Adding Articles

The article is different from an Information item in that it can be entirely about you, or something you've seen, or a point of view.

Unlike Information, Articles don't get put on the front page automatically (although I may decide to promote it to the front page if what you've written is actually information for a wider audience). I made the distinction because this is supposed to be a site based on information mainly - so personal angles come second to fact.

Select Write an article from the Actions menu. Then give your article a title and start typing. You can add images but you can't attach files. This may change with demand and circumstances.

Try not to write an article about an upcoming event. Use the calendar instead, as you can write just as much and everyone will know when it is by simply looking at the calendar!

Information items: why and how

An Information item can be used to tell other readers of the site about things may affect or involve them in terms of how they may work in the future, or opportunities in funding, work or training.

If you have some information to share, simply select select Share information from the Actions menu. Give the information a meaningful title and select some categories for it, so that others can find it easily. Then type away, putting down at least ten words for the body. You can attach files with an Information item.

If you know that the information will become useless after a certain time period, and you're sure no one will want to look at it again, you can set when your post expires. Go to the expiration section and set either a time period or a date.

Try to ensure that the information you post is factual and written in a neutral fashion - there's nothing worse than hearsay in a small community. If you do have an opinion about your item, put this in a comment AFTER you've submitted the item. That way others can make their own minds up about the information.

If you notice that your item ties in with something else on the site, you could consider making a book.

Category tags

You can fine-tune the pages you put up here by tagging them with various categories. There are three types:

1. Artform - this is used to target a specific area of the arts, for example dance
2. Activity - this can be used to explain generallywhat the body of your page is about or who it's for. So if you were putting on a music gig or a visual art exhibition, you'd select presenting work.
3. Opportunities - this is intended to further narrow down the main point of a page. So if you were writing about a funding opportunity, you'd select funding

From each list there are main entries below which are sub-entries. The sub-entries are listed with a dash before them. For example:

crafts <-- main entry
-metals <-- sub-entry

You can have more than one entry by holding down the Ctrl key as you select the entries. If you want to cover all the sub-entries in a group, simply select the main entry.

Changing the theme

Go to "My account" and select the edit tab. There are some options there. I may add more themes as the site's used more...

Contacting others

You can contact another user by selecting the Contact tab on his or her profile page. This then sends an e-mail to their registered e-mail address. You can only contact one person at a time, to prevent spamming.

Images

You can add images to your posts! Here's how...

Select Upload an image from the Actions menu. Give the image a title and then find it on your computer using the Browse button. The image must be 800KB or less. Try not to make it too big height-wise either... or you'll fill the screen!

After selecting Preview, you'll see the image in its original size and a smaller thumbnail image. To accept the image, select Submit.

You can then add the image when creating or editing a page.

Test Image: Corey at Dochart, Scotland.

Move the cursor where you want the image to appear in the body, then select Add image, just underneath the Body box. This will bring up a new window. You can choose to upload an image (if you forgot to do this first) or find your image, using the drop-down list. Select your image. You can change the size and placement of the image, and whether you want it to be a link. When you've finished, select Insert. The code will look like this:

img_assist|nid=33|title=Test Image|desc=Corey at Dochart, Scotland.|link=none|align=right|width=100|height=75

When you submit your article, you will then be able to see the image.