News-Blogs Login

Contents

  1. Prerequisites
  2. Overview
  3. News/Blogs Administration Centre Interface
  4. Dependent Configurations
  5. Recommendations

This document describes the details about news and blogs feature that exists within the TOTECS platform. News and Blogs is a flexible feature that allows a project's users to be presented tailored information, post comments, build forums, have discussions, and create rich, engaging discussions.

Prerequisites

Please ensure that you have read and understand the following topic links before reading on.

Overview

For each project within the TOTECS platform the News/Blogs feature allows news and information to to be shared between targeted users within each project. This helps users to engage and build communities of users around a project, which can have positive marketing effects, as well as drive additional traffic.

News/Blog Items

For each TOTECS project there is the ability for administrator and/or content managed website users to create "news/blog items". Each news/blog item contains a message that can be shown to other users. This messsage could be called a blog post, news article, news item, thread, or several other labels. Whatever the label the concept is all the same, where one user can share a piece of information that is shown to a target set of other users. News/blog items can be shown to users within the Trade interface, and in content managed websites. The message in each news/blog item can made up of text, images, as well as contain web page links, file attachment links, and styled formatting based on HTML code.

Products can also be assigned to news/blog items. This allows users viewing the message content of the news/blog items to also see links to products, which can aid in selling products based on an event such as a sale, or promotion.

Below are the following fields that can be set for each news/blog item:

News/Blog Item Field Description
News/Blog Item ID Unique ID of the news/blog item
Heading Heading text to describe the detail of the news/blog item. Supports rich-text styling through the use of HTML code.
Body Message content of the news/blog item. Supports rich-text styling through the use of HTML code.
Spare Field to add additional content to the news/blog item. Supports rich-text styling through the use of HTML code.
Posted Date Date that the news/blog item was created and posted.
Active Either Yes, or No. Sets if the news/blog item is allowed to display or not.
Sticky Either Yes, or No. Sets if the news/blog item will display first in a list of news/blog items even if other news/blog items have been posted at a later date.
Comments Acquire Approval Either Yes, or No. Sets if content managed web page users are allowed to post comments to the news/blog item without it being approved first by an administrator user. Set this option to Yes to only allow comments to display after a administrator has accepted the comment. This option allows for moderators to filter comments.
SEO Search ID ID of the news/blog item that will be embedded within web page URLs, which can be used by search engines to help rank the content managed web page that the news/blog item is displayed on.
Meta Data
Webpage Title Text that is placed into the title of a content managed web page when a news/blog item has its ID is placed in the URL. The news/blog title will display in the top bar or tab of the browser window. The title can also be read by search engines like Google, and displayed in the search listings. It may also be used by search engines to relate keywords to the web page, and help the web page's ranking.
Webpage Meta Description Text that is placed into the description of a content managed web page when a news/blog item has its ID placed in the URL. This information is hidden to the user but can be picked up by search engines like Google to display with the link to the web page when listed in their searches. The description allows users from search engines to understand what the web page may contain.
Webpage Meta Keywords Text that is placed into the keywords of a content managed web page when a news/blog item has its ID placed in the URL. This information is hidden to the user but can be picked up by search engines like Google, and may be factored in when users are searching web pages that match the set keywords. In this field set a number of words that target details of the news/blog item that a user may search with.

 

News/Blog Groups

Each News/blog item can be assigned to one "news/blog group". This allows many news/blog items to be grouped together, and the group can be given a label that users can identify with. This allows concepts such as blogs, forums, discussions, feeds, among other things to be created on the platform. Customer accounts can be assigned to news/blog groups, and then restrictions can be put in place so that only users assigned to the customer accounts can then view the news/blog items in the group. This can help to create exclusive content restricted to certain users. News/Blog groups can also be tailored to only show within the Trade interface, or on content managed websites, which allows news/blog items to be targeted to the different type of users in the TOTECS project.

