Event: Event Folder(s)
In theory, you could add an event anywhere on your site. However, your site administrator most likely has provided a specific folder (or folders) for adding events. Plone sites have an Events Folder by default.
Event: Adding an Event
In your site's event folder(s), click Add Event.
Event: Title and Description
Provide a Title and Description for your event that is clear (and inviting) to your readers. The Title and Description also can draw in readers using search engines.
Event: Location and Dates
Add the event's Location. Be as specific as you need to be.
Add the Start and End dates and times. Your event will no longer appear in your site's listing of upcoming events once the End date and time have passed—you don't need to remember to unpost it.
Event: Attendees
Who should attend your event? Who might be interested? Is it for a certain group only? You can provide this information under Attendees.
Event: URL and Contact Info
Is there a website with further information about the event that readers could use? Add this under Event URL. Be sure to include the http:// part of the web address.
You can also add the Name, E-mail, and Phone of whom to contact for more information.
Event: Save
Be sure to Save your work!
Event: Publishing
Your Event will not be viewable by the public until you Publish it. To do this, change Private to Publish under the State menu.
Event: Published View
Your Event is now published! This is essentially what the information will look like to the public (though your site administrator may have made some styling changes):
Event: Edit
To make further changes to your Event, click Edit.
Event: Categorization
Your site administrator may have set up some Categories (also known as tags) under Event Type(s) so that you can choose the appropriate one(s).
Event: The Importance of Categories (aka Tags)
These Categories can be very important. Depending on what your site administrator has set up, Categories can influence where your Event appears on the website, whether it shows up on the home page, and that sort of thing.
Event: Publishing Date
There is another set of Dates controls that may prove useful for your Event posting. This Dates link is in the bar of links under Edit Event, next to Categorization.
Event: Publishing Date
You can specify a Publishing Date and Time when you would like an Event to be viewable by the public on your site. This is handy because it can allow you to place Event information on your site far ahead of time and set it to publish itself closer to the time of the Event—one less thing for you to remember to do.
Note that there is also an Expiration Date. When working with Events, most of the time you should leave this blank. An Event removes itself from your site's Events listings once the Event's date and time has passed anyway.
As you will see, the Expiration Date can be very useful for other content types, though.
News Item: News Folder
In theory, you could add News Items anywhere on your site. But chances are, your site administrator has provided a specified News Folder (Plone sites actually have one by default). Some sites have News Folders in different site sections.
News Item: Adding a News Item
You add a News Item in the same way that you add an Event. Go to the News Folder, and select News Item under the Add new... menu.
News Item: Title, Description, Body Text
Provide a Title and a Summary that is informative and inviting for your users and that is search-engine friendly.
Place the main content of your News Item in the Body Text field.
News Item: Image and Caption
You can add an Image and Image Caption to your News Item using the fields below the Body Text.
News Item: Save
Now is a good time to save your work:
News Item: Saved Changes
Below is how a News Item's Title, Summary, Body Text, Image, and Image Caption appear in Plone once its Saved. Your site administrator may have styled your News Items to appear slightly differently.
News Item: Edit
To continue editing your News Item, click Edit:
News Item: Internal Link
If you wish to link to information elsewhere on the same site, this is called an Internal Link. To create an Internal Link, highlight the text you want to link, and click the Chain Link Icon in the Body Text editing area.
News Item: Internal Link
In the box that opens, use the Search feature in the left column to find the content to which you want to link.
Select the button next to the content in the middle column of the box (in this case, Finch Behavior Explained).
Then click Insert at the bottom of the box.
News Item: External Link
A link to another website is called an External Link. To make an External Link from your News Item, highlight the text you want to link and click the Chain Link icon.
News Item: External Link
In the box that opens, place the web address in the field under External Link.
Click Preview, and you will see the page to which you are linking in the window below the web address field. This Preview demonstrates that the link is working—that is, the page hasn't been moved or deleted.
Click Insert at the bottom of the box.
News Item: Categorization
As with Events and other content types, Categorization is very powerful. Categories can be used to make your News Item appear in different places on your site, depending on what your site administrator has set up.
News Item Tags
Select Tags (Categories) for your News Item the same as you did for your Event.
Depending on your permission level on the site, you may or may not have the ability to add New tags.
News Item: Location
You can also add a geographical Location, so that individuals doing web searches for that Location will be more likely to find your News Item.
News Item: Related Items
Add Related Items just as you did with your Event.
News Item: Related Items
Select the checkbox next to the Related Item that you want associated with your News Item.
