ASA Web Site HelpExplanations, screenshots and demonstrationsfor group administrators

About this presentation

So, you’re the administrator for a group on the ASA Web site and you want to know where to begin? This PowerPoint is designed to walk you through the basic tools available to you, and to understand how content is structured on the site.

This tool should be useful to all group administrators, regardless of whether you’re involved with a caucus, committee, project or chapter.

What you need to use the site

A Web browser. For preference, please try to use either Internet Explorer 7 and above, or Firefox 2 and above. On the Macintosh, the best browser to use is Safari, and we support OS 10.3 and above.

About 30 minutes is needed to read through this demonstration.

To use the Web site, you will need Internet access.

What’s in this PowerPoint

Click any title to jump to the associated slides:• The site from 10,000 feet• Login and registration• Group management: joining, leaving, removing members• Group blog posts• Group pages• Group events• Commenting• Group page navigation• Group page customization• Getting help

The site from 10,000 feet

The idea behind the construction of the ASA Web site is information sharing, not information segregation. By putting tools for contribution into the right hands, we can ensure that the information available is current and pertinent for each member, that the site succeeds in its goal of building community and connections among ASA members.

And, of course, these tools are designed to be useful for those with and without any Web publishing experience, though basic computer and Internet literacy is required.

The fundamentals

The site creates tiers of content and interaction:• information for everyone• information only members can access• information only some members can access

There are three types of members:1. Site administrators2. Group administrators3. Members

All members can participate throughout the site, and are encouraged to join groups. Groups are the projects, committees, chapters, and caucuses active in the offline world of the ASA. Joining a group allows members to contribute content to that group’s content area.

Site administrators

There are only a few site administrators. They can:• Add and remove content, comments, and members• Add and remove sections of content• Contribute content for the front page and other admin-only

content areas like the newsletter.

Think of the site administrators like gatekeepers or editors. Ultimately, they have the power to open and close doors, and address problems and issues that arise for members using the site.

Group administrators

Group administrators oversee the content and members in a particular group. They can:• Add or remove members from a group• Moderate content submissions from group members• Edit navigation and content display of the group page

Group administration is assigned by the site administrators. If you think you should be a group admin, contact John Stephens at john.stephens@theasa.net.

Members

Members of the site can:• update their own profile page in the membership directory• contribute to committee, program, project, chapter and event

groups they are part of• view member-only content

And let’s not forget the public!

At the time a new page is created, it can be marked for public access or member-only access. Anything marked member-only is visible on the screen only when the site visitor is logged in to the site. This allows the site to serve two purposes:• To provide general access to public resources• To protect content and discussion intended for actual members

of the ASA.

Login and registration

• The Login box is visible to site visitors who are currently not logged in to the system, and includes a “forgot your password” link. This box stops being visible when the site visitor has logged in.

• The Register box also appears when a site visitor is not logged in. It explains briefly the benefits of registering, and provides access to begin that process. This box stops being visible when the site visitor has logged in.

Logging in and out

• Login by inputting your username and password in the Login box of the right column of the site. If you have forgotten your password, use the “Forgot your password” link to reset it.

Forgotten password link

Click submit to complete logging in

Logging in and out

• The member will then be returned to the page they started on, with member-only content and functionality now available:

Logging in and out

• Logging out is as simple as clicking the Logout link. The member is then returned to the home page of the ASA Web site.

Joining a group

A logged-in member, before they can contribute content, must join a group. Here’s how to join a group:

1. Visit a group page, like the caucus page shown here.

2. In the right column, find the Member Tools box.

3. Click the “Let me join” button. This automatically adds you to the group.

Leaving a group

A logged-in member can also leave a group. Here’s how:

1. Visit the group page, like the caucus page shown here.

2. In the right column, find the Member Tools box.

3. Click the “Remove me” button. This automatically removes you (but not any content you may have contributed) from the group.

Reviewing group members

Group administrators can review the members of a group, and remove anyone who should not actually be part of the group. Here’s how:

1. Locate the Admin Tools box in right column of the group page, like the one shown here.

2. Uncheck the checkbox for any members you would like to remove.

3. Check the “Clear unchecked members from the list?” checkbox.

4. Click the “Update” button. This removes the members from the group, but not content they may have contributed while a member.

Contributing content

Once a member is logged in and has joined a group, they are able to contribute blog posts and events to the group. This is very open format, allowing group members to share information, research and ideas on any topic or in any way they see fit.

Once a member has contributed content, he or she can still edit or update it.

Member-contributed content can be moderated after publication by group administrators, who have the discretion to delete or edit blog posts from members that are inappropriate or perhaps just mislabeled.

Group administrators can also add blog posts and events to their group, as well as pages and navigation elements at the top of each group page.

Adding blog entries

Members and group administrators can both add blog posts to the group blog. Here’s how:

1. Visit the group page.2. Locate the Member Tools box in

the right column.3. Click the “To contribute to this

group’s blog, click here.” link. This takes you to a blog post entry form.

Adding blog entries

1. Every blog post must have a short descriptive Title.

2. The Summary field can be used to describe the blog post in a couple of sentences (it is used in the search results page, among other places).

3. The main text of the blog post should be contained in the Body field.

4. If you have a very long blog post, some of the content can be placed in the Extended field, which puts the content on the individual blog post page.

