Tutorial - How to add a thread to the front page....

[cg stephen]

The following is a quick start guide for adding threads to the front page.

Before we begin, here are a few guidelines:

1) Aim for at least a few threads/articles per week.
2) Articles with wide appeal are preferred.
3) For articles longer than 3 paragraphs, try to set a short excerpt using the "PREVIEW" function (Steps #1,#2 and #9). This will prevent a large article from taking over the front page.
4) Include at least one image in the post (A thumbnail or full image).
5) All forums are enabled for threads to be added to the front page. Please use discretion and avoid posting any private or staff threads on the front page.
6) Admins, Super Mods and Front Page Editors are permitted to add threads to the front page. If you would like to help keep the front page updated, please contact a site admin and request to be added.

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Known issues with PREVIEW mode on the front pages module:

Images, Links and special characters (""'s) do not display in the message when using the "PREVIEW" function. The engineers are working on a solution to the issue and this section will be updated/removed as issues are fixed.

- Thumbnails distoring the preview excerpt - Use the upload option only to include a thumbnail in the preview. Linked a thumbnail will not resize to be smaller.
- Images not resizing down - When possible, avoind using images with previews unless uploading it as a thumbnail.
- Formatted links not displaying correctly - Create the preview using steps #1, #2 and #9 and the text of the link will display in the preview without formatting.
- Special Characters (' and ") not displaying correctly - Use * instead of " to show emphasis instead of the ' and ".
- Using the

tags in an excerpt

- It prevents the block of text from wrapping around the thumbnail image, so avoid using the

tag in a preview if you are going to include a thumbnail.
- The meta keyword and description sections - will be included in a future update of this tutorial.
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[cg stephen]

**Note** If you are not setting an excerpt, skip to step #3

Step #1: Select your preview by pointing at the start of the text and click and hold the LEFT mouse button. Drag the mouse to the end of the text you want to preview and release the left mouse button. Your preview text should now be highlighted.

Step #2:Position your cursor over the highlighted text and click the RIGHT mouse button. Select copy from the menu.

Step #3:Click "THREAD TOOLS" from the moderator menu

Step #4:Select "Edit" and click the [Perform Action] button

Step #5:Under the "Crowdreport Options", select the "This is a front page thread." it should default to your site.

Step #6:To have the article show as the most recent, select the "Set the post time to now" option. Setting it to another time will place it better

Step #7:To add a thumbnail, you can link to an image or upload an image (recommended).

Step #8:In the case of uploading a thumbnail, save one of the images from the original story to your computer and upload that one. You can save the image by placing your curser over the image and clicking the "RIGHT" mouse button then selecting the "Save Picture As" option. Remember where you are saving the image so you can find it later. (The option for the YouTube preview has not been implemented yet)

**Note** If you are not setting a preview, then skip step #9


Step #9:If you are setting a preview from text that you have saved (Step #1 and #2), point your curser into the "PREVIEW" area and click the "RIGHT" mouse button and select "PASTE"

Step #10: Select the [Save Changes] button to send the article to the front page.

All set.