Adding or editing articles

This site welcomes content from a number of relevant sources. This item will guide you through the process of submitting an article to or editing an existing article on this site. Given how powerful it is, the process is relatively simple. Here's how:

NOTE THIS IS NOT THE PROCESS FOR TRANSLATING AN ARTICLE OR OTHER SITE CONTENT - TRANSLATORS SHOULD USE THE FAQS FOR CONTENT TRANSLATORS.

1. Log in to the administrative or back-end of the site* - if you are not already a user with the necessary author permission level then read Registering on this site and/or Different user permission levels.
2. Click on the Add New Article icon (or alternately the Article Manager icon and then New) to open up the Article screen.
3. The key parameters for the article will appear at the top of the Article screen:
   * A Title for the article - not long but needs to convey the content idea
   * The Published status - Check the Yes box when you want it to appear on the live site - check No if it is still a draft awaiting completion or approval
   * An Alias for the article - this is normally automatically generated from the title and is used in the URL
   * The Front Page status - check Yes if this in one of the four articles which appear on the site's front page - such articles should have a short introductory paragraph which should include a right aligned image of 140x100 pixels
   * The Section and then Category in which this article belongs - this will determine where the article will display on the site.
4. Underneath these parameters is the main authoring window for the article content. At the top of this window will appear three rows of editor icons which are largely self-explanatory - place the cursor over any of the icons to reveal an explanatory tool-tip.
   * The introductory paragraph - Make sure your first paragraph is a succinct introduction to the article as only this will appear on summary pages - no more than say 3 lines. At the end of this first paragraph, insert a Read More separator (using the Read More icon at the bottom of the authoring window or the Insert Read More icon sixth from the right on the top row of editor buttons at the top of the authoring form).
   * Formatting - Be sparse with any text formatting - use it only for key words etc if at all. Otherwise the appearance of the site will appear chaotic/messy.
   * If you want to insert an external or internal web link then check out Adding a web link to an article.
   * If you want to insert an image then check out Adding/editing images to an article.
   * If you want to insert a media item then check out Adding/editing media to an article.
   * If you want to insert a link to a file you have already or want to upload to the site then check out Linking to a file that you upload.
   * There are a large number of other editor icons above the main input window, many of which will be self-explanatory and familiar. Placing the cursor over an icon will reveal its self-explanatory name as a tool-tip - some are only accessible when some text is selected.
5. To the right of the main authoring window are a range of other parameters for the article - most of which you should not need to change. Some worth noting are:
   * Author - it is possible to change the article author to another user if you are putting it in place on their behalf
   * Access Level - you can change this to Registered if you want only registered users to be able to see this article
   * Start Publishing - you can set an embargo date in the future if you do not want this article published before that date (click on the calendar icon)
   * Finish Publishing - you can set an expiry date in the future if you do not want this article published after that date (click on the calendar icon)
6. Click on the Save button at the top right of the Article screen to save changes and leave this screen. (Clicking on the Apply button also saves changes but does not leave the screen - good for when the authoring takes a while!) This will publish the article to the live site if you have set the Published parameter to Yes. Otherwise you can then contact another user to check the article before publishing if you wish.
7. You can also edit an existing article. In the administrative back-end of the site click on the Article Manager icon and use the filtering options on the top right to find the article you want to edit. Select the article and click on the Edit icon - this opens up the existing article ready for editing.

This Help/FAQ item is designed to help users on this site. If you think it can be improved, please contact the webmaster.