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Frequently Asked Questions about Drupal, Our Hometown's new content management systemNEWS CONTENT OTHER CONTENT ADVERTISING ORDER PROCESSING & USER ACCOUNTS NEWS CONTENTHow do I edit the text of a story on my website?1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. Navigate to the story you wish to edit. In other words, click on the story's headline so that you are viewing the full text of the story. 3. Click the Edit tab that appears above the story's headline. 4. On the Edit page, scroll down to the Body field. You may edit the text of the story within this field just as in any standard word processor. You may also edit the title (headline), subhead, author(s), and teaser of the story by entering new text in the appropriate fields. 5. Scroll to the bottom of the Edit page and click Save Story. How do I add or remove a photo from a story?To add a photo to a story: 1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. Navigate to the story you wish to edit. In other words, click on the story's headline so that you are viewing the full text of the story. 3. Click the Edit tab that appears above the story's headline. 4. On the Edit page, scroll down until you see a blue Add New Image button. Click this. 5. The blue button will be replaced with an interface for uploading your photo. First, select the image you wish to upload by clicking Browse (Windows) or Choose Files (Mac). Next, if you would like to include a caption with your photo, enter the text into the Caption field. Finally, click the Add Image button at the bottom of the interface (you may need to scroll down within the frame in order to see it). 6. After a moment, the blue button will reappear and a thumbnail of your photo will appear to the right of it. The photo must now be inserted into the body text of the story. Click your cursor within the Body field at the point in the story where you would like the photo to appear. Then, click the Options menu under the thumbnail of your photo and select Insert Left or Insert Right. 7. Scroll to the bottom of the Edit page and click Save Story. To remove a photo from a story: 1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. Navigate to the story you wish to edit. In other words, click on the story's headline so that you are viewing the full text of the story. 3. Click the Edit tab that appears above the story's headline. 4. On the Edit page, scroll down to the Body field. 5. In the Body field, click on the photo that you wish to remove. You will know it is selected when small white squares appear around the border of the image. Press the Delete key on your keyboard. 6. Scroll down to the Images area (where the blue Add New Image button is located). Find the thumbnail of the photo that you wish to remove. In the Options menu beneath the thumbnail, select Delete Image. 7. Scroll to the bottom of the Edit page and click Save Story. How do I post a brand new story to my website?1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. In your Site Settings menu, select Content - Articles. 3. On the Articles page, click Add a New Story. 4. You will be shown the standard Edit page, except all of the fields will be blank. In order to successfully create a story, the following fields must be filled out: 5. Scroll to the bottom of the Edit page and click Save Story. 6. If you wish to add one or more photos to the story, refer to How do I add or remove a photo from a story? How do I move a story to a different category or a different issue date?1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. Navigate to the story you wish to edit. In other words, click on the story's headline so that you are viewing the full text of the story. 3. Click the Edit tab that appears above the story's headline. 4. On the Edit page, scroll down to the Editions/Categories section. 5. To move the story to a different issue date, select a new date from the Editions dropdown menu. 6. To move the story to a different category, click a new category name in the Categories menu so that it is highlighted blue. 7. Scroll to the bottom of the Edit page and click Save Story. How do I change the order of stories within a category?1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. In your Site Settings menu, select Content - Articles. 3. Using the dropdown menus at the top of the Articles page, select the desired Edition date and Category. 4. The page will refresh to show the headlines of the stories in the chosen category for the chosen issue date. 5. You may change the order of the stories by clicking on the four-way arrow to the left of each headline and dragging it up or down. 6. When the stories are in the desired order, click Save Changes at the bottom of the list. How do I delete a story?1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. Navigate to the story you wish to edit. In other words, click on the story's headline so that you are viewing the full text of the story. 3. Click the Edit tab that appears above the story's headline. 4. If the story contains any photos, click on the Options menu beneath each photo's thumbnail and select Delete Image. 5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Delete Story. You will be asked to confirm your choice. Click Delete again when prompted. How do I allow free access to a specific story, if my website is password-protected?1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. Navigate to the story you wish to make free access. In other words, click on the story's headline so that you are viewing the full text of the story. 3. Click the Edit tab that appears above the story's headline. 4. Check the Free Access checkbox, which appears just below the Categories selection on the Edit page. 5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save Story. The story will now automatically show a red "Free Access" label next to its headline. How do I allow free access to an entire category?1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. In your Site Settings menu, select Subscriptions - Online Subscription Settings. 3. On the Online Subscription Settings page, scroll down to the Unrestricted Categories selection box. 4. Click on the category that you wish to make free access. It will become highlighted blue. If you wish to select multiple free access categories, hold down CTRL (Windows) or COMMAND (Mac) and click on each desired category. 