Some Basics:

1. You can't break anything on this website. So don't be afraid to try things. Look around to see what all is here. If you have questions you can ask them in the "Help Desk" forum. Look for the "Help Desk" link in the "Navigation" box on the right hand side of the page.
2. On return visits to the site you will want to see what's been posted or updated since your last visit. There are 3 places in particular that you will want to look at.
   • the home page is updated from time to time, often with brief announcements about changes to the site or new content or content areas.
   • the "Recent Items" box on the lower right hand side of the page which lists published items in order of most recent first
   • any forums (discussion groups) that you are interested in.
3. You may want to post an article, a link or a news item yourself. To do that you need to go to your folder; just click on "my folder" near the top of the page. Here is you personal storage area for any items that you create. Proceed to step 4. (Note that if you want just want to react to something somebody else has posted or you want to start a discussion, just click on the "General Discussion" link in the "Navigation" box on the right hand side of the page, click on the most appropriate of the available discussion groups, and then either "reply" to an existing post or click on "post new item" start a new discussion.)
4. So you've decided you want to post an item. Great! On your "my folder" page you can "add an item". You will need to indicate the type of item that you will be adding. Here's a quick description of the item types.

   Document

   If you just want to write an article, this is the thing to use. If you're not sure about the choice of "structured text", "HTML", or "plain text", choose "plain text".

   Event

   Use this if you want to post information about an event.

   File

   If you want to post a non-web document, e.g. PDF, word processing or spreadsheet document, etc., use this item type.

   Folder

   A folder is a folder. Use these as you like for organizing your objects.

   Forum Folder

   This is for creating a set of forums. It's probably better that you request a site manager to do this rather than do it yourself.

   Image

   If you want to post a web-ready image, i.e. a JPEG, GIF, or PNG, use this item type. If you need to post any other kind of image use the "File" item type.

   Link

   Use this item type to post a qualified link. By "qualified" we mean it is accompanied by some introductory text that you supply to help the viewer decide whether it's worth his/her while to follow the link.

   News

   This is like posting an article except that you can enter some lead in text. Also, when an item of this type is published, it shows when viewers click the news button a the top of he page.

   Topics

   This is a predefined search. The "Reading List" and "Events" items in the site's navigation box are topics. If you think you need a topic you will probably want to ask a site manager for help.

5. Once you've added an item, you can view it by clicking on the item on your "my folder" page. If it meets with our satisfaction and you want the public to be able to view it, make it visible by clicking on the "state:" menu in the upper right corner of the item box and choosing "visible". This will be make your item accessible to searches performed by visitors to the site. If you want to announce the availability of your item and have it catalogued under the "Navigation" area of the site, then submit it for publication by again clicking on the "state:" menu in the upper right corner of the item box and choosing "submit". Here's a brief description of the all the possible states.

   Private

   noone can see the item but you and site managers.

   Visible

   anyone who knows that it's there can see it and it can show up in search results.

   Pending

   when you submit an item for publshing it goes into this state. It is like the visible state, but you can no longer make changes.

   Published

   The item is visible to anyone and will show in the "Recent Items" box in the lower right region of the page. If its

   Any item of yours that is in the Pending or Published state can be retracted after which it will be in the visible state. You can then make changes and again submit it for publishing if you want or you can make private if you no longer want visitors to the site to be able to see it.