Contributing to the site

Register to post to this site (ASC members only)

Use the “Register” link (also available on the home page on the right) to create an account for this website, then contact web {at} asc.asn.au to request your publishing rights be activated. You will only have to do this once. You will now be able to create articles and posts for the site. Contact our editor {at} asc.asn.au for checking and publishing these with the member newsletter. If you are on a branch committee or otherwise permitted your permissions can be upgraded to “Author” so that you are authorised to publish when ready. Contact office {at} asc.asn.au to have your user permissions upgraded.

Logging In

Once logged in your will find yourself in the dashboard section – this is where all website administration takes place. As a member you can use this section to edit your member profile or contribute (but not publish) an article (know in the dashboard as “posts”.

Return to Website

At any time to can click the site name or the visit site button at the top left of page to leave the dashboard and return to the ASC website. Even when you have left the dashboard you will remain logged in and thus able to comment. You can return to the dashboard by clicking edit/contribute at the top left of the page.

Your Profile

Click the “Users” tab in the left column. This reveals “Your profile” click to edit. Here you can vary everything about your member profile except your username.

We strongly recommend changing at least the “Display name publicly as” field. The default is your username which just looks a bit odd if everyone else has the “Firstname Lastname” on display either as an author or in the member listing.

Always save changes to commit a change. Otherwise closing the page or nagivating elsewhere may cause your edits to be lost.

Remember the information provided here is available on the website. Email addresses with be obfuscated (making it exceedingly difficult for spam bots to harvest your address).

Writing a New Post

Simple word-like interface to enter text and images.

The official WordPress user documentation is here: http://codex.wordpress.org/Writing_Posts

A (slightly out of date but still very useful) video tutorial is here: http://wordpresstraining.com/videos/blogging/how-to-write-a-post-in-wordpress/

Remember your current permission level will restrict the tools you can access but it will allow you to submit a draft for editor approval. Editors are notified when you submit a draft.

We recommend writing your post into another text editor and then copying and pasting it into the WordPress interface. No hidden meaning to that advice- it’s just easier to write in your usual editor than faff around with something new. Please use the paste from text or paste from word shortcuts in the editor (the button icons show clips boards with a “T” and “W” respectively).

Always save changes to commit a change. Otherwise closing the page or navigating elsewhere may cause your edits to be lost. In the case of a post use the “save draft” button at the top of the right column.

Commenting

Comments allows you to reply to, discuss or critique articles on the site.

It’s dead easy.

1. Register.
2. Log in.
3. Go to the article.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page.
5. Type (or paste in) your comment. Note: The comment will be attributed to the public name outlined in your profile so there is no need to sign off the way you might in an email.
6. Hit the “Post comment” button.
The first time you comment there will be a delay as one of the ASC website administrators check you and your comment over to make sure you are a member and you’re playing well with others. After that we’ll trust you to comment well and comment often.

While we aim to have as few rules as possible please remember the following simple guidelines for polite, public, online discourse:

  • Never say anything that you would not say to a person’s face in a public venue.
  • Be prepared to stand by what you’ve said. This is the internet and what you say could well be somewhere on the public record for the rest of recorded history.
  • Play the ball, not the man (or woman). For those of you not strong on sporting metaphors, this means address your comments to the question at hand and do not engage in personal attacks.

Anything we consider objectionable or actionable will be rejected or removed.

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