Creating Content on the Site

Upon creating your account for Christian Coalition of America (CC.org), you will be able to create several different types of content to contribute to the site.

 

Before getting started with any content contributions, however, it is highly recommended that you add "www.CC.org" to your browser's Pop-Up Blocker to "Allow Pop-Ups". Instructions on how to do so for Internet Explorer can be found here.

 

To begin contributing to the site's content, click the 'Create Content' link at the Top-Left in your User Control Panel.

 

You will now have the option to choose which type of content you wish to add.

There are two varieties of content:

Blog entry A blog is a regularly updated journal or diary made up of individual posts shown in reversed chronological order. Each member of the site may create and maintain a blog. This is the most common and often-used variety of content.

User News Enables storing and retrieving of user links (or bookmarks).

To view the specific 'Create Content' instruction guide for a particular content type, click that particular link from the three varieties above.

Disabling Your Browser Pop-Up Blocker

If you have Pop-Up Blocker software in use, it is very important to disable it from blocking Pop-Ups from www.CC.org while creating content on the Christian Coalition website.

Certain features available (such as adding pictures, hyperlinks, YouTube video) for use in the body of your content entries require a secondary, pop-up window to open. It is in these pop-up windows where the features are set up and adjusted (See Adding Special Formatting, Hyperlinks, and Inserting Pictures into Your Content).

If a user fails to add www.CC.org to the "Allow Pop-Ups" list, upon attempting to use any of the features that require a Pop-Up window, it will BLOCK that feature's window, making it inaccessible. Further, your browser will reload the original browser window with the content that was being added, losing all previously entered data.

Adding www.CC.org to your Pop-Up Blocker "Allow" list, is a one-time, easy-fix which never needs to be revisited.

To add www.CC.org to your Pop-Up Blocker "Allow" list, in Internet Explorer go to the Tools menu - Pop-Up Blocker - Pop-Up Blocker Setting (Turn Off Pop-Up Blocker can also be selected, though that would allow all pop-ups from all websites visited)

In the Pop-Up Blocker Settings, simply type in www.CC.org in the "Address of website to allow:" field and click "Add", then click "Close"

Creating a Blog

To begin creating a blog entry, click the “Blog Entry” link:

This will take you to the “Submit Blog Entry” page.

Enter the Title for your Blog Entry in the “Title” field.

Place the Body of your text for your Blog Entry in the “Body” field.

The Blog Entry Page allows the ability to format text as you wish using the buttons displayed below:

To create BOLD text, click the “B”

To create italic text, click the “I”

To underline text, click the “U”

To strikethrough text, click the “ABC”

The Blog Entry Page allows you to align text to the Right or to the Center of the page.

The Blog Entry Page allows you to add Bullets to your text using the button below:

The Blog Entry Page allows you to Indent your text to the Left and Right (as seen in the example for the News Article below the personal commentary) using the buttons below:

The Blog Entry Page allows you to Undo your last action in the event you make a mistake while creating a blog entry by using the Undo button, as seen below:

The Blog Entry Page allows you to add Pictures to your Blog Entry - Adding pictures will require uploading your own picture files from your local computer to your Christian Coalition of America (CC.org) “My Account”, which is displayed below:

To begin adding a Picture, click the Photo button seen below:

This will open the Insert/Edit Image Window, seen below:

To browse your local computer for the location of the Image you wish to add to a blog entry, click the button below:

In some cases, a Pop-Up Blocker may be prompted, keeping the Image/File Browser Window from opening - If so, add the Christian Coalition of America website to the “Always Allow Pop-ups from This Site” option, if your browser does prompt you to do so.

To upload pictures from your computer to your account, click the “Browse” button at the bottom of the Image/File Browser.

You are now browsing your local computer for picture content to upload to your Christian Coalition of America “My Account” area.

Upon selecting which photo to upload to your account, click the “Upload Button” to add that photo to your Christian Coalition of America personal account. At that time, you will see your photo file in your account’s Image/File Browser window:

It is at this point, you can now add your photo to your blog posting.

Within the Image/File Browser, you can click on the various image filenames you have uploaded to your Christian Coalition of America “My Account” to preview which one you wish to Add to a Blog Entry.

Upon verifying which image you wish to add to a Blog Entry, either double click on the image itself in the bottom preview pane or click “add”:

The Insert/Edit Image window will now be displayed with the Image URL field noting the location of the Image you wish to add to the Blog Entry.

Next, you can designate where you want to place your photo within a Blog Entry by making a choice from the “Alignment” dropdown box.

Once selected, click the “Insert” button to add the photo to your blog entry, as seen below:

You may also wish to add a hyperlink to another website within a Blog Entry.

This can be done in either of two simple ways:

  • Simply copy & paste a web address directly into the Body Field of the Blog Entry
  • Highlight text already within the Body Field and then click the button shown below:

This will engage the Insert/Edit Link Window shown below:

  • Copy and Paste the web address into the Link URL field.
  • In the Target field, it is best to select “Open link in a new window” – this will cause a new browser window to open up for anyone clicking your link, which will leave your original Blog window up, as well.

Click “Insert” to complete the creation of the Link back in the Create Blog Entry page.

You have now learned how to access the Submit Blog Entry interface, format text, add a photo, and add a hyperlink to your Blog Entry.

Creating a User News Entry

With the User News area of the Christian Coalition of America website, it’s easy to share and discuss relevant news articles from across the internet.

