The wire story content type is used for adding news stories and opinion articles to SSU. It can also be used for other purposes, but it is specifically customized to work with the categories presented on the front page. To create a Story Plus article:

1. Log into the site
2. Click the Create Content link
   
   
   
   
3. Choose Story Plus. This will load the wire story edit page.
4. Choose the appropriate options for the article.
   
   
   
   The defaults are Published and Promoted to Front Page. This will make the content visible to the public and will list it according to category on any appropriate front-page listings. Two additional options are available: In Moderation Queue alerts the administrators of the content by placing it in the Submission Queue, which they can quickly view to check out the content, and Sticky at Top of Lists makes the article stay at the top of lists until you uncheck it later.
5. Create a Title and, if desired, a Path Alias for the article
   
   
   
   The Title should be the title of the article as you want viewers to see it. The Path alias is optional. A Path alias will determine what shows up in the visitor's address bar as the address (URL) of the article. For example, if I entered bigstoryheadline, the address of the article would be http://www.ssunion.net/bigstoryheadline
6. Choose the appropriate categories for the article. You can choose one or more categories for Content Display and Topic.
   
   
   
   Content display determines whether the article will show up in one of the special content listings (such as the front page) or not. For instance, choose News in English to make the article appear (if it is also promoted to the front page) in the day's News in English listing on the front page. Topic determines which (if any) of the topical categories the content will display in. This is especially useful for archival purposes. You can choose multiple categories by holding down the [control] or [ctrl] key.
7. Enter the article's publication data. Including publication data in a regular format is the primary advantage of using the wire story content type.
   
   
   
   You don't have to enter this data if it is not available. However, it is recommended to fill out these forms if they apply. The date is the date the article was originally published (if published elsewhere). Author name is the name of the author. Source is the name of the publication where the article can be found originally. Source web address is the web address or URL of the original article. Make sure to include all parts of the address, including http://
8. If a photo is available for the article, include a photo with the Photo field. You must first save the photo onto your computer. The photo can be no more than 1MB in filesize and no larger than 1280x1024 pixels in physical size.
   
   
   
   Once you have saved the photo on your computer, click the Browse button and select that file.
   
   NOTE: You can enter up to three photos using fields Photo 1, Photo 2, and Photo 3. It is highly recommended that you use only files of the "JPG" format, that is files with the ".jpg" extension at the end of their filenames.
   
   
9. Now, enter the actual text of the article itself.
   
   
   
   The above graphic shows the plain-text text interface. By clicking the enable rich-text link, you can enable the rich-text text interface. There are several important considerations to keep in mind.
   
   
   
   • Do not hand-type a long article into text interface. If you accidentally click the "back" button, you may lose your entire article! First write the article in a simple editor like Notepad and save a backup. Or use Microsoft Word if you can't find Notepad.
   • The easiest way to copy an article from another source is to paste it into the plain-text text interface. Most of the time, articles don't need special formatting. If you are copying an article from another source, open two browser windows (or tabs). Copy the text by selecting it in the second window, then paste it into the plain-text text interface. Submit the article like that. If you need to add formatting, like bold or web links, click the Edit tab to go back and re-edit.
   • If you need to add formatting using the rich-text text interface, do not paste directly from another website into the rich-text text interface. Pasting directly from a website into the rich-text interface often causes problems because you are pasting unnecessary HTML code into your article. Please follow these steps instead:
   • Select and copy the text on the source website
   • Paste the text into the plain-text text interface
   • The text should be pasted into the SSU text interface without any formatting. Select all of this text in the SSU plain text interface and copy it again.
   • Delete the text you just highlighted and copied.
   • Click the enable rich text link
   • Paste the text into the rich-text text interface
   • Add any desired formatting

   
   Following one of the steps above, copy or type your text into the text interface in the Body field.

10. If you are using the rich-text text interface, use one of many formatting tools to add formatting:
    
    
    
    To add Bold (as in the above example), select some text and click the B button.
    
    
    
    To add a web link (link to another website, or URL), select some text and click the Link button (above). Enter the full address (URL) of the website in the window that pops up. Then click the Insert button.
    
    Note: If you are making a link to an e-mail address, you must begin the link with the text mailto: as in this example: mailto:joey@aol.com
11. Select the proper Input format for the article. The default is Filtered HTML.
    
    
    
    Most of the time, you can keep the default. However, if you are adding unusual elements, like HTML tables or custom HTML tags, you should choose Full HTML. Trying Full HTML is a good way to troubleshoot an article that is not displaying properly.
    
12. If you want to attach a file, use the attach file fields to do so.
    
    
    
    First, click the Browse button (in orange) and select the file you want to attach. Second, click the Attach button (in blue) to attach the file. You must wait a few moments for the file to attach and the page to reload. Once it reloads, you can submit the article. You must click the Attach button before you submit the page, or the file will not attach.
13. Finally, when you're finished, click the Submit button. You can always submit your article at any time, and use the Edit tab to edit it further.
    
    
    

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