eClubs Editing Tutorials

After 'Edit Page' this is probably the task you will perform the most often, and it is usually necessary to 'upload' (copy from your computer to the website) files to use with your editing. There are many types of files you will want to upload (images, logos, photos, banners, pdf files etc) and eClubs allows you to upload the most common types simply and easily.

To upload a file ...

1. Log into your admin area using the username and password that was emailed to you - After the welcome messages, right-click anywhere on the web page in your browser
2. Move your mouse over the 'Add Files' option and left-click to load the 'files window'
3. The screen will go partially blank and you will see a visual gallery of all the images that are currently in your site
4. Left-clicking any of the graphical images will display them full-size for you, but for now we want to add a new file - select 'Upload File'
5. A smaller green window will open with two buttons ('browse' and a small green 'X') - if you want to close the window at anytime - click the 'X'
6. Select 'browse' to open a Microsoft file browsing window where you can navigate your PC for the file you want
7. Once you have located the file you want to upload, left-click it and then choose 'open' - the navigator will close and the file's name will now appear back in the green window along with some information about its size
8. Click 'upload' to begin the file copying from your machine to the website - the progress bar will show you how far through it is
9. Once the file has been copied to the server, the small green window will close and you will see a visual 'thumbnail' has been added to your files gallery (you might need to scroll down to see it as it is added to the end of the file list)
10. Click 'cancel' at anytime to return to your site, or 'upload file' again to continue adding more files

There are three easy steps to adding a page to your website which help your site to know where to place the new page and what to make it look like. In the first step you also have the option to make the new page attractive to search engines as well as site visitors. After you have made your new page you can easily alter any aspect of it using the other 'edit page' options (including delete it altogether).

To add a new page to your website ...

1. If you haven't already - Log into your admin area using the username and password that was emailed to you - After the welcome messages, right-click anywhere on the web page in your browser
2. Move your mouse over the 'Add Page' option and left-click to open the new page options
3. The first thing we need to do is to name your page - try to use as few words as possible (since there is a limited amount of space in your navigation) and use words that describe what people will find on the page e.g. News, or Events, or Schedule, or Timetable etc
4. Next comes the page title - you can see this in the top of your browser (right up in the top-left corner - usually white writing on a blue background) but it is still important because search engines sometimes use this name to show your listing
5. The page title, page description, and page keywords are all optional since they are only used by search engines, and most of these should be pre-filled with the information from your original eClubs application
6. Select 'next step' to view the page layout options - every eClubs page has a few 'parts' that are always constant (a logo area, the navigation bar where the other links are, and two advertising areas - but the main, middle area, of the page has several options that you can use to make pages more interesting
7. You can add either a left or right hand 'widgets' panel (areas where you can display selectable content other than your articles) and you can choose to include a photo gallery if you want - once you have made the selections you want (or none at all to create a blank area) click the 'next step' button for the final stage
8. This is where you get to decide where your new page goes in the overall site navigation and you will see a visual table of the current pages in your site - the top row (with black lines above and below it) show what site visitors can see when they look at your navigation bar
9. You can add your new page by selecting any of the light green rectangles which will add your page either to the right of, or below, an existing page. The first time you add a page there will be only one option since the home page will be the only other page
10. Once you select the green rectangle, the site will refresh and your new blank page will be added. To alter any aspect of the new page later, simply select 'edit page' (see below)

This is where the bulk of the content for your website will be written, and you need to write as much as possible because content is the reason why people come to visit your site - to learn something about your club because it interests them. Where that content goes on a page is decided using the 'edit page' options, but the 'article editor' is where you get to write (or edit) those articles.

To write an article for your website ...

