How to?

Post

 How do I Add a Post to the website?

1) I know how to do it. Just get me there: http://www.thewoodlandsteaparty.com/node/add/

2) I need to find out more about it first:

Posts are the entries that display in reverse chronological order on our site. Their exact position will depend on the "tags" (or categories if you want) attached to them.

How do I write a post:

1. Log in to the Website if you are not logged-in already
2. If you are not yet Registered, you will nee to do that first (Click on the Create a new user account on the first line on top of the screen or on this link)
   
3. Click the How to? tab on the main menu, to get to this page
4. Click on the link in 1) above
5. Click on Blog entry under "Create content"
6. Start filling in the blank s:

• Title
• Categories: select the most appropriate categorie. You post will be visible under that category (you can select more than one, but within reason)
• Tags ( after you type a few letters, the matching tag if it exist will disply, please select it to keep constitency)
• You can ignore attached images and flags for right now
• In the Body, compose or paste your post as ususal do not forget to clean-up and check the links
• You can change the default teaser by inserting a "Teaser break" anywhere in the text <!--break--> in HTML or (click on the insert teaser break icon in the editor) a double red line should appear and you can move it to the proper location. You can decide also if the teaser is totally separate or just part of the post by selecting the "Show summary in full" box above the Body.
• Input format: normaly filtered HTML is OK and safer. If you paste a complex document from another source, it might display better by changing to Full HTML, but be careful as this can introduce hacking code
• You can subscribe to your own post on the next > if you want
• Book outline is used to help store and retrieve related information, as in a book. You can select an existing book if appropriate. Like that your story will appear in that book. It is a little bit similar to the old "Categories" in WordPress
• File Attachements: If you have some files that need to be attached (pdf, word, excell,...you can upload them here carefully)

1. When you are ready, click Preview to look at it and make corrections if needed, then Save to send for review. You will be notified by message when it is posted.

 Note: Be respectful, or be banned. No Profanity.

Descriptions of Post Fields

Title 

The title of your post. You can use any words or phrases. Avoid using the same title twice as that will cause problems. You can use commas, apostrophes, quotes, hypens/dashes, and other typical symbols in the post.

Body

The big blank box where you enter your writing, links, links to images, and any information you want to display on our site. You can use the Source mode to view and edit HTML

Preview button 

Allows you to see how your post will look before publishing it.

Save 

Allows you to save your post as a draft / pending review rather than immediately publishing it. To return to your drafts later, visit Blogs – My Blogs in the navigation menu, then select your post from the list.

Tags 

Refers to micro-categories for our blog, similar to including index entries for a page. Posts with similar tags are linked together when a user clicks one of the tags.

Categories 

We use categories to place posts (or their teaser) in different blocs, like News, Featured,....

 

Book outline

The general topic the post can be classified in. Readers can browse specific books to see all posts in the category.

Best Practices For Posting

You can say or show the world what is on your mind through our website. Here are some tips you need to know to help you write your posts.

Teasers

Throughout Drupal you will find the concept of a "Teaser". Many modules (including Views) are designed to work with node teasers, and the concept of a "teaser" vs the node "body" is integral to the workings of Drupal core and the Drupal UI.

A teaser is a short piece of text, usually the first paragraph or two of an article. This text is then displayed in most lists, including the default home page ( /node ).
The length of the default is set at 400 characters and will attempt to break cleanly at paragraphs or words in the text. When the length of the content exceeds the set limit, a link to "Read More" will automatically be displayed.

Teaser break

The length of the teaser can be overridden when editing the node content itself. This is highly recommended, as you can choose a logical length for the introduction. The edit interface gives you the option to "Insert teaser break". Using that button will visually divide your edit area into [teaser] and [the rest of the content].

Show summary in full view

When you first 'split' a teaser from the body content, it is still treated as part of the page when the full page is displayed. This is the easiest, and most intuitive way for automatically-generated teaser text to work. A reader always sees [teaser] and [the rest of the content] without seeing any break.

For more control, better grammar, or to make the teaser text more promotional in nature when the first paragraphs on their own don't adequately describe the node, you can optionally choose to not "Show summary in full view".
If you choose this option, the custom description will not be displayed as part of the full-text. Your full text should be complete, and make sense alone, and your teaser, which is used to entice readers to click "more" can be entirely different from the text that appears in the actual item.

Use Paragraphs 

No one likes to read writing that never pauses for a line break. To break your writing up into paragraphs, use double spaces between your paragraphs.

Using Headings 

If you are writing long posts, break up the sections by using headings, small titles to highlight a change of subject. In HTML, headings are set by the use of h1, h2, h3, h4, and so on.

Use HTML 

You don’t have to use HTML when writing your posts. It will be automatically added, but if you do want control over different elements like boxes, headings, and other additional containers or elements, use HTML by clicking on “Source” mode.

Spell Check and Proof 

There are spell check Plugins available, but even those can’t check for everything.

Think before you post 

Ranting on blogs is commonplace today, but take a moment and think about what you are writing. Remember, once it is out there, it can be seen by many and crawled by search engines; and taking things back is harder once it is public. Take a moment to read what you’ve written before hitting the Publish button. When you are ready, share it with the world.

Why we moderate the Posts 

Your post will not show up instantly. Our Website Posts are “moderated”.You know that we do not have just friends out there. It is our responsibility to make sure that nothing improper or uncivil is posted on our website that would reflect badly on you and us. We are not a “thought-control police”. But we need to make sure no malicious post makes its way, intentionally or not,  to and into our pages…

 

 

Write frequently 

Write, and post interesting information you find as frequently as you can, , but don’t let quantity get in the way of quality. 

Don’t hide your emotions 

Tempting as it might be, don’t hide your real emotions. After all that is what this website is about. If you are here, it’s because you have strong views on various subjects, so let our fellow Patriots know your passion. What is passion worth if you can’t even share it? You’ll actually love the discussions it can lead to. The discussions will broaden your own thinking and you might end up making some really good friends.

Make use of comments 

Comments let people share their ideas. Sometimes, they might not be good, but they can feed a healthy debate.

Use pictures and videos 

They make our pages  more colorful and are even more important with our new “Magazine” style. A thumbnail will be inserted automatically if you include an image with the post. Use the “Add an Image” box at the right of Upload/Insert to add an image to the post gallery.