5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save Configuration. How do I send an announcement of a specific story to my e-mail mailing list?1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. Navigate to the story you wish to announce to your mailing list. In other words, click on the story's headline so that you are viewing the full text of the story. 3. Click the Shout It Out tab that appears above the story's headline. 4. You will be shown a preview of the announcement e-mail. Verify that everything looks correct, and then click Send Update. How do I add a video to a story?1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. Navigate to the story you wish to add the video to. In other words, click on the story's headline so that you are viewing the full text of the story. 3. Click the Edit tab that appears above the story's headline. 4. On the Edit page, scroll down to the Videos section, near the bottom of the page. 5. Click Browse (Windows) or Choose Files (Mac) to select a video file from your computer, then click Upload to begin uploading it to the story. Most standard video formats will be accepted (AVI, MOV, MPG, FLV and MP4). The video file may not exceed 512 MB in size. We recommend posting videos less than 10 minutes long. 6. Once the video has been uploaded (which can take several minutes for a large file), the file selection box will disappear and be replaced with the video's filename and file size. 7. Scroll to the bottom of the Edit page and click Save Story. OTHER CONTENTHow do I update my Reader Poll question?These instructions assume you already have a Reader Poll set up on your website. If you would like to begin using the Reader Poll feature, please contact an Our-Hometown represenatative. 1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. In your Site Settings menu, select Polling & Surveys - Add a Poll. 3. In the Question field, type the question for the new poll. 4. Enter the possible responses in the Choice fields. If you require more than two responses, click Add Another Choice. 5. At the bottom of the page, click Save. The previous poll will be disabled and your readers will be able to start voting on the new poll immediately. How do I create a photo gallery?1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. In your Site Settings menu, select Content - Batch Upload Image Gallery. 3. If you have previously created a photo gallery, you can upload additional photos to it by choosing the gallery name from the Assign to Image Gallery dropdown menu. 4. Otherwise, if you wish to create a brand new photo gallery, type the desired gallery title into the Or Add New Image Gallery field. For example, "May 21st Basketball Championship." 5. Click the blue Click Here to Add Images button. You will be prompted to select photos from your computer to upload to the site. You can select one file or many, but if you wish to select multiple photos they all must be in the same folder on your computer. 6. After selecting your files, they will automatically start uploading. You will see a progress bar for each photo, followed by a "Complete" message when each file is finished uploading. When all of the images have finished uploading you may navigate away from the page. Please notify Our-Hometown when you begin using the Photo Gallery feature so that we can create a Photo Galleries button in your menu. How do I create a submission form, questionnaire, or survey for my readers to fill out?The Webforms feature allows you to create interactive forms on your website, with such features as text fields, multiple choice dropdown menus, radio buttons, and even photo uploads. The form results are saved on your website and can also be emailed to a recipient of your choice. To create a form: 1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. Under Polling & Surveys in the right-hand Site Settings menu, choose Add a form. 3. On the first screen, you will be setting up some general aspects of the form. You will need to fill out:
Finally, click Save. On the next screen you will actually set up the various fields of your form. 4. After saving the settings on the first page, you will be directed to the Form Components page. This allows you to add the various text fields, checkboxes and so forth that your readers will have to fill out. To add the first form component:
5. After clicking Submit, you will be returned to the components screen and can repeat step 4 to add additional components. 6. When all of your components have been added, you can use the four-way arrows to the left of each one to drag them up and down. With this method you can position them in your desired order. Remember to click Submit when you are done to save your changes. 7. If your form is not yet published (active), you will see a Publish button below the list of components. Click this to make the form active. If you do not see a Publish button, your form is already active and you are done. 8. You can now create a button in your website's menu to link to the new form, or even design a banner or other graphic to promote the form. Remember to link to the URL that you chose under "URL Path Settings". The Our-Hometown staff is happy to help with this step. ADVERTISINGHow do I change the website, e-mail address, or phone number associated with a display ad?1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. From your Site Settings menu, click Advertising - Edit Advertisers. 3. Click the Active Advertisers tab, if the advertiser you wish to edit has an ad in the current issue. Otherwise, click the All Advertisers tab. 4. In the alphabetical list, find the advertiser you wish to edit. Click the Edit button to the right of their entry. 5. Near the top of the Edit Advertiser page, enter the new website, e-mail address, or phone number in the Phone Number, Website Address, or Email Address fields. 6. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save. How do I move a display ad to a different category?1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. From your Site Settings menu, click Advertising - Edit Advertisers. 3. Click the Active Advertisers tab, if the advertiser you wish to edit has an ad in the current issue. Otherwise, click the All Advertisers tab. 4. In the alphabetical list, find the advertiser you wish to edit. Click the Edit button to the right of their entry. 5. Near the top of the Edit Advertiser page, select a new category from the Ad Categories dropdown menu. 6. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save. How do I delete a display ad?1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. Click the marketplace button for the category in which the ad to be deleted resides. 