|
The MCPS NewsPublisher is a web-based publishing system,
available to anyone with a current MCPS e-mail account.
It will produce a self-contained NewsBox, which may
be plugged into any number of pages on a website.
- Announcement or other text for
display on the Web site is entered by the NewsPublisher
owner.
- The school or office webmaster
updates the Web page to include the text created by
the Tool Central NewsPublisher application. This is
a one-time event.
- The Web visitor enjoys the dynamic
and up-to-date content on the Web site.
A NewsBox is a file which is created by the NewsPublisher.
Anyone with a valid login account may create as many
NewsBoxes as needed. Each NewsBox consists of up to
10 news items. News items consist of a headline, an
optional link, and an optional blurb.
Steps for creating a NewsBox are:
- Log in using your e-mail account information at
http://coldfusion.mcps.k12.md.us/toolcentral/
- Select 'NewsPublisher' from the menu across the
top of the page.
- If this is your first use of the NewsPublisher,
or if you have no NewsBoxes, you will be prompted
to create a NewsBox.
When your NewsBox has been created you will be prompted
to enter a news item. Each news item must have a headline.
The link and blurb are optional. If you choose to enter
a link, clicking on the headline in the NewsBox will
link to the URL you entered. You may enter up to 10
news items.
Steps for updating news items:
- Select the NewsBox you want to edit using the menu
choice on the left navigation area of the window.
- Click on the 'Edit News Items' link in the left
navigation area of the window.
- You will see all the news items for this NewsBox.
- Find the news item you wish to update.
- Make the necessary changes and click on the 'Save'
button immediately below the news item you are editing.
- If you want to delete a news item, click on the
'Delete' button immediately below the news item you
want to delete.
After saving or deleting, you will be returned to the
edit window if you still have news items in your NewsBox.
(top)
The first time you use the
NewsPublisher, a folder named with your login ID is
created for you on the web server. All your NewsBoxes
will be stored in a folder named 'newsboxes' which lives
in your main folder. NewsBoxes must be published before
a file is created in this folder. When a NewsBox is
published, it is available for inclusion on a web page.
Steps for publishing a NewsBox
- Create your NewsBox and add news items.
- Use the 'Preview' link in the left navigation area
to see your NewsBox content.
- Select the 'Publish' link in the left navigation
area to publish your NewsBox.
You will see a confirmation message and an exact link
to your NewsBox, which will look like this:
<!--#include file="/usercontent/YOURUSERID/newsboxes/YOURNEWSBOXNAME.txt"-->
Click once on the text to highlight it, then copy and
paste this link exactly as it appears into your web
page where the NewsBox will appear, or e-mail the link
to the webmaster at your location to place on a page.
This web page update only needs to be done once. After
that whenever you make an update to your news items
and re-publish your NewsBox, the web page will automatically
display the updated content.
For more detailed information on including NewsBoxes
on a web page, please see the documentation for using
SSIs.
(top)
NewsBoxes rely on cascading style sheets (CSS) for their
look-and-feel. Some style sheets have been pre-defined.
You can see the available styles by editing a NewsBox
and clicking on the 'Preview' link in the left navigation
area. A preview of your NewsBox will open in a separate
window. You will see a number of buttons at the top
of the window, each representing a different style sheet.
Try the various style sheets to find one you like.
To incorporate your chosen style sheet into your web page,
you must
- Preview your NewsBox window.
- Find the style sheet you like by trying the different
style buttons.
- Note that the link to your style sheet appears
in a text box on the preview page. Click once on the
text to highlight it, then copy and paste this link
exactly as it appears into your web page between the
<head><head> tags, or e-mail the link
to the webmaster at your location to place on a page.
You may also create your own style sheet. If you are new
to this, check out the tutorials at http://www.w3schools.com/.
You will have to conform to the conventions already in
place for NewsBoxes. The very best way to experiment is
to open one of the existing NewsBox style sheets to see
what is required, then save it to your own computer and
alter it to suit your needs. When you have a satisfactory
style sheet you will need to:
- Place a copy of your style sheet on the web server
- Refer to your style sheet in the head tag of your
web page, as described above
There are additional settings which affect the way your
NewsBox looks. They are available when you are editing
a NewsBox by clicking on the 'Set Preferences' link in
the left navigation area.
Options include:
- Setting the background color of your NewsBox (More
info in on-line documentation)
- Limiting the number of news items to display (maximum
of 10)
- Expanding or contracting individual news items
using drop-down tags (More info in on-line documentation)
More information is available for each of these options
when you visit the 'Set Preferences' page. Each option
has a pop-up help menu associated with it. (top)
When you create a NewsBox you are its owner and caretaker
and it lives in your folder space on the web server.
If for any reason you can no longer maintain the NewsBox
but want to keep publishing it, you can reassign it
to another person to maintain. When you reassign a NewsBox
two things happen:
- The NewsBox disappears from your list of NewsBoxes
and appears in the list of the person to whom it has
been assigned
- The NewsBox is physically moved to the new owner's
folder area
THIS IS IMPORTANT: reassigning a NewsBox actually moves
it; links to the NewsBox on all web pages will need
to be updated.
The new link to the NewsBox is displayed when a NewsBox
is reassigned. As when you publish a NewsBox for the
first time, you must click once on the text to highlight
it, then copy and paste this link exactly as it appears
into any web page where the NewsBox appears, or e-mail
the link to the webmaster at your location to update
your pages. (top)
When you create a NewsBox you are its owner and caretaker
and it lives in your folder space on the web server.
If you want to allow others to edit the NewsBox you
may share it. Sharing a NewsBox with another person
allows this person to Add, Edit, or Delete news items
or change preferences.
You may share your NewsBoxes with as many other people
as you like, as long as they have a valid login account.
THIS IS IMPORTANT: A shared NewsBox may only be deleted
or reassigned by its owner, the person who created
it. If you reassign a NewsBox then the person to whom
you reassigned becomes the owner.
Elaine Keagle, Web Service Team's
Tech Lead is to be thanked for creating this new
tool.
Contact the Web Services Team at webmaster@mcpsmd.org. |