News/Blog Group Field Description
News/Blog Group ID Unique ID of the news/blog group
News/Blog Group Label Label of the news/blog group. Its recommended to set text that describes the types of news/blog items that will appear within the group.
Description Description of the news/blog group. Place any text that may describe more details about the news/blog group.
News/Blog Group Category Category that the news/blog group is assigned to.
News/Blog Group Active Either Yes or No. Sets if the news/blog group is allowed to display or not.
User Can Create News/Blog Items Either Yes, or No. Sets if news/blog items can be created by content managed website users and assigned to the news/blog group.
Users View News/Blog Items Either Yes, or Users With Assigned Accounts. Sets if news/blog items can be viewed by all users, or only users that are assigned to customer accounts that are also assigned to the news/blog group.
Displayed In Set one of the following options:
  • Trade Interface And Content Managed Websites: Allows the news/blog group and its news/blog items to display in both the Trade interface and on content managed websites.
  • Trade Interface: Allows the news/blog group and its news/blog items to display only within the trade interface.
  • Content Managed Website: Allows the news/blog group and its news/blog items to display only within content managed websites.

 

 

News/Blog Item Comments

For each news/blog item there is the ability for users to place comments. This allows users to engage and post comments, providing additional content to a topic, blog, or news article, and helping to instill a community atmosphere. This also has the benefit of additional content being added to a project, which can greatly help improve search engine ranking when the comments are displayed on content managed web pages.

Comments can be moderated by administrator users when the news/blog item has been set to not automatically show comments until they are approved. This can help to remove insensitive, incomplete, and abusive comments, which ensures that the community of users seeing the comments is carefully monitored.

Comments can also be marked as an answer by the user who originally created the news/blog item. This can be valuable in forum like websites so that other users can clearly see when questions have been answered.

News/Blog Item Comment Field Description
News/Blog Item Comment ID Unique ID of the news/blog item comment
Comment Message that the user making the comment posted.
Is Approved Can be one of the values:
  • Approved: Allows the comment to display to users
  • Declined: Denies the comment from display to any users
  • Awaiting Approval: Does not allow the comment to display to any users, requires an administrator to approve the comment.
Is Answer Either "Is An Answer" or "Is Not An Answer". Denotes if the comment is marked as the answer to the question posted in the news/blog item. Only one comment assigned to a news/blog item can be marked as the answer.

 

News/Blog Categories

News/blog categories allow the news/blog groups to be grouped together and given a label. This is handy in forum like data structures to show 4 tiers, such as forums (news/blog categories), topics (news/blog groups), threads (news/blog items), posts (news/blog item comments).

News/Blog Category Field Description
Label Label of the news/blog category.
Description Text to describe the news/blog category.
Ordering Numeric value used to order a list of news/blog categories.

News/Blogs Administration Centre Interface

Within the Administration Centre of a TOTECS project, under the Marketing menu there is a menu item labelled News/Blogs that takes administrator users to the News/Blogs interface. Within the interface administrator users can view all of the news/blog groups that exist within the TOTECS project, as well as news/blog items, and comments. Additionally administrator users can create new news/blog groups, news/blog items, as well as moderate comments, assign products to news/blog items, and assign customer accounts to news/blog groups.

Create A News/Blog Group

For administrator users to create a new news/blog group follow these steps:

