Managing the News Page TABLE OF CONTENTS: The News Page Key Infrmatin Area fr Members... 2 Newsletter Articles... 3 Adding Newsletter as Individual Articles... 3 Adding a Newsletter Created Externally... 4 Annuncements... 4 Hw D I Add an Annuncement?... 4 Upcming Events... 5 Hw D I Add a Calendar Item... 5 Prper Dcument Usage and Dcument Distributin This dcument is being furnished by ChurchSquare, fr infrmatinal purpses nly t users f the ChurchSquare Site Manager. Infrmatin in this dcument is subject t change withut ntice and des nt represent any cmmitment n the part f ChurchSquare. The sftware described in this dcument is furnished under terms and cnditins available during the site activatin prcess n the website. The dcument may be cpied and distributed free f charge withut prir permissin if and nly if recipients are nt charged in any way and there are n changes r attributins made t the dcument. Visit ur Website at www.churchsquare.cm Cpyright 2009 ChurchSquare TIP! Hw t Use the Guide This Quick Start Guide is intended t help Site Supprt Administratrs perfrm their mst cmmn maintenance tasks: Newsletters and Annuncements and the Upcming Events Calendar. It is intended t be printed ut and used as a reference. This guide will help administratrs learn just enugh abut the use f the ChurchSquare Site Manager t perfrm these maintenance functins. ChurchSquare Site Building Guide Page 1 f 6
The News Page Key Infrmatin Area fr Members The News Page is a central t keeping yur members infrmed abut key ministries and activities in yur Church. The page brings tgether Newsletters, Annuncements and Upcming events as well as external news feeds and weather int ne quick news surce. These areas represent the majrity f cntent that will change frequently and maintaining them will keep the site interesting and members cming back t yur site. Quick facts: The Newsletter and Annuncements sectin wrk thrugh specialized pages and specialized page grups. Adding - Click the Add Newsletter r Add Annuncement when editing the news page Deleting G t the page list and click the delete link next t the page name Ordering Click the rerder pages link in the Newsletters r Annuncements page grup n the page list. Teaser Add a teaser in the bttm summary bx when editing the Newsletter r Annuncements page. The Page Title and the Teaser appear n the News Page Cntent Yu add cntent t a page just like any ther page. There is a beginning frmat n the page but this can be mdified r deleted and new cntent cmpnents added. Upcming Events are created thrugh the calendar functin yu must have the calendar (Interactive Plan and higher) n the website t use this functin Make Visible When adding r editing a calendar event if yu click the Visible ptin, it will shw in the Upcming Event sectin Time Perid By editing the Upcming Events cmpnent n the news page yu can set the Default View t Upcming Events which shw visible events 0-90 days ut r t Upcming Events (Year) Cntent The event Name and the Summary are n the News page. External Feeds can be added t the news page RSS Feeds RSS Feeds are cntent feeds frm external prviders which are autmatically refreshed each time the page is refreshed. A list f relevant RSS feeds is available at http://www.churchsquare.cm/main/rss_feeds Add RSS Cmpnents Yu can add additinal RSS cmpnents just like any ther cmpnent. Click the add buttn in a sectin header and select Interactive and the RSS Feed. Weather The weather cmpnent is set by editing the cmpnent, adding yur 5 digit zip cde and selecting the theme. ChurchSquare Site Building Guide Page 2 f 6
Newsletter Articles The newsletter sectin can increase peple s interest in the key ministries and activities f yur church. The newsletter cmpnent is designed t create individual articles, like an nline newspaper. Hwever, many churches create their newsletter ff line and want t uplad the cmplete newsletter in a PDF frmat rather than individual articles. Bth methds are explained. Adding Newsletter as Individual Articles 1. Lgin int yur site 2. Click n Edit Site and navigate t the News page 3. Click n the Add Newsletter link 4. Yu are nw n the Create New Page screen. Add yur Page Name (which will als be the title that appears n the news page) and click Create page and view page 5. Yu shuld nw be viewing the page. Click the edit page green buttn at the tp 6. Add cntent t the news article: 6.1. Click n the EDIT buttn in the cmpnent header directly abve the test /image cmpnent (this is the secnd cmpnent n the page, the page title is the first cmpnent) 6.2. Yu can type yur newsletter title in the title bx, add yu Authrs name, and then paste in r type in the newsletter cntent. If pasting in frm Wrd yu might find the cpy difficult t edit. If yu paste cntent int Ntepad first and then int yur site text cmpnent yu can frmat the cntent using the site editr 7. Change r delete the image 7.1. T change the image 7.1.1. Click Click here t change this image 7.1.2. Frm the Select Image page yu can either uplad a GIF r JPG image r yu can select frm upladed images by clicking n the blue menu n the left. Remember web pictures shw at 72 dts per inch and shuld be crrectly sized befre uplading 7.2. T delete the image click n the Change layut yellw bx in the upper right and select a nnimage text cmpnent. Yu will lse the newsletter title and have t re-enter it in the Paragraph text 8. Click the Apply changes buttn. Yu can nw add additinal cntent cmpnents t the page if yu wish 9. Befre leaving the page scrll t the bttm and type in a brief descriptin f this newsletter. This and the page title will appear n the news page 10. Click the Apply Changes buttn at the bttm f the page. ChurchSquare Site Building Guide Page 3 f 6