The easiest way to add a news article of interest to the Christian Coalition of America website, once you've discovered them on the internet, is the “Copy & Paste” method:

  • Simply hover your mouse-pointer over the link to your article on the internet
  • "Right-click” on your mouse to open the drop-down menu
  • Select “Copy Shortcut” from the drop down menu

You have now "copied" the article's internet address, making it easy for you to "paste" it in the "URL:" field of the "Create User News" Page.

To add your selected news article to the "Submit User News" Page, click the "User News" link under "Create Content"

This will take you to the "Submit User News" page.

Enter the web address of your news article in the "URL:" Field - This can easily be done by completing the next step of the "Copy & Paste" process.

  • Click your mouse pointer into the "URL:" field
  • “Right-click” on the pointer in the “URL” field
  • From the drop-down menu, Select "Paste"
  • The previously selected news article's internet address (URL) “copied” in the earlier step is now automatically entered, or "Pasted", into this field
  • Note: If using this “Copy & Paste” method, ensure that the“http://” text in this field is totally cleared, before pasting YOUR pre-selected web address

Enter a title for your news article in the "Title:" Field - You may use the title of the article from the source, for this purpose.

Enter comments describing your news article in the "Description:" Field - Putting the article's first paragraph in this field is a good way to gain readers' interest about the submission and to let them know about your article's subject.

Note: Comments made in the "Description:" Field can be enhanced with special formatting, hyperlinks, and pictures. Click here to view the Guide for using the "Description:" Field formatting buttons.

Add "Tags" to your User News submission - "Tags" are brief descriptive words that help to catagorize your User News, based on its subject. These help make your entry more easily referenced by others looking to find information on a specific subject. At least one "Tag" word must be entered for any given User News entry.

Examples of "Tags" would be: “Abortion”, “Free Speech”, “Economy”, “Hillary Clinton”, “Faith-based”, “Abstinence”, "Supreme Court", etc.

To complete your entry, do either of the following:

  • Click “Preview” to view how the “User News” entry will look in the “Preview Page”- This will allow for you see a version of your entry which is easy to re-edit before submitting it.
  • Click “Submit” to finalize the submission of your “User News” entry - Further editing of your entry is always possible after it has been submitted (See below).

As noted above, even after completing the process of submitting a User News entry, the author of that User News entry always has the ability to go back and Edit its contents by clicking on the "Edit" tab of the entry's page.

Adding Special Formatting, Hyperlinks, and Inserting Pictures into Your Content

The Rich Text Editor allows the ability to format text as you wish and also allows for the insertion of Pictures and Hyperlinks into your content entries.

To allow these features to be accessible, it will be necessary to click on the "enable rich-text" option, which directly below the "Body:" field. For the more advanced features, it may also be necessary to select the "Full HTML" option under the "Input Format" area.

 

 


Now, to begin formatting text as you wish, use the buttons displayed below for their various functions:

  • To create BOLD text, click the “B”
  • To create italic text, click the “I”
  • To underline text, click the “U”
  • To strikethrough text, click the “ABC”


 

The Rich Text Editor allows you to align text to the Right or to the Center of the page.

 

The Rich Text Editor allows you to add Bullets to your text using the button below:

 

 

The Rich Text Editor allows you to Indent your text to the Left and Right (as seen in the example for the News Article below the personal commentary) using the buttons below:

 

 

The Rich Text Editor allows you to Undo your last action in the event you make a mistake while creating a blog entry by using the Undo button, as seen below:

 

The Rich Text Editor allows you to add Pictures to your Blog Entry - Adding pictures will require uploading your own picture files from your local computer to your Christian Coalition of America (CC.org) “My Account”, which is displayed below:

To begin adding a Picture, click the Photo button seen below:



 

This will open the Insert/Edit Image Window, seen below:

To browse your local computer for the location of the Image you wish to add to a blog entry, click the button below:

 

 

To upload pictures from your computer to your account, click the “Browse” button at the bottom of the Image/File Browser.

 

You are now browsing your local computer for picture content to upload to your Christian Coalition of America “My Account” area.

 

 

Upon selecting which photo to upload to your account, click the “Upload Button” to add that photo to your Christian Coalition of America personal account. At that time, you will see your photo file in your account’s Image/File Browser window:

 

It is at this point, you can now add your photo to your blog posting.

Within the Image/File Browser, you can click on the various image filenames you have uploaded to your Christian Coalition of America “My Account” to preview which one you wish to Add to a Blog Entry.

Upon verifying which image you wish to add to a Blog Entry, either double click on the image itself in the bottom preview pane or click “add”:

 

The Insert/Edit Image window will now be displayed with the Image URL field noting the location of the Image you wish to add to the Blog Entry.

Next, you can designate where you want to place your photo within a Blog Entry by making a choice from the “Alignment” dropdown box.

 

 

Once selected, click the “Insert” button to add the photo to your blog entry, as seen below:

 

 

You may also wish to add a hyperlink to another website within a Blog Entry.

This can be done in either of two simple ways:

  • Simply copy & paste a web address directly into the Body Field of the Blog Entry
  • Highlight text already within the Body Field and then click the button shown below:

 

This will engage the Insert/Edit Link Window shown below:

  • Copy and Paste the web address into the Link URL field.
  • In the Target field, it is best to select “Open link in a new window” – this will cause a new browser window to open up for anyone clicking your link, which will leave your original Blog window up, as well.

Click “Insert” to complete the creation of the Link back in the Create Blog Entry page.

 

You have now learned how to use the Rich Text Editor interface to format text, add a photo, and add a hyperlink to your Christian Coalition Website Entry.