Here’s how to get started creating a new post:

  1. From the menu on the left, hover over “Posts” and click on “Add New” from the fly-out menu.
  2. Before you do anything else, choose a category (Local News, Area Sports, etc.) from the list in the right column.
  3. Enter your title (headline). For best results, the headline should be about eight words long … each word capitalized.
  4. Be sure two rows of icons are displayed above the edit window. If only one shows, click on the keyboard icon to reveal the second row. (The system will remember to display both rows on that computer in the future.)
  5. On the second row, click on the icon representing “Paste as text.” This strips formatting from pasted text to avoid conflicts with our styles. (The only time you don’t need “Paste as Text” is when you enter text yourself.)
  6. Type or paste your content.

Inserting An Image

  1. Position the cursor before the first word of your post.
  2. Click the “Add Media” button above the icon bar on the left.
  3. Either select an image from the Media Library …
    1. Click on the “Media Library” tab.
    2. Search for the image you want.
  4. Or upload a file from your computer …
    1. Click on the “Upload Files” tab.
    2. Click on “Select Files.”
    3. Navigate to the image file you want on your computer (JPG, JPEG, PNG, or GIF), select it, and click “OK.” The file now appears in your Media Library.
  5. Select your image by clicking on it once.
  6. In the right column, you can add a caption and set the display properties from drop-down lists:
    1. Justify: RIGHT
    2. URL: NONE
    3. Size: MEDIUM or FULL (300×200)
  7. Click the blue “Insert Image” button. The image now appears in the post at the top right.

Featured Images (Thumbnails)

Featured images, or thumbnails, are smaller versions of the images within the stories/posts. Featured images display on the front page, the News page, etc. — wherever stories in a category are displayed together in abbreviated form. Here’s how to set a featured image:

  1. In the right column, scroll down to find the Featured Image section. I DON’T SEE IT
  2. Click on “Set featured image.”
  3. Locate the image you want to use, either from the Media Library or by uploading it (see above).
  4. Click on the “Select featured image” button in the right column.

Easier Way: When you insert your image within the story, click on the blue button that says, “Insert & Set Featured Image.” Your featured image will automatically be selected.

Inserting Sound

  1. Position the cursor on a blank line where you want the audio player to appear.
  2. Click the “Add Media” button above the icon bar on the left.
  3. Either select an MP3 file from the Media Library …
    1. Click on the “Media Library” tab.
    2. Search for the file you want.
  4. Or upload a file from your computer …
    1. Click on the “Upload Files” tab.
    2. Click on “Select Files.” The file will be added to the Media Library.
  5. Select your file by clicking on it once.
  6. In the right column, scroll down to the “Attachment Display Settings.”
  7. In the “Embed or Link” drop-down, choose “Embed Media Player.”
  8. Click the blue “Insert Into Page” button. The player for your audio now appears in the post at the position you specified.

Creating Hyperlinks

  1. Highlight the text that will be your link.
  2. Click on the link icon in the first row of icons. A small window will appear.
  3. If you are linking to an outside website:
    1. Click on the gear icon.
    2. Put the URL of the website in the “URL” field. Be sure to start the URL with “http://” or “https://”
    3. Put a check in the box next to “Open link in a new tab.”
    4. Click the blue “Add Link” button.
  4. If you are linking to another page on this website:
    1. In the “Paste URL or type to search” field, type part of the title of the page to which you want to link. A list of pages containing what you have typed will appear.
    2. Select the page you want from the list and click on the “Return” symbol ().
  5. Pro Tip: The text you use for your hyperlink does not need to be the link itself. Instead, use a phrase like “Click Here” or “this website.”

Custom Excerpt

On rare occasions, you will want to create a special excerpt that would override the few words that appear with the title of the story on summary pages (e.g., the homepage, the News page, etc.). For example:

  • Your story consists of a string of sports scores, in which case you may want to override the standard excerpt with something like, “Tigers beat Trojans, Hornets over Wolves, and more Friday night action.”
  • Sometimes, since the excerpts are unformatted text, what is displayed can look, well, unformatted.

Here’s how you override the standard excerpt:

  1. Scroll down the page. Below the edit window, you will see a section called “Excerpt.” [DON’T SEE IT?]
  2. In the “Excerpt” field, enter the text that you want as the excerpt.

Controlling When the Post Appears (and Disappears)

Sometimes you will want to write a story and enter it into the system for publication at a later date – for example, when a news story is embargoed until a certain day and time. Here’s how:

  1. In the right column, locate the section called “Publish.”
  2. You will see a little calendar icon with the words, “Published on: [date] @[time],” and then an “Edit” link. Click on that link.
  3. Change the date and the time to when you want the post to appear.
  4. Click the “OK” button.

On some occasions, and in some categories, you’ll want to set a date when the post will expire and no longer be in the system.

  1. Scroll down the right-hand column to the section called “Post Expirator.” [DON’T SEE IT?]
  2. Put a checkmark in the box next to “Enable Post Expiration.”
  3. Enter the date and time when you want the post to expire.
  4. As for “How to expire”…
    1. If you think you might be reusing the post in the future, select “Draft.”
    2. If you will no longer be needing the post, select “Delete.”

Publishing the Post

Now that you have your post the way you want it, just click the blue “Publish” button.

Editing a Post

  1. Use the horizontal black bar at the top of your screen to switch to the front end (public view) of the website.
  2. Navigate to the post or page you wish to edit.
  3. On the black bar, click on the link that says “Edit Post [or Page]”
  4. Make your changes.
  5. Click on the blue button underneath the “Publish” section in the narrow right-hand column; the button now says “Update.”

Deleting a Post

This should only be done if you have replaced a post with another, or you do not want the post to become a part of the archive.

  1. Enter the edit window for the post as described above.
  2. In the right-hand column, to the left of the “Update” button, is a link that says, “Move to Trash.” Click on that link.
  3. A confirmation message will appear near the top of your screen. If you are certain you want to delete the post, click OK.