclamation mark at the start of this one, or you'll post a link to the image instead of inserting it into your post.

Lists

To post a list of things, begin each of your items with a star:

\* Item 1  
\* Item 2  
\* Item 3  

... and it will be converted into this:

• Item 1
• Item 2
• Item 3

You can also use numbers to define a numbered list:

1. Item 1
2. Item 2
3. Item 3

will be converted to:

1. Item 1
2. Item 2
3. Item 3

Working with images in articles

There are several ways to use images in your posts, each with their own pros & cons.

Working with inline images

The simplest way to use images in your article is to use an inline image. This is useful for news stories where the attached image is always in a set position on all pages - ie the top right hand corner of the article:

Firstly, you'll need to attach your image to the article you're working on. While editing the article, use the attachments dialog at the foot of the page to attach an image:

Deselect the 'list' tickbox once the image is attached:

Of course, this step is optional, but by deselecting the 'list' option the default attachment link will be hidden when the article or page is read:

Now simply add an 'inline tag' into your post. For example to insert the 1st attachment, enter:

[ inline:1 ]

or the 3rd attachment:

[ inline:3 ]

(remove the spaces either side of the brackets).

Inline images will always have a fixed style, a green border and they are 'floated' to the right of the text, which should flow around the image.

Inserting images with Markdown

If you need to insert your image in a specific place within your text (such as some of the images on this page), you can gain a little more control over positioning by inserting the image with a Markdown tag. Please read this help page on Markdown formatting first if you are unsure what this means.

1. Firstly, attach your image to the post (see steps to achieve this above).
2. Deselect the 'list' checkbox once the image is attached.
3. Next, find the path to your image from the list of attached files. It will look something like http://www.rivertown.org.uk/files/help_img_assist_icon.png, but you will only need to use the part starting with files/, in this example the path to use would be files/help_img_assist_icon.png.

4. Use Markdown syntax to insert your image:

   

The text between [ and ] is a caption and will be used as alternate text should the image be unable to be shown for some reason. The text between ( and ) is the path to the image you grabbed in the step above. The result:

More information on using Markdown to insert images can be found in the Markdown documentation.

Publishing and promoting content

Publishing

When an article or page is marked 'Published', then it is visible to all users of the site, depending on permissions. Pages should be left un-published (ie deselect the 'Published' check box) if the article is work in progress or is not yet deemed suitable for viewing on the site.

Of course, only admins and editors can approve content, so if you are a member submitting an article you will not see publish options. Simply submit your article as normal, and it will automatically be set to be un-published. The editors will read and review your submission and publish the article if it meets all their requirements.

Please remember to check your typing/spelling and grammar before posting. The 'preview' button is there for a reason! You could also cut and paste your text into a word processor to run an automatic spell check.

You can revisit an unpublished article you are working on via the 'my workspace' option in the main menu.

Sticky posts

'Sticky' posts are normal posts that get shunted to the top of the list regardless of its publish or authored date. This is useful for important notices or favourite reads.

Make a post sticky by checking the box labelled 'Sticky at top of lists':

Promoting content to the front page

If you, as an editor or admin, feel a post is worthy of being posted on the front page, you can easily do so by checking the box labelled 'Promoted to front page':

Managing categories

All the categories on the site can be edited and moved around. For example, a new photo gallery or article section could be created.

Creating categories on the fly

Administrators and editors only
Some categories, eg articles, will allow the creation of categories 'on the fly'.

When editing a page which allows creating categories on the fly, you'll see an extra part of the editing form near the foot of the page:

Enter a name for the new category (and ensure first that the category doesn't already exist!), select a parent category using the drop-down list, and click 'Create Item'.

You will be taken to a preview of your page, with the category you've just created selected for your new article.

Using the admin section to manage categories

Administrators and editors only
Advanced managing of categories can be done in the 'categories' section of the admin menu.

Click on 'administer', then 'categories'. You will be presented with a list of all the vocabularies and categories on the site. Vocabularies are the containers for a set of categories - eg Articles is a vocabulary containing all the article categories.

On the administer categories page, you will see (from left to right):

• Name - the vocabulary or category name;
• Node types - the types of page which can be placed in this vocabulary.
• Operations
  • edit vocabulary - change the name, node types and structure of the vocabulary.
  • add term - add a new term or category to this vocabulary
  • preview form - preview the category selection form as you'd see it when adding or editing a page.

Categories are very powerful when set up correctly. They can provide a structured index for your content, as well as allowing for related pages and searching. Some advanced information on categories can be found here.

Notes on creating other page types

Images

When creating an image, you will need to select an image on your computer to upload, and a gallery to put the image in:

Links

Links have several extra fields, but fortunately most of them are not required.

• Link - the address for the link. Links should be submitted in a form similar to http://www.example.com/. This field is required.
• Author - the author or body responsible for a linked site and its content.
• Publisher - the publisher of a linked site and its content.
• Translator - the translator responsible for a linked site.
• Date of issue - the date the site was created or adequately updated.
• ISBN - a link to an ISBN.
• Rating - a rating for the link between 1 and 5.

You should also select a category to place your link in.