News Item: Publishing and Expiration Dates
As with Events, you can also set a Publishing Date.
News Item: Publishing and Expiration Dates
If you want the News Item to disappear from public view eventually, specify an Expiration Date.
Page: Placement
Page: Adding a Page
Page: Structure
The following page has content with no appropriate structuring (formatting) applied. Let's make some changes so that it is more readable and search-engine friendly, not to mention more engaging to the reader...
Page: Headings
Why are we making these parts of the page Headings? Why not just bold-face the text? On the web, readers don't read; they scan. Headings help the reader scan a page's content. They also help give an understanding of the hierarchy of the content presented on the page. Headings also search-engine friendly; directing visitors using search engines to your content.
Page: Lists
Notice that the text in the last sentence of paragraph 3 is essentially a list of items. Converting this information into an Unordered List allows your readers to more easily scan the content.
Page: Pull-Quote
Right now, all the content of this page flows in a single column. That's not bad; however, placing appropriate content in a Pull Quote can make the page a bit more interesting and set off that content so that it is more noticeable for your readers.
Highlight the text you want to be a Pull Quote, and select Pull-quote from the Style menu.
Page: Pull-Quote
The text will now appear in its own area with its own appearance, depending on how your site is styled.
Page: Other Style Elements
Plone has a number of other styles available by default; your site administrator may remove some of these, however:
Always check your paragraphs to make sure they have the Style Normal paragraph.
The Literal will create a block of text in which each letter can be placed exactly. This is useful for displaying text that must be specifically formatted, such as poetry, or code.
The Call-out style creates a block of text styled in its own way so that the reader's attention is drawn to it. Its effect is similar to the Pull-quote's, but it is styled differently.
Clear floats is a style that your site administrator may use to place elements on a page. It is generally not used by content providers.
Discreet creates smaller, more subtle text.
Highlight adds a background color behind text, as though a highlighter has been drawn over it.
The Page Break (print only) allows you to insert a page break for printing purposes.
Page: Formatting Options
In addition, there are a number of formatting options available, similar to what you see in word processing software. Your site administrator may have removed some of these, also:
Image: Adding an Image
Add your images to the Images folder provided by your site administrator.
Image: Title and Description
Image: Your Recently Added Image
Image: Adding an Image to a Content Item
Now that you've uploaded an image, let's add it to a page.
To add an image to a content item such as a Page, use the Image icon in the editing area:
Image: Searching and Placing
This opens a box in which you can search for, and select your Image. Once you make a selection, a preview appears so that you can make sure you have selected the correct Image.
Image: Content-Specific Alt Tag
Note that the Image's Description appears here as well. The Description serves as the Alt Tag for the Image. You can change this Description to make it more closely related to the content of the Page, if you wish. This does not change the Image's original Description, just what the Page includes.
Image: Dimensions
Finally, you can select from several size options:
Image: Added to Content Item
Once your Image is added, you can select it and change its size, alignment, and description.
You can remove the Image from your content by selecting the image and then hitting the delete key on your keyboard.
File: Adding a File
Add a file the same way that you add an image. Go to the folder on your site meant to contain files, and in the Add new menu, select File:
File: Title and Description
Give your file a Title that matches the title of your document. It's good for your users if you add other helpful information in your title, such as indicating that it is a booklet, or a flyer, and whether it is a PDF, PowerPoint, or other file type.
Provide a brief Description that gives further helpful information about your file. Remember, a good Title and Description helps users—including yourself—find this content on your site.
Upload your file, and Save.
Files: Your Recently Added File
Once you have added the file, you can use the Edit tab to modify the Title and Description or upload a file to replace the existing one.
Links: Adding a Link
The Link Content Type can be handy if you want to add items to folder contents and/or navigation that are links to
- External Web pages
- Items in another section of the same site.
For example, in your News folder, you may want the option of listing news stories published elsewhere:
Links: Title, Description, URL
Most of the time you will want to give your Link the Title of the Web page or Item to which it is linking.
Provide a Description that will help explain what the link is about and that will aid in Web searches.
If it is a link to an external Web site, provide the entire URL, including the http://.
If you are linking to a page elsewhere on the same Web site, provide just the path in the URL field. For example, if the item's full URL is http://chickadees.footiepajamas.com/nesting/traits, the URL field should contain just /nesting/traits/ and nothing else.
Save your work once you've populated these three fields.
Links: Publishing
Remember to Publish your link when you are ready for the public to see it.
Links: Published Link
Your Published Link will appear in the Folder's listing and navigation just like any other Content Type.
