2An Introduction to the Site & Useful Pointers

mtag – editor guide

contents:

2an introduction to the site & useful pointers

3getting going – using the special key to set up C3

4-9following the quick start guide plus extras hints

10creating pdf print sheets using the mtag Word template

11applying styles

an introduction to the site & useful pointers

The MTAG site is to be maintained using ‘Macromedia Contribute 3’, (C3). Unlike other web editors this software behaves similarly to a straight-forward word processor such as Microsoft’s Word or Open Office’s Writer.

C3 will allow you to;

EDIT any existing page, or;

CREATE a new page from an existing page ensuring that page characteristics and important code remain intact.

If you have used other software editors you’ll be surprised at how easy C3 is to use as it looks after the site structure, up/down loading, coding, styles and many other web attributes you previously would have had to understand.

When using this guide please have ready the Quick Start Guide which came with C3 (an A5 purple covered booklet.

getting going: setting up C3

Each editor will be given a unique key. Each key has its own settings and permissions. Please use the key you received via email. This will create a connection to the MTAG website.

Step 1

Save the key onto your PC

Step 2

Double-click on the key (c3key_name.stc). This will start-up C3

Step 3

Follow the on-screen instructions, entering for the email address (C3 will inform me of any future problems) the ID and the password (included in the email). This information will only be required once (unless you need to reinstall C3 after a PC breakdown!).

Step 4

C3 is now ready to use! Happy Contributing!

using the quick start guide

Once you have successfully set-up C3 you are ready to maintain the site. But first…

C3 is effectively a ‘web browser’ similar to Internet Explorer, Firefox or Netscape. Simply go to the MTAG website at

Before you start, please read and use the Quick Start Guide for:

creating/altering pages

adding/editing links

copying and pasting from MS Word into C3

adding images

adding tables

Contributes three steps to publishing a web page:

browse to the page you wish to edit

edit the page

publish your changes

You can browse any website with C3, but you can only edit the pages of websites that you’ve created a connection to.

When starting C3 you will see a screen similar to diagram 1. Click on the MTAG link on the left.

diagram 1

This will display the website in the main window (see diagram 2).

diagram 2

Now that you have read the Quick Start Guide and have the website homepage displayed you are nearly ready to edit the website.

WARNING: Please note, once you hit the ‘Publish’ button ANY changes you have made will be LIVE and available to any MTAG user. It is recommended that you do not Publish a webpage until you are satisfied it is as you would wish it to be. It is advisable to develop a system of proofing your webpage before publishing. This can be done in one of two ways:

1When editing/creating a webpage, the page is listed on the left hand side of the screen. This allows you to come away from your PC, to even turn it off and come back another time, whenever you like! C3 will lock this page to prevent other editors from changing the page, and you can go back to your page mid-stream at any point. When you are ready you can Publish your webpage.

2.Another useful function is to email the copy to another person for reviewing. Simply click on Send for review and enter that persons email address. The recipient will receive your message and a link to a temporary version of the page. Once you are both happy, Publish your webpage.

Once the page is published, it is advisable to view it from within a standard web browser, ensuring the layout and all links are as they should be. I’m sure you’ll agree that ‘broken links’ are an irritant to the user!

Other pointers: from within C3 please browse to Dream. You will see something like diagram 3:

diagram 3

You will notice much of the page appears to be missing.

This is as it should be. The tiny is a piece of protected code (navigation etc), so please don’t worry about this. All you need do is edit the main content. But please make sure you:

keep titles in the correct colour – the page should maintain the correct colour for you (but please don’t delete the title first! Simply highlight it and type over it, or insert your cursor and type.

looking at diagram 3 you will notice the following rectangle:

please place each item into a new rectangle. This is done by highlighting the entire table, then copying and pasting it below. You can then edit the item (which will be the link) and then add a little blurb underneath to show the user what they can expect.

each link within a rectangle is to be a .pdf document. You may ask how this is done? Read on!

creating pdf print sheets using the mtag Word template

Provided for you to use is a MS Word template (which is identical to this guide with the artwork at the head and foot of the page.

Simply take your original source document, copy all the content and paste it into the template. Then if you wish to maintain a style I recommend selecting the entire document and changing the font to Arial size 10 with black ink.

Then save your Word file with the relevant prefix, e.g. dream_description_of_content.doc into the folder named ‘pdf’. N.B. All file names must be lower case (including any graphics which are to be saved in the IMAGES folder) and use and underscore instead of spaces.

You will then need to turn your Word file into a pdf file. Please use the relevant software (e.g. Adobe pdf creator, Primo pdf, or even the C3 pdf creator). If you have any trouble with this please contact Melchior and we will happily guide you through the process, which is quite painless!

Returning to C3 and your webpage: the link in the rectangle will point to the PDF folder, please refer to the Quick Start Guide, and look under ‘Link to a page or document’.

applying styles

One other useful tool is the ‘style applicator’, see diagram 6:

diagram 6

Included in the design is an array of styles you can choose from! In Edit mode, highlight a piece of text then click on the ‘Normal’ dropdown. Simply choose a style. This will change the text to whichever style you choose (try not to change the standard titles or link colours as each section is colour coded and makes use of particular sizes for ease of reading on the screen and for print, and each page has been especially designed to be search engine friendly).

Content from spiritualjourneys.org.uk – Copyright: Mission Theological Advisory Group