Creating a News Post

Learn how to use our Content Management System to create a News Post including adding images and links as required, then schedule and publish it on your platform. 

Contents:

Creating a News Post

To create a News Post, click the Create News Post shortcut from the Equiem One left hand menu. This will open the News Post creation page.

Alternatively, if you are already in the Content Management System, navigate to the All Content page, click Add New and then click News Post.

Open

You will then also see the News Post creation page.

Open

Follow the below guidelines for completing each section of a News Post

Title

Enter the title of your article. Keep the length to 10 words or less where possible.

Excerpt

This should be a summary of your article. It's displayed under the title on the News page on your Platform and within Newsletters. The character limit is 150.

Body

We recommend splitting body text into three main sections: Introduction, main text, call to action (CTA).

Introduction:  This should be different from your post excerpt.

Main text: At a minimum, there should be at least two paragraphs of the main text. This is the who, what, where, when and why.

Call to action: Let the reader know what you want them to do next – leave a comment, go to a website, consider something, have a nice day.

Formatting the text

You can format the text by using the formatting toolbar:

This is where the options to bold, italicise, create a numbered or bulleted list and indent a paragraph can be found. 

Linking

The chain icon will allow you to hyperlink a phrase so it navigates to a specific URL or email address. Automatically, hyperlinking will be connected to URL linking. Select Email from the Link Type drop down to direct to an email address.

We recommend clicking Target and choosing New Window for links to open for users in a new tab.

In addition, the Blue Equiem icon within the formatting toolbar allows you to dynamic link to content within your Platform, including Deals and Polls. After clicking the Equiem icon, enter the title of your post, Store product, event or Building Info post into the search bar and filter by type and site to find the item you wish to link to. Selecting a Poll here will embed the poll within your post.

Embedding images

To embed an image into the body of the text, you can drag and drop it directly into the field. You will have the option to crop the image, and you can also drag it to other areas in the text.

Post images

Upload an image to accompany your post. Images must be minimum 900 x 600 pixels (3:2 ratio, width x height). You may add multiple images if required. It is mandatory to add an image to your post. Ensure you have removed the placeholder image by clicking the 3 dots next to the placeholder and pressing Remove.

Make sure the caption (filename) is not displaying by ensuring the ‘Display caption’ option is unticked:

Downloads

Add any files to the content that you'd like users to be able to download. Hover over the information button for accepted file extensions. You can edit the name of the attachment, which appears on the Platform, being sure to remove the extension that appears, e.g. .pdf or .doc.

Content categories

Select one category for your post, which best categorises your content.

Related information

Enter a URL to an external website with additional information. 

Shareable Content

Tick this box if you would like to generate a shareable content link for this piece of content. This link allows you to share the post with those who are not registered to the platform. It will prompt them to register if they wish to read more, comment, like the post etc. Read more about shareable content here.

Press Save. You will then need to continue with the following options down the right-hand sidebar.

Sidebar options

When you are happy with the content of your post, continue with the options down the right-hand sidebar.

Tags

Add a tag to your content piece to allow for easy navigation and searching within the Content Management System. This is optional so leave this space blank if you do not wish to use a tag.

Feature news

Tick this box if you would like this post to appear in the Featured section on your homepage.

Authored by

The author should always be the individual responsible for that site, either a Community Manager or Receptionist, etc. Leave ‘Authored By’ blank for the default Platform author to be added. You can also set a desired author by adding their Equiem account email address into the box.

Assigned to

The Content Management System will automatically assign the post creator to the post, so that they can receive updates when the status changes and any comments are left. Only change this if you need to assign to another team member who you’d like to be responsible for following up on the post. 

Publish at (date & time)

This is the date that you are scheduling the content to appear live. A post Published in the future will not appear until that date. A post that is not in Published or Published & Proofed status, will also not appear regardless of publishing date unless it is assigned one of those statuses.

Expire at (date)
This is the date that you are scheduling the content to be unpublished from your platform. When the expiry date of a post is reached, the post will automatically be unpublished and removed from your platform. An expiry date is not mandatory so leave this section blank if you would like the post to remain on your platform. 

Please note: 

• The expiry only applies to content that is set to ‘Published’

• You can’t set a time to expire, only a date. The programmed process that runs this is at 11.30pm Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) each day so take note when setting an expiry date of the impact this may have on your expiring content in your region as it may expire on the following day. Below is an example of content being set to expire at 11.30pm UTC today and when that would expire in the example timezones:

Sites

Tick your relevant Site(s) for the post to be published on. If there is only one site displaying here, you will still need to tick the site, otherwise content will not display on the platform.

Comments

Add a comment if you wish to communicate specific information on the post to other parties. Comments do not provide email notifications to other parties unless they are assigned the post. Assign the post to your desired party before commenting.

Tasks

If you need to complete more tasks for your post you can add them as a reminder, or assign them if you are working with a colleague. Tasks are set at a client level so you will need to stick to a pre-registered task. If you need a new task added, ask your Equiem Contact.

History

Here is where you can see all of the changes and amendments that have taken place on this post, such as edits to the text, image changes, changes to publishing dates and times, changes to the status, etc. This history will also indicate whether a post has been created using the Copying function and you can access the original post from here if so.

Scheduling

Once you have finished your post and completed all required fields, click Save and change the status of your post from Draft to one of the following:

1. Needs Review: Your post will remain unpublished, but make it clear to other users that this post requires review

2. Published: Your post will be published when the publishing date arrives

3. Published & Proofed: Your post will be published when the publishing date arrives. This status also makes it clear to other Content Management System users that this post has been reviewed and can be copied.

Copying function

You can Copy a post created in the Content Management System by clicking on the ellipses menu, and selecting Copy. You can then copy this to your desired location by using the drop down search bar.

Please note: you can only copy a post that has been proofed (will be in the Published & Proofed status), or that has Copying Enabled by an Admin.

If you’d like to segment the content to a specific user audience, use the Audience button to choose which segment your content should be shared with.

After you have created and published your content, click the ellipses menu and click View Post in Site. This will allow you to preview what your content looks like on the front end of the platform and therefore what your end users will see. We recommend doing this every time to make sure you're happy with how content appears on the platform.

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