1. If you haven't already - Log into your admin area using the username and password that were emailed to you - After the welcome messages, right-click anywhere on the web page in your browser
2. Move your mouse over the 'Write Article' option and left-click to open the article editor
3. Every article needs a unique name so we add an article name first - if you use the name of an existing article it will be overwritten - to load an older article for editing simply click the 'load' icon (first icon on the left) and select it from the list
4. Holding your mouse over an icon (without clicking) will display a short description at the bottom of the editor letting you know what that option does - there are also two rows of options that can be swapped by pressing the triangle icon on the right
5. The central white area is where you can type your article - it is a good idea to type your article and format it after writing in sections e.g. write two paragraphs of text and then add any text effects afterwards (bold, paragraph etc) - if you need any help with ideas for writing text for the web than there is a helpful pop-up tutorial available by selecting the '?'
6. You can save your article at anytime by clicking the 'save changes' button - the article will not be included in your site until you add it to a page using the 'edit page' options - if your article is already included (editing) than the changes will display as soon as you save them
7. The article editor uses a browser technology called 'editable content' which can sometimes be unpredictable - if your article displays incorrectly for any reason, simply close the editor and reopen it without saving it first

eClubs comes by default with three different visual themes, and this list will be updated regularly over time. These describe to your browser how your website looks without affecting the logos or page choices you have made - for example the default theme uses black text on a white background with a diagonally lined texture surrounding every page. You can change the theme at anytime to give your website a 'makeover' or to celebrate a public holiday (e.g. Christmas) and keep your site interesting for your club members and visitors. Changing the theme affects every page of your website and can be reversed (changed back) with the same ease and simplicity.

To change the default theme of your website ...

1. If you haven't already - Log into your admin area using the username and password that was emailed to you - After the welcome messages, right-click anywhere on the web page in your browser
2. Move your mouse over the 'Swap Theme' option and left-click to open the theme options
3. Left-click on any of the available themes to see a preview
4. Select 'Change Theme' to have the new theme applied to your site
5. Some themes reverse text colouring (e.g. black on white becomes white on black) so it is always a good idea to check every page after a theme swap to make sure that everything is still readable for your visitors

These options are very rarely used and are only available to the site administrator for your website. From here you can describe search engine text that will affect every page of your site, delete files that have been uploaded, assign new users from your club limited access to help you out, and manage your sites RSS feeds. All of these are considered advanced options because of the impact that they can have on your website, so please use them with care.

To change the advanced options for your site ...

1. If you haven't already - Log into your admin area using the username and password that was emailed to you - After the welcome messages, right-click anywhere on the web page in your browser
2. Move your mouse over the 'Super Admin' option and left-click to open the theme options
3. The Super Administrator Panel has four main tabs (Site Details, Delete Files, User Access, and RSS Feeds)
4. The Site Details tab allows you to edit the default text for search engines that will be included at the top of every page - usually this text cannot be seen by site visitors but instead describes the page to a search engine that is reading (indexing) your page - the default options are the ones you supplied when you applied for an eClubs website
5. To delete a file left-click the 'delete files' tab and select its visual 'thumbnail' and then the 'save changes' button. You can select multiple files before saving, and clicking 'cancel' will ignore any unsaved deletions
6. To assign a new user, select the 'user access' tab and type a username and password for the site helper and then select their access level from the choices available. An 'administrator' has the same level of site access as you do, while a 'content editor' can only write articles and upload files - they cannot change any other aspects of your site. Please choose your helpers and their access levels carefully as an administrator could potentially damage your site and your clubs reputation
7. An RSS feed is a list of every article you write for the site, regardless of whether it appears on the site, and this list can be read by anyone who 'subscribes' to updates from your site. This helps those people keep up to date with changes on your site without having to visit it, and is a huge boost for the search engine ranking of your site
8. The 'RSS Feed' tab allows you to change some the key information that surrounds and describes your website to RSS readers, and is filled by default with your application information

This is the main editing option available on the wheel, and is the option you will use most often to implement changes to your site. Once logged in, right-click to bring up the wheel and then left-click on the 'edit page' button to select this option. The cursor will change to a crosshair and the wheel will disappear, freeing you to left-click on any part of the web page. The options available to you next are dependant on which page element you selected, so we need to describe these in detail first.

