Note: A quick way to remember the URL for the log in is that you take the URL (https://nycitylens.com) and you add wp-admin at the end. (WP=wordpress admin=administrator). The result: https://nycitylens.com/wp-admin. I recommend bookmarking this.
Creating a Post
1) Go to Posts > Add New
2) Add a title using title case: Capitalizing Most Words With the Exception of a, the, etc. If you have any doubts, go to this page: http://titlecase.com/
3) Paste text into the text window. If you have problems with odd formatting, it may be extra code carried over from Microsoft Word. You can click into the “Text” mode and delete the code.
For the most part you will be using the “Visual” mode of the post unless you want to add embed code or clean up formating.
4) Write a short summary and paste this in the Excerpt Box, below the post.
Add Images
1) Images should be sized to 1200 pixels wide. The height can vary but generally horizontal images look best. If you have a vertical image, it should be no more than 450 pixels wide or the text on your post will be crammed into a tiny space.
2) Fill in the Text, Caption and Alt boxes in the image pop-up window. The Title will show up if someone mouses over the image so it should be meaningful. It can also help with SEO, so don’t use meaningless file titles. Add a caption and then copy it and paste that into the Alt box, which is for the visually impaired.
3) Make sure you are inserting the Full Size image into the post. (You should have sized it to 1200 pixels unless it is a vertical.) If it is a thumbnail size you can click on it, select the pencil and make sure to select Full Size.
4) Select one of your images as a featured image for the home page tout.
Top Slider
1) Select one of your images as a featured image. It should be 1300 pixels wide, 650 pixels high. THIS IS IMPORTANT OR IT WILL MESS UP THE TOP SLIDER.
2) To have a post show up in the top slider, make sure you checked FEATURED in the categories.
Video Post
1) On Vimeo, we have a paid account and so you can set in the edit settings not to show the Title, text, more videos, etc. Generally we want the videos to have no extra text — you will have a story title and byline in the post so it isn’t needed on the video. Once you uploaded the video, go to the Advanced settings > Embed and select the City Newsroom preset from the pulldown.
2) In your post, there is a button Add Vimeo Embed and select your video. (It will have to be published and public.)
Headline, Home Page & Section Page Blurb
1) Long headlines can get a little clunky on the site. Aim for brevity if possible.
This is about perfect: Bronx Fire Ignites a Shared Call to Action (42 characters with spaces)
2) Add a summary sentence in the “Excerpt” box. This will appear beneath the title and image in all places except for the top carousels. Be careful that you don’t repeat elements in the title. The goal is to convey the most information with the fewest words. See the home page for typical sentence lengths. If you skip this step, random text or code will appear instead of the excerpt.
This is about perfect: Two gatherings across the Bronx decry years of indifference. (61 characters with spaces)
Note: if you don’t see the Excerpt box, go the very top of the WordPress window, upper righthand side and select Screen Options, and check the Excerpt box.
Categories & Tags
1) Select the category that best fits your story. Avoid checking more than 2, ideally just check 1 when it is in the home page carousel or it will look repetitive when it shows up in multiple places.
2) Uncheck “uncategorized.”
3) Don’t add vague, unhelpful tags like “conflict,” or “New York City” or “mayor.” Instead, use specific names, titles, etc. Proper nouns that people might actually use as a key word. If in doubt, don’t put a tag.
Twitter Posts
We are using WP to Twitter to facilitate our posting to the NYCityLens account. You will see a Twitter box on the lower right-hand side of the post page.
1) The tool does not post the story until it is published. However, to start we want to be sure that it does not get tweeted until titles etc. have been check for copy errors. If you are nervous about accidentally tweeting it prematurely, you can click on the “don’t tweet” option in the tool.
2) We encourage you to use the Custom Tweet box to create your own unique tweet. To do so, post your tweet and link (you can use bit.ly or another URL shortener). If you do not create a custom tweet, the default tweet is the title + link.
3) Once the story, title, excerpt etc. have been approved then click “Post this tweet” and hit Publish.
Multimedia-Gallery Posts – Backend Editor
If you want to insert a gallery, let me know. I have built several different page templates that include a gallery option. This is the best way to produce a Multimedia Gallery post, rather than the standard WordPress blog post. Here are the steps:
1) Create a post. Click on the button “Backend Editor” underneath the post title.
2) You will see a block that says add content or templates. Select “template”
3) Pick the template that says “Still photos + gallery”
The default template has image + text + image + text + image + text + gallery with captions. You can move these around and delete what you don’t want.
3) ROWS & COLUMNS FYI – You won’t be editing much of the rows and columns but so you know. Most of your edits will happen at the module level.
ROW: The basic functionality on the left is as follows: the X like tool in the far left corner is for moving the blocks around. The = three lines is for changing the column structure, the + is to add another column. On the right hand side of the block, the first tool, the downward arrow is to close the module or hide its contents. The pencil is to edit the row, the double boxes is to duplicate the row, and the X is to delete the row.
COLUMN: The +, pencil and X are to edit the column.
4) MODULES – The modules is where all the content is and it includes a wide range of features. To edit, rollover the module (in the center will usually do) and you will see a green box with the type of module and a pencil. This is how you will edit modules.
The text module will pop up an editor that will look a lot like the typical standard WordPress text editor. Here you can add/edit text, you can also add photos, videos, datawrapper, etc. in the same way you would the standard WP editor. However, if you want to modify the layouts — a larger map compared to your text, for example — you will need to create a separate row to give you flexibility on layout widths.
5) SLIDESHOWS – The photo rich template includes a slideshow module, only one of which seems to have working captions (it is set up for this in the template.)
Roll over the module to pop up the green box and then click on the pencil to edit.
You will see you have some control over the animation speed,etc.
Scroll down to where it says “Add images” and click to access the media library. Either add from the library or your desktop. Note: The caption info must be put into the TITLE slot in order to show up. (Yes, odd as there is a caption option. Put it in both.)
Note: If you use a block builder template, please go to the Yoast SEO beneath the post, click on the graphic that looks like a < and select an image for Facebook and Twitter. Sometimes social media outlets don’t pick it up in block builders.
Timelines
For stories with a chronological element, Timeline JS is a fairly simple Google spreadsheet based tool.
You can find the instructions on their site. I also have a post about timelines (scroll down to see instructions.)
There is a bit of quirkiness with the embed code so please let me know when you are ready to embed in your site and I will assist.
Datawrapper
For charts, tables and maps, use the URL, not the embed code, and paste it in the visual mode.
Use this link, not the embed code.
