Welcome!! This is a quick overview of how to publish articles to Flagstaff Today! If you have a specific question, check out www.thorhost.com/blog/forums. Register to ask a question, and we’ll answer it as soon as possible. Also be sure to look at the WordPress documentation at http://www.codex.wordpress.org and the support forums at http://www.wordpress.org/support.
Registering
To comment or write articles for the site, you must be a registered user. Either click here (will open a new window) or point your browser to http://flagstafftoday.com/wp-register.php. You will be asked for a username and your email address, and a password will be emailed to you. After you’ve registered, be sure to change your password to something you’ll remember (click "Users" once you’re logged in).
Logging in
To login to the website, use the login and password that were emailed to you. Either click here (will open a new window) or point your browser to http://flagstafftoday.com/wp-admin/.
The Dashboard
When you’ve logged in, you will see a number of options, including "Dashboard, Write, Manage, Users, and Logout." The page you will land on is called "Dashboard."
The dashboard page displays any new activity on the site, as well as news and updates delivered from all of the contributors to the WordPress system. Ready to write an article? Click on the "Write" tab next to the Dashboard.
Writing
This is where you will do most of your work for your site. The "write" page looks like this:
You will notice a number of fields on the write page. The following list details the fields and what they will do for you. Note that many of the fields on the write page are actually links. If you don’t know what a field does, click on its title for help.
1. Your Drafts - This is where you will see the titles of any articles you have written and assigned the status of DRAFT. (See, this isn’t so hard, is it?)
2. Title - Type in the title of your article here. This is what will show as your post title on your live site.
3. Discussion- These checkboxes allow you to decide if you want users to be able to comment on your artciles, and if you want them to be able to "ping" your stories. (If you don’t know what a ping is–don’t worry about it, just leave the box checked).
4. Categories - These are used to organise your various posts. Simply click in a checkbox beside the desired category, and your post will be associated with that category. Can a post belong to more than one category? Absolutely! Click as many as you deem appropriate.
5. The WYSIWYG Editor This editor allows you to format your posts just as if you were typing in Microsoft word. The chain images on the left allow you to post links, and the Image button allows you to upload and place images. **Note: You will not be able to upload and place images in the same step. To upload an image, click the image icon, browse for the image on your desktop and upload it. Close the image window. Re-open the image window, select your image then click, "save."
6. Empty Box - This is the text area where you type your text and use your quicktags.
7. TrackBack an URL - Do you want another blog to know about your post? You can notify other blogs by entering the URLs of the sites into this field. Each URL must be separated by a space.
8. Save as Draft - This button will transfer your article into the database, but will not display the post on your site. The next time you return to post an article, you will see the title of the draft up in the Your Drafts list as mentioned in bullet 1.
9. Save as Private- This button prompts you to enter a password which will be required to view the post once it is posted live on your site. You will see the title of the post, but if anyone tries to view the article, they will be challenged to supply the proper password.
10. Publish - Once you’ve typed in your story, and you are satisfied that everything is as you want it, hit Publish and your article is stored in the database and queued for review by our staff.
11. Advanced Editing >> - Clicking on this button will expand your WRITE section and will make some advanced functions available for your use. If you don’t need to add custom fields, don’t worry about this one.
12. Edit TimeStamp - When you click ‘Publish’, your post will contain the date and time of that moment. If you would like to change the date, to the past or future, click in the checkbox of ‘Edit timestamp’ and then adjust the date and time. Then click ‘Publish’ and your post will appear with the new date, or be posted live at the future date and time.
Overview
Flagstaff Today is powered by WordPress, a powerful and complex program. But don’t be afraid!! The best way to learn is by trying, and there are very few things that can not be undone. Post away, and have fun!! Again, additional support is avialable at www.thorhost.com/blog/forums. Register to ask a question, and we’ll answer it as soon as possible. Also be sure to look at the WordPress documentation at http://www.codex.wordpress.org and the support forums at http://www.wordpress.org/support.