Every eClubs page is divided up into logical parts (or pieces of the whole), and each of these parts has its own set of options that are unique to the content of that part - for example - the 'logo' part contains options to change the logo or create a new one from scratch and these options can be displayed by simply clicking anywhere within the boundaries of the logo on your screen.

The seven different parts of a page and their options are described below ...

Logo Area

The page logo area is the first thing that site visitors will see and should visually represent your club. You can upload an image for use in this area or create your own from scratch using the 'page logo' options accessed by clicking your crosshair anywhere in the logo area. A logo can be assigned to automatically appear as the default for a new page created, or you can have different logos for different pages (helps to set the mood for site sections). Creating a logo is as simply as selecting a suitable background, adding your text, changing that text's colour, font, and size, and then positioning it where you want.

Navigation Bar

If you click on the navigation bar or buttons with your crosshair then you will access the 'site navigation' options. From here you can move (or remove) any page in the site (except the home page). Simply select the page name you want to move and it will be placed in the sandbox, then select any available light green square that represents where you want to re-add it to the site and then save your changes. This gives you the freedom to completely reorganise your site's navigation whenever you please.

Widgets Panels

You can have either a left or right-hand panel that is dedicated to displaying 'widgets'. Widgets are small applications that accomplish a single task - for example, you could add a 'countdown timer' and this will countdown the years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds until the date you specify (great for upcoming events). The list of available widgets will be increased over time in response to feedback for ideas that benefit clubs. Widgets allow your website to have modern functionality without having to learn the complex side of how they work. You can also use this area for advertising 'skyscraper' banners of your choice if you want to increase your club's revenue. Widgets can appear on multiple pages, and their content can change from page to page.

Photo Galleries

Selecting a photo gallery with the crosshair will bring up the photo gallery options. From here you can easily add or remove images from the gallery. When you add an image you will be prompted for some supporting text that describes what is happening in the image (this appears when the site visitor clicks on the image to have it enlarged). There are two ways in which the gallery can be displayed (flash or javascript) and we recommend trying both to see which one you prefer. You can have galleries appear on multiple pages, but they will always display the same options that you select here.

Selecting an Article

If you click on any article, then the 'Article Editor' will pop-up and prefill itself with that article ready for editing. Any changes you save will be reflected instantly in the page. To remove that particular article from a page select the paper icon in the second row (accessed by clicking the right-most triangle). Article editing is described in more detail above ('Write Article' section). If you select a blank part of the page (or above or below an article) than the article include options will appear instead.

Sponsors Area

This area can be used to generate income for your club by advertising your existing (or new) club sponsors. Every eClubs page contains four advertising areas (two are used by eClubs to keep the service free) and this area plus the widgets panels are for your use. Simple add a suitably sized image to your site (using 'Add Files') and then select it here from the available image list. You will be prompted for the address that the banner will link to (begins with http) and then save your changes. There are a maximum of four slots available to use in the sponsors area.

Off the Page

Selecting anywhere that doesn't contain an element under your crosshair (to the left or right of the page) will bring up the options to alter that page's components. When you created your first eClubs page (see 'Add Page' above) you determined what parts the page would be made up of (gallery, widgets etc) and using these options you have the freedom to change your mind. You can also specify the page description and keywords for search engines in relation to that particular page.

eClubs Websites

Websites created with the eClubs system are designed to be standards compliant (with the exception of article content which is dependant on the OS and browser you are using when you write them) and therefore should render correctly in every standards compliant browser, regardless of operating system. Support for non-standards browsers has been included to the best of our ability, but display problems may appear in browsers that are old.

Administration Areas

The eClubs administration pages rely heavily on standards compliant referencing and will fail to display correctly on systems that have irregular implemention of the W3C standards. It is recommended that you use either Firefox or Internet Explorer 7 on a PC to edit your pages. Internet Explorer 6 has only partial support for these standards.