Adding a Newsletter Created Externally 1. Cnvert r save yur newsletter int a PDF frmat. Usually yu want t use the smallest size ptin t reduce uplad and dwnlad time. It is best if yu file name has n blanks r symbls (dashes and underscres are fine) 2. Lgin t yur website and click n the file manager icn (filing cabinet) n the admin page and click n the General tab and uplad yur PDF dcument 3. Click n the prperties fr the upladed dcument and cpy the http: address withut the http:// 4. G t yur news page and click n Add Newsletter and add the title and click Create page and view page 5. Click n the Edit Page green buttn at the tp 6. Delete the image / text cmpnent (the secnd cmpnent n the page after the page title cmpnent) by clicking the x in the cmpnent header and cnfirming 7. Add an iframe cmpnent t the page by clicking the green ADD buttn in the sectin 1 heading and selecting the Standard / HTML categry and the iframe cmpnent 8. Paste the cpied HTTP: address fr the dcument int the Web Site bx and adjust the height (800 shuld be apprpriate) and click Apply Changes 11. Befre leaving the page scrll t the bttm and type in a brief descriptin f this newsletter. This and the page title will appear n the news page. Yu might highlight sme f the key articles in the newsletter 9. Click the Apply Changes buttn at the bttm f the page. Annuncements If yu upgrade t interactive site yu have a calendar functin. That allws yu t enter key events and chse the mst imprtant t g nt the news page by selecting the visible ptin. If yu stick with the basic plan, yu can use annuncements fr yur calendar events. Otherwise keep the annuncements t nn-date specific annuncements, like new staff, prgram pprtunities, prayer needs, etc. Use the calendar fr date specific events. T add annuncements use the add annuncement buttn n the News page when yu are in the site editr. After yu have finished adding annuncements, g t the page list, delete ld annuncements and rerder annuncements if yu need t. Remember, the default is fr annuncements t appear in reverse rder n the News page frm hw they are listed n the page list. All f yur annuncements will appear n the annuncements page (yu add an annuncements page t yur site frm the add page functin) but nly the pre-set number f annuncements will appear n the news page. Yu can change the pre-set number by clicking n the edit buttn fr the annuncements cmpnent. Hw D I Add an Annuncement? 1. Lgin int yur site. ChurchSquare Site Building Guide Page 4 f 6
2. Click n Edit Site and navigate t the News page 3. Click n the Add Annucement link 4. Yu are nw n the Create New Page screen. Add yur Page Name (which will als be the title that appears n the news page) and click Create page and view page 5. Yu shuld nw be viewing the page. Click the edit page green buttn at the tp 6. Add cntent t the annuncement: 6.1. Click n the EDIT buttn in the cmpnent header directly abve the test /image cmpnent (this is the secnd cmpnent n the page, the page title is the first cmpnent) 6.2. Yu can type yur cntent r paste it in frm anther applicatin. If pasting in frm Wrd yu might find the cpy difficult t edit. If yu paste cntent int Ntepad first yu can frmat the cntent using the site editr 7. Click the Apply changes buttn. Yu can nw add additinal cntent cmpnents t the page if yu wish 8. Befre leaving the page scrll t the bttm and type in a brief descriptin f this annuncement. This and the page title will appear n the news page 9. Click the Apply Changes buttn at the bttm f the page. Upcming Events The events sectin f yur News page is cntrlled by the calendar. When yu are adding a calendar item there is a check bx yu can click t add that item t the Upcming Events sectin f yur hme page. Events manage themselves; yu will nt need t wrry abut deleting them. Events display frm 90 days (r a year if that ptin is selected) befre f the event until the end f the week in which the event ccurs. (e.g., If an event ccurs n a Mnday it will display until Saturday.) Cautin, never add a recurring event t the events sectin. Marking a recurring event as Visible in the Upcming Events sectin f the News page will result in the event appearing fr each ccurrence f the event ver the next 90 days. If yu have smething like a 3 day cnference and yu want it visible n the News Page yu will add the first ccurrence f the event as a single event and make that visible and then add the remaining days as a recurring event but nt visible. Hw D I Add a Calendar Item 1. Make sure yu lgged int yur site editr. 2. Assuming yur calendar is already created (if nt yu need t g t add page and add a the Calendar) navigate ver t the calendar page 3. Click n the date yu wish t add an event and click n Add Event 3.1. This brings yu t the event editr. The Summary text bx will cntain the descriptin that will appear n the daily r weekly calendar and, if the event is linked using the Visible ptin, n the news page ChurchSquare Site Building Guide Page 5 f 6
3.2. The Descriptin appears n a separate page when the user clicks n the link in the calendar r the event page. If yu d nt fill in the lng descriptin, just the event name, time and lcatin appear 3.3. Add in the start time and duratin. The Access ptin allws yu t put an event n the calendar that can nly be seen if yu are lgged in as the webmaster this is the private ptin. Yu will prbably always select public 3.4. Check Visible t shw the event n the News page. 3.5. Enable event signup by checking the bx rather than using the simple event sign up frm it is usually better t create a link in the summary and descriptin that links t a signup frm yu created n the site using the Feedback Frm cmpnent 3.6. Click Save Event. G thrugh the prcess: the event is n the calendar, n the events page and that members can sign-up and pay nline. The tl is very versatile and highly integrated 4. Recurring events -- Recurring events are similar except that yu enter the recurring ptins at the bttm f the page that allw yu just abut any recurring schedule pssible. Of curse yu cannt sign-up fr a recurring event because it is actually many different events. T enable these functins, yu wuld have t enter the event as a single, nn-recurring, event. ChurchSquare Site Building Guide Page 6 f 6