  1. Open a web browser and go to the Administration Centre for the relevent TOTECS project.
  2. Click on the Marketing menu button.
  3. Click on the News/Blogs menu item link.
  4. In the News/Blog Group Name text box type in the name of news/blog group that wish to call the group.
  5. Click on the Create News/Blog Group button.
  6. From within the Set News/Blog Group Details dialog, in the Description field type in any text to describe the purpose of the group.
  7. In the News Group Category drop down choose a news group category to assign the news/blog group to, or choose the "Category Not Assigned" option to not assign any category. It is useful to assign news/blog groups to categories for forum like functionality.
  8. In the News/Blog Group Active drop down choose either Yes to allow the news/blog group to be seen by users, or No to not allow the news/blog group to be seen.
  9. In the Users Can Create News/Blog Items drop down choose either Yes to allow users to create news/blog items from within a content managed website and assign the items to the news/blog group, or choose No to not allow users create news/blog items for the group.
  10. In the Users View News/Blog Items drop down choose either "All Users" to allow any users to view the news/blog items assigned to the group, or choose "Users With Assigned Accounts" to only allows users to view the items in the group based on the customer accounts assigned to the group.
  11. In the Displayed In drop down choose from one of the options:
    • Trade Interface and Content Managed Websites: Allows the news/blog group and its news/blog items to be displayed within the Home page of the trade interface, as well as any news/blog webpage areas that appear on any of the project's content managed websites.
    • Trade interface: Allows the news/blog group and its news/blog items to only be displayed within the Home page of the trade interface.
    • Content Managed Website: Allows the news/blog group and its news/blog items to only be displayed in news/blog web page areas that appear on any of the project's content managed websites.
  12. Click on the Save button.

The news/blog group will then be added to the table that displays within the News/Blogs administration centre interface.

Modify A News/Blog Group

For administrator users to modify an existing news/blog group follow these steps:

  1. Open a web browser and go to the Administration Centre for the relevent TOTECS project.
  2. Click on the Marketing menu button.
  3. Click on the News/Blogs menu item link.
  4. In the News/Blog Groups table click on the Set Details button for the relevant news/blog group that is to be modified.
  5. From within the Set News/Blog Group Details dialog, in the News/Blog Group Label modify the text of the label.
  6. In the Description field type in any text to describe the purpose of the group.
  7. In the News Group Category drop down choose a news group category to assign the news/blog group to, or choose the "Category Not Assigned" option to not assign any category. It is useful to assign news/blog groups to categories for forum like functionality.
  8. In the News/Blog Group Active drop down choose either Yes to allow the news/blog group to be seen by users, or No to not allow the news/blog group to be seen.
  9. In the Users Can Create News/Blog Items drop down choose either Yes to allow users to create news/blog items from within a content managed website and assign the items to the news/blog group, or choose No to not allow users create news/blog items for the group.
  10. In the Users View News/Blog Items drop down choose either "All Users" to allow any users to view the news/blog items assigned to the group, or choose "Users With Assigned Accounts" to only allows users to view the items in the group based on the customer accounts assigned to the group.
  11. In the Displayed In drop down choose from one of the options:
    • Trade Interface and Content Managed Websites: Allows the news/blog group and its news/blog items to be displayed within the Home page of the trade interface, as well as any news/blog webpage areas that appear on any of the project's content managed websites.
    • Trade interface: Allows the news/blog group and its news/blog items to only be displayed within the Home page of the trade interface.
    • Content Managed Website: Allows the news/blog group and its news/blog items to only be displayed in news/blog web page areas that appear on any of the project's content managed websites.
  12. Click on the Save button.

The news/blog group will then be updated and its details displayed in the table on the News/Blogs administration centre interface with be updated, as well as on any Trade interface pages, and content managed webpages where the news/blog group is shown to users.

Delete A News/Blog Group

For administrator users to delete an existing news/blog group follow these steps:

  1. Open a web browser and go to the Administration Centre for the relevent TOTECS project.
  2. Click on the Marketing menu button.
  3. Click on the News/Blogs menu item link.
  4. In the News/Blog Groups table click on the X button for the relevant news/blog group that is to be deleted.
  5. In the confirmation dialog click on the OK button to delete the news/blog group.

The news/blog group and any associated news/blog items, as well as comments will then be permanently deleted. Be careful when performing these steps! Once the news/blog group is deleted then its record will also be removed from the table on the News/Blogs administration centre interface, as well as on any Trade interface pages, and content managed webpages where the news/blog group was previously shown to users.

