Create a News Item

As a member of a group you can post news items which will show up in the activity stream and can be set by the group manager to show up in the Spotlight Slideshow and the Recent News section of the group's home page.


 		 Go to the "Create News Item" link in the "Collaborate" toggle menu which is located in the lower left sidebar on your group page.

 		 You will be taken to a rich text editor where you can add a title and the information about your news item.

You can upload a photo to go with your news item. This will enable it to later be added to the spotlight slideshow if so desired by the group manager.
 
The dimensions of the image should be 320x230 pixels. Leave 47 pixels at the bottom for the slide title. Also leave 45 pixels on each side (making a 230 pixel square "sweet spot"). This will allow for the image to be cropped nicely in the set of icons beneath the spotlight.

 		 When the photo is successfully uploaded it will display as shown below. Click the "Remove" button to remove the photo.
Click the "Save" button at the bottom of the form to submit your news item.

The news item will show in the activity stream section of your group by default.
 

For Moderators and Managers:

If you are a moderator or manager, you will be able to promote and publish news items to the group home page in the recent news section and/or spotlight slideshow.

To edit publishing options on a news item:


 		 Click the "edit" button at the top of the news item page.

 		 Go to the "Publishing options" section beneath the rich text editor. Select "Publicize to group home page" to display in the "Recent news" section and/or "Display in slideshow" to display in the spotlight slideshow.
Your item will show up in the "Recent News" Section and/or "Spotlight Slideshow" on your group’s home page.
 

About Publishing Options

  • Publish: Uncheck this option if you don't wish for this content to appear on the VO yet. Useful for saving drafts of content that requires editing before going live/published.
  • Publicize to Entire VO: Selecting this option will place this post on the VO homepage. Exercise caution when using this option.
  • Publicize on Group Homepage: This option will place your post on your group's homepage in the corresponding section (Recent News, Upcoming Events, etc…)
  • Archive: Clicking the archive checkbox hides this content from global and group home pages. However, the content will still be accessible in other areas of the site. Unchecking the archive checkbox allows this content to display on global and group home pages.
    • Sunrise: Setting a sunrise date will de-archive this content at the set date and time (midnight is the default if a time is not set). The content will then display on global and group home pages.
    • Sunset: Setting a sunset date will automatically archive this content at the set date and time (midnight is the default if a time is not set). The content will no longer display on global and group home pages after the sunset date/time, but will still be accessible in other areas of the site.
  • Display in Slideshow: Will place this post, along with its image (or video), in a slideshow. Must be used with either Publicize to Entire VO or Publicize on Group Homepage options.
  • Pin to Top of Lists: This option will make this post appear at the top of content listings, regardless of any other settings. Useful for denoting important content or content that has a "call to action" associated with it.