3. Click the Edit button that appears beneath the ad's small graphic. 4. On the Edit Ad page, click Delete. You will be asked to confirm your decision. Click Delete again when prompted. How do I view metrics (traffic statistics) for my display ads?To view metrics for a single advertiser: 1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. From your Site Settings menu, click Advertising - Edit Advertisers. 3. Click the Active Advertisers tab, if the advertiser whose metrics you wish to view has an ad in the current issue. Otherwise, click the All Advertisers tab. 4. In the alphabetical list, find the advertiser you wish to view. Click the Edit button to the right of their entry. 5. On the Edit Advertiser page, click the View Metrics tab at the top. To view a summary of metrics for all advertisers: 1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. From your Site Settings menu, click Advertising - View Display Ad Metrics. How do I associate a specific display ad with a different advertiser?1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. Click the marketplace button for the category in which the ad to be deleted resides. 3. Click the Edit button that appears beneath the ad's small graphic. 4. On the Edit Ad page, type a new advertiser name into the Advertiser field. If you just type the first few letters of the advertiser name, several suggestions will pop up. Click on the appropriate advertiser name from the list of suggestions. If the correct advertiser name does not appear with the suggestions, call an Our-Hometown representative for assistance. 5. Click Save. How do I create advertiser profiles and give my advertisers access to update their own information?An Advertiser Profile is a page on your website devoted entirely to one of your advertisers. The page can display detailed information about the business, show a Google Map of the business' location, and display up to two images, such as the business' logo. You can also grant access to your advertisers so that they can update their own profile at any time. Note: Please contact Our Hometown when you wish to begin using Advertiser Profiles. We will help you set up an Advertiser Profile Index on your site and also help configure your site so that the Google Maps feature will work correctly. To create an advertiser profile: To grant access so that an advertiser may edit their own profile: ORDER PROCESSING & USER ACCOUNTSHow do I process subscription and classified orders?To process subscription orders: 1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. From your Site Settings menu, click Subscriptions - Subscription Processing. 3. You will be asked to log in again as you switch to a secure connection. Enter the same username and password as in step 1. 4. On the Subscription Processing screen, by default you will be shown only the orders that have not yet been processed. The most recent orders will be at the top of the list. 5. Additional details about a subscriber, including their e-mail address, can be viewed by clicking their name. 6. For online subscriptions, each subscriber is automatically granted 30 days of access to the site upon submitting their order. This is the expiration date labeled Before. The After date is the expiration date that will be set once the order has been processed. If necessary, you can type in a different After date before you process the order. 7. Before processing the order, we recommend charging the subscriber's credit card. If the card is declined, you will know to Cancel the order in the next step. At the very least, you should copy the subscriber's credit card information down because it will be removed from the server upon processing the order. 8. Use the Pick Action menu to choose the action you wish to perform on the order. The choices are: 9. Once you have picked an action for one or more orders, click the gray Process Orders button at either the top or bottom of the order list. This will run the chosen actions on all of the orders that you have marked. 10. If you wish to view orders that you have processed or canceled in the past, you can check the appropriate boxes at the top of the order list and then click Filter. You can also search your orders based on the subscriber name by typing it into the search box and then clicking Filter. To process classified orders: 1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. From your Site Settings menu, click Classifieds - Classified Processing. 3. You will be asked to log in again as you switch to a secure connection. Enter the same username and password as in step 1. 4. On the Classified Processing screen, by default you will be shown only the orders that have not yet been processed. The most recent orders will be at the top of the list. 5. Clicking a person's name will allow you to send an email to that person, if necessary. 6. Before processing each order, we recommend charging the person's credit card. If the card is declined, you will know to Cancel the order in the next step. At the very least, you should copy the person's credit card information down because it will be removed from the server upon processing the order. 7. Use the Pick Action menu to choose the action you wish to perform on the order. The choices are: 8. Once you have picked an action for one or more orders, click the gray Process Orders button at either the top or bottom of the order list. This will run the chosen actions on all of the orders that you have marked. 9. Copy the text of the classified message and provide it to the proper staff member of your newspaper for placement in the next issue. 10. If you wish to view orders that you have processed or canceled in the past, you can check the appropriate boxes at the top of the order list and then click Filter. You can also search your orders based on the subscriber name by typing it into the search box and then clicking Filter. How do I add a subscriber manually or create an account for a staff member?1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. From your Site Settings menu, click Users - Add a User. 3. Enter the person's email address in both the Username and E-Mail Address fields. 4. Pick a password for the person and enter it in the fields labeled Password and Confirm Password. 5. Under Role, check the appropriate box(es). If you are entering a subscriber manually, you should only check the box for Subscriber. If you are creating a staff account, you should choose one of the Staff Member options (and also check the Subscriber box so that they will be able to access protected stories).
