Once ARPS members are logged onto the ARPS web site, they are able to access the “Create content” tab on the left side of the site and present all kinds of useful information for ARPS members and the public.

 
Clicking on the "Create content" menu button takes ARPS members to a page with several menu items used for creating the several content types found on the site. Typically, the type of content that members might want to create would include a “Story”, a “Blog entry” , an "Event" or a “Forum" topic. If this is all new for you, the Create content page explains what each type of content is...

Just take care to choose appropriate appropriate content type for your submission..

 For this example, I have chosen to create a “Blog” about  the type of free software that members might find useful in their work or at home. So I select a “Blog" entry.

The following screen appears and we enter out text...

The first thing I type in is the “Title” for the article which is mandatory. Note; Any field marked with an orange “*” next to it is mandatory.

The body of the article can be edited with a word processor called “FCKeditor”. The KCKeditor is not part of Drupal, rather it is an independent piece of free software.  The user manual for FCKeditor can be found on the FCKeditor web site
http://docs.fckeditor.net/FCKeditor_2.x/Users_Guide

KCKeditor functions in a similar way to MS Word using similar tool bars with familiar functions like cut, paste, search, bold, italic, etc, etc, and it even includes a spell checker.

By pausing the mouse pointer over each tool bar button, an information text box appears showing the purpose of each button.

As I’m writing a Blog, I format the headings, underline text, and layout the document in a similar way to what one does when creating MS Word documents. In fact, you can even create a document in Word and paste it into FCKeditor.

There is a paste button with the Word logo, however take care to keep your article as plain as possible to match the style of the ARPS Website.

Now, in my article I also wanted to embed some images and logos to give the article a bit more visual appeal.

The first thing to do this is to upload the image files to the web server so that they are available to article from the ARPS server. You can also link to images on other web sites. if you link to images on your PC, you will be the only one to see them.

Note, because of the theme or layout of this site, images cannot be wider than 520 pixels otherwise they encroach on the right side column pushing the right side columns down to the bottom of the page.

As you upload your images, name and path are displayed in a table on the page.
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At the bottom of the editing screen area is the blue “Attach” button which uploads  the files once you have selected from your PC.

There are also two tick boxes, one to delete the image and the other to list it. If you list it, it means users can down load it from the article. Usually, you don’t want people to download your images separately, so you leave the list box un-ticked. On the other hand, you would tick it if it was a MS Word file or a PDF document for down load.

Once your images are available on the ARPS Website, you can insert them in the document with the image tool. It’s the button with the image of a mountain with the sun above.

Another, piece of information to be aware of is the location or path to the image file. The path is listed underneath every file name, for example something like this-http://www.arps.org.au/sites/default/files/firefox.PNG

You copy and paste this information into the Image properties screen that appears when the image button is clicked on the FCKeditor toolbar.  An example is displayed below.
 

Another, feature you may want to use is to add links to other pages or sites. These can be created with the “Link” tool. This the button with the “Earth with chain links”
 

1. Type the text for the link, for example “Firefox”,
2. Select it or highlight it with your mouse,
3. Click the "Link" button while the text is selected and the input box below appears.

Paste or type the path to the link and press the "Ok" button.

Save your Blog article and check that the layout for mistakes. If changes are required, click on "Edit" and make the necessary corrections. Save the document again.

Another useful feature is the "Teaser" tool. When I first created and saved this article, there was too much of text and images on display on the front page. To get as much information on the frontpage, we just required a short bit of text or a "teaser" to get people interested in the article. If readers are interested reading more, they can click on "read more".

I used the Teaser tool to add a break after the first paragraph, hiding all the images until readers expand the article with "read more". The "teaser" appears as a double red dashed line in FCKeditor. There is an example of this above in the third image from the top.

This is just a basic introduction on how to create content on the ARPS website. Have a go, you can always edit or modify the article later.

 I hope to be able to read lots of interesting news and articles written by you in the future.