Assign A Customer Account To A News/Blog Group

For administrator users to assign a customer account to a news/blog group follow these steps:

  1. Open a web browser and go to the Administration Centre for the relevent TOTECS project.
  2. Click on the Marketing menu button.
  3. Click on the News/Blogs menu item link.
  4. In the News/Blog Groups table click on the Assign Customer Accounts button for the relevant news/blog group.
  5. Within the News/Blog Group Accounts dialog, in the User Account ID text box type in the ID of the account that you wish to add.
  6. Click on the Account ID from the autocomplete drop down underneath the text box. If the Account ID does not display then check that the account exists within the project.

The customer account will then be added to the accounts table that displays within the News/Blog Group Accounts, unless the account already was displayed in the table.

Create A News/Blog Item

For administrator users to create a new news/blog item follow these steps:

  1. Open a web browser and go to the Administration Centre for the relevent TOTECS project.
  2. Click on the Marketing menu button.
  3. Click on the News/Blogs menu item link.
  4. In the News/Blog Groups table click on the News/Blog Items button for the relevant news/blog group that the item is to be assigned to.
  5. In the News/Blog Items dialog click on the Create News/Blog Item button.
  6. In the News/Blog Item Details dialog in the Active drop down choose the option "Yes" if news/blog item can be seen by users within the Trade interface or content managed websites, or No if it cannot be seen by users.
  7. In the Sticky drop down choose the option "Yes" if the the news/blog item is to be ordered at the top of the list of news/blog items for a news/blog group, regardless of the the date that the item was posted. Choose the option "No" to allow the item to be ordered based on the date that the item was posted.
  8. In the Comments Require Approval drop down choose the option "Yes" to not allow comments that users post against the news/blog item to be automatically seen by other users until an administrator has approved the comments. Choose the option "No" to allow users to see comments associated with the news/blog item as soon as the comments are posted.
  9. In the Posted Date link click on the date to choose the date when the news/blog item was posted.
  10. In the News/Blog Group drop down choose the news/blog group to assign the item to.
  11. In the SEO Search ID text box type in the text that will be displayed in the URL of web page when the news/blog item is displayed on a content managed web page. Separate words using the hyphen character (-). Type in words that people would typically type into search engines like Google to find the web page containing the news/blog item. Try to set a unique combination of words in the SEO search ID.
  12. In the Webpage Title text box type in text that will be displayed in a web browser's window bar when a content managed web page is displaying the news/blog item. The title typically also displays in search engine listings. Set words that people would typically type into search engines like google, and would be relevant.
  13. In the Webpage Meta Description text area type in text that will be embedded within the meta data of a content managed web page when displaying the news/blog item. This description may appear on search engine listings beneath the title of the web page.
  14. In the Webpage Meta Keywords text area type in words that will be embedded within the meta data of a content managed web page when displaying the news/blog item. Place terms that people would type when using a search engine. This keyword data may be used by search engines to help rank the web page.
  15. In the Heading rich text editor type in text to label the content of the news/blog item.
  16. In the Body rich text editor type in text that contains the detail of the news/blog item. Use the tool bar to format any selected text in the editor by clicking on the up button above the Heading editor to display the toolbar  Click on the attachments, or images button to display the form that allows images or attachment links to be embedded in the Body rich text editor.
  17. In the Spare Field rich text editor type in any additional text that may be needed for the item
  18. Click on either the Save and Continue button, or Save and Close button to save the details of the news/blog item. The Save and Continue button will leave the News/Blog Item Details dialog open after the item has been saved, where as the Save and Close button will hide the dialog once the item has been saved.

Once the news/blog item has been saved a record will be added for it within the news/blog items dialog. Additionally the item may immediately display to users within the Trade interface, or on content managed websites depending on the settings of the news/blog item, and its assigned news/blog group.