6. Check the Notify User of New Account if you wish the person to receive an email when the account is created. 7. Enter the person's contact information in the appropriate fields (optional). 8. If you checked the Subscriber role above, enter the appropriate Expiration Date and Subscription Type for the person. 9. Click Create New Account. How do I update a subscriber's information (address, expiration date, password, etc)?1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. From your Site Settings menu, click Users - List Subscribers. 3. Find the person you wish to edit in the alphabetical list, or enter their name or email address in the search fields at the top of the page (and click Search Users). 4. When you have found the person's account, click the Edit button to the right of their entry. 5. On the Edit page, make your desired change, be it a new email address, a new password, an updated address, an expiration date change, etc. 6. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save. How do I update my subscription and classified order forms?To update your subscription form: 1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. From your Site Settings menu, click Subscriptions - Subscription Form Settings. 3. If you need to update your pricing information or form instructions, make the desired change in the Subscription Order Details field. 4. If you wish to have order notification emails go to a new address, enter it in the Subscription Email Address field. 5. If you wish to offer additional subscription length options, highlight the appropriate choices in the Subscription Lengths field. If you wish to highlight multiple subscription length options, hold down CTRL (Windows) or COMMAND (Mac) and click on each desired length. 6. If you wish to offer additional subscription types, such as Print Only or Online Only, highlight the appropriate options in the Subscription Categories field. If you wish to highlight multiple subscription type options, hold down CTRL (Windows) or COMMAND (Mac) and click on each desired type. 7. If you wish to offer additional choices on your form, such as a Senior Discount, you may type each choice into the Subscription Options field. Each choice should be on its own line. For example, if you typed "Senior Discount" into the field, it would show up on your order form as a checkbox that users could select. 8. If you wish to allow additional credit card types on the order form, highlight the appropriate ones in the Acceptable Credit Card Types field. If you wish to highlight multiple credit card options, hold down CTRL (Windows) or COMMAND (Mac) and click on each desired card. 9. If you wish to allow your potential subscribers to enter a subscription code in lieu of a credit card number (useful when offering free online subscriptions to your existing print subscribers), enter the code in the Valid Subscription Pattern field. This is an advanced feature, so please contact Our-Hometown if you have any questions. 10. To save any changes made in the fields above, click Save Configuration at the bottom of the page. To update your classified form: 1. Log in to your website by clicking the Login button at the top of your newspaper's homepage. 2. From your Site Settings menu, click Classifieds - Classified Form Settings. 3. If you need to update your pricing information or form instructions, make the desired change in the Classified Order Details field. 4. If you wish to have order notification emails go to a new address, enter it in the Classified Order Email Address field. 5. If you wish to offer a selection of classified categories on your order form (such as For Sale, Help Wanted, etc), enter these options in the Classified Categories field, one per line. 6. If you wish to offer a selection of paper editions (perhaps Tuesday Edition, Sunday Edition, etc), enter these options in the Paper Editions field, one per line. 7. If you wish the form to ask for the issue date that the ad is first supposed to run, check the box for Ask for Date of Insertion. If your policy is to automatically insert the ad into the next available issue, leave this box unchecked. 8. If you wish to allow a user to place the same ad multiple times in a single issue, check the box for Ask for Number of Insertions. 9. If you wish to allow a user to specify the total number of issues in which their ad will appear, check the box for Ask for Number of Issues. 10. If you wish to allow additional credit card types on the order form, highlight the appropriate ones in the Acceptable Credit Card Types field. If you wish to highlight multiple credit card options, hold down CTRL (Windows) or COMMAND (Mac) and click on each desired card. 11. To save any changes made in the fields above, click Save Configuration at the bottom of the page. If you have any questions about the documentation on this page or about your website, just send us an email or give us a call:
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