Adding blog entries

5. The date field can be edited.6. To turn off the ability for

readers to leave comments, uncheck the “Allow Comments” box.

7. Select a category for your blog post.

8. Set the status of your blog post to “Public” or “Members Only.” Members only content is displayed only when visitors are logged into the site.

9. Click the Submit button to publish the blog post. This places it in date order, on the group page.

Editing blog entries

1. If you would like to edit a blog post, start by going to the individual blog post page. You can reach this page by clicking on the blog post title from the group page. Blog posts can be edited only by their authors, or by group administrators.

2. Click the “Edit This?” link next to the blog title. This returns you to the editing screen.

Editing blog entries

3. Make the necessary changes, and click the Submit button to update the blog post.

Deleting blog entries

Group and site administrators can delete blog posts from the site. Here’s how:

1. Start by going to the individual blog post page. You can reach this page by clicking on the blog post title from the group page.

2. Click the Delete button next to the blog post title.

Deleting blog entries

The blog post is removed from the site and you receive a confirmation message.

Adding pages

Group and site administrators can add pages to a group. Pages should usually be used for top-level information, and added to the navigation for the group. Some groups have chosen to use pages for more “evergreen” material, and pushed time-based information into the blog, but you may choose to use your group’s pages in any way.

Here’s how to add a new page:1. Go to the group page, and locate the

Admin Tools box in the right column.2. Click the “To add a page to this area,

click here.” link.

Adding pages

1. Every page must have a short descriptive Title.

2. Because the number of characters used in the title is limited, you can use the Extended Title field for pages that have very long titles.

3. The main text of the page should be contained in the Body field. You can use the “Button Mode” options to add styles and formatting to your content.

Adding pages

4. Give your a page a short description in the Summary field for display in search results.

5. You may edit the date, but it is not necessary.

6. Set the Status field to “Public” or “Members Only” depending on whether you want to show this page to the public.

7. Click Submit to publish your page. This creates your new page.

Editing pages

Once you have created a page, you may need to edit it, or to link it up to the rest of your group. In both cases, you need to view the page. The address of your page is based on the content of your Title field, minus punctuation, capitalization, and with spaces changed to underscores.

For example, if your title is "Getting Started", then your URL will be: http://www.theasa.net/caucus_matters/page/getting_started/

This should bring up the page you created, and allow you to view it and edit it.

Editing pages

1. To edit a page, go to it in the browser.2. Click the “Edit This?” link at the bottom of the page content. This

opens the page in the editing interface.3. Make your changes, and click Submit to update the page.

Adding an event

• Members and group administrators can add events to a group. To get started, click the “To add an event to this area, click here.” link in the Member Tools box.

• Events added to groups are added to the ASA site master calendar, and are viewable from the Events box on the home page.

• Once added, events cannot be edited,

since they become part of the master calendar. If you have made an error or need to correct an event, contact John Stephens.

Adding an event

1. Every event must have a short descriptive Title.

2. The Summary field can be used to describe the event in a couple of sentences (it is used in the search results page, among other places).

3. The main text of the event should be contained in the Description field.

4. Choose the caucus, chapter, committee, or project this event is associated with using the menus.

Adding an event

5. Set the date to be the date and time of the event.

6. Uncheck the “Allow Comments” checkbox if you would prefer to turn off commenting.

7. Select a category for your event.8. Click Submit to publish your event.

This places the event onto the group page, and into the main Web site calendar.

Commenting

• Many pages on the site offer the opportunity for site visitors to leave comments. Comments can only be read by logged in members, but as long as they are left on publicly viewable content, will be visible to the public. Since site visitors who are not logged in will not see members-only content, they will naturally also be excluded from seeing comments on those items.

• Comments can be moderated – edited or removed – only by site administrators. Contact John Stephens if a comment needs to be removed from the site.

Adding a comment

The process of leaving a comment is quite simple. A page that allows comments will display a comment form.

1. Fill out the comment form

2. Click Submit.

Adding a comment

• The comment is then added to the page, and is visible to other visitors.

Editing the group page navigation

Group and site administrators can edit the navigation for a particular group. Here’s how:

1. Go to the group page.2. Click the “edit nav?” link beside the horizontal group page

navigation. This opens an editing interface for the navigation.

Editing the group page navigation

1. You can add or remove navigation links. Your easiest technique for adding is to copy some of the existing formatting, paste it in, and then edit it.

2. Click Submit to save the navigation change.

3. Always make sure to try clicking on your new navigation link once you have made an edit!

Customizing your group page

Some group administrators have really gotten excited about their group pages and would like to do things that are currently beyond the scope of the tools on offer. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing! If you have an idea for a feature or piece of functionality you want to make part of your group page, but can’t do it yourself, write a short proposal describing what you’d like to do and why it will be useful to your group.

Submit your proposal to John Stephens, and he’ll help you get in touch with the Web developers that built the site to find out whether what you’d like to do it possible.

Questions? Problems? Requests?

• Bring all of these to the attention of John Stephens:

john.stephens@theasa.net

• Additional written documentation can be found on the ASA Web site: http://www.theasa.net/help/

Thanks for being part of making the ASA Web site a success.