Modify A News/Blog Item

For administrator users to modify an existing news/blog item follow these steps:

  1. Open a web browser and go to the Administration Centre for the relevent TOTECS project.
  2. Click on the Marketing menu button.
  3. Click on the News/Blogs menu item link.
  4. In the News/Blog Groups table click on the News/Blog Items button for the relevant news/blog group that the item is to be assigned to.
  5. In the News/Blog Items dialog click on the Set Details button for the relevant news/blog item.
  6. In the News/Blog Item Details dialog in the Active drop down choose the option "Yes" if news/blog item can be seen by users within the Trade interface or content managed websites, or No if it cannot be seen by users.
  7. In the Sticky drop down choose the option "Yes" if the the news/blog item is to be ordered at the top of the list of news/blog items for a news/blog group, regardless of the the date that the item was posted. Choose the option "No" to allow the item to be ordered based on the date that the item was posted.
  8. In the Comments Require Approval drop down choose the option "Yes" to not allow comments that users post against the news/blog item to be automatically seen by other users until an administrator has approved the comments. Choose the option "No" to allow users to see comments associated with the news/blog item as soon as the comments are posted.
  9. In the Posted Date link click on the date to choose the date when the news/blog item was posted.
  10. In the News/Blog Group drop down choose the news/blog group to assign the item to.
  11. In the SEO Search ID text box type in the text that will be displayed in the URL of web page when the news/blog item is displayed on a content managed web page. Separate words using the hyphen character (-). Type in words that people would typically type into search engines like Google to find the web page containing the news/blog item. Try to set a unique combination of words in the SEO search ID.
  12. In the Webpage Title text box type in text that will be displayed in a web browser's window bar when a content managed web page is displaying the news/blog item. The title typically also displays in search engine listings. Set words that people would typically type into search engines like google, and would be relevant.
  13. In the Webpage Meta Description text area type in text that will be embedded within the meta data of a content managed web page when displaying the news/blog item. This description may appear on search engine listings beneath the title of the web page.
  14. In the Webpage Meta Keywords text area type in words that will be embedded within the meta data of a content managed web page when displaying the news/blog item. Place terms that people would type when using a search engine. This keyword data may be used by search engines to help rank the web page.
  15. In the Heading rich text editor type in text to label the content of the news/blog item.
  16. In the Body rich text editor type in text that contains the detail of the news/blog item. Use the tool bar to format any selected text in the editor by clicking on the up button above the Heading editor to display the toolbar  Click on the attachments, or images button to display the form that allows images or attachment links to be embedded in the Body rich text editor.
  17. In the Spare Field rich text editor type in any additional text that may be needed for the item
  18. Click on either the Save and Continue button, or Save and Close button to save the details of the news/blog item. The Save and Continue button will leave the News/Blog Item Details dialog open after the item has been saved, where as the Save and Close button will hide the dialog once the item has been saved.

Once the news/blog item has been saved its record will be updated within the table displayed in the news/blog items dialog. Additionally the item's details will be updated to users viewing the item within the Trade interface, or on content managed websites when the next time a user views the item.

Delete A News/Blog Item

For administrator users to modify an existing news/blog item follow these steps:

  1. Open a web browser and go to the Administration Centre for the relevent TOTECS project.
  2. Click on the Marketing menu button.
  3. Click on the News/Blogs menu item link.
  4. In the News/Blog Groups table click on the News/Blog Items button for the relevant news/blog group that the item is to be assigned to.
  5. In the News/Blog Items dialog click on the X button for the relevant news/blog item.
  6. In the confirmation dialog click on the OK button to have the news/blog item deleted and its associated comments.

When following these steps be completely sure that you wish to delete the news/blog item, and its associated comments, since deleting the item permanently deletes its data forever.

Assign A Product To A News/Blog Item

For administrator users to assign a product to a news/blog item follow these steps:

  1. Open a web browser and go to the Administration Centre for the relevent TOTECS project.
  2. Click on the Marketing menu button.
  3. Click on the News/Blogs menu item link.
  4. In the News/Blog Groups table click on the News/Blog Items button for the relevant news/blog group containing the news/blog item.
  5. In the News/Blog Items dialog click on the Products button for the relevant news/blog item.
  6. In the News/Blog Item Products dialog in the Product Item ID text box type in the name of the product's item ID. A auto-complete drop down will display showing the products that match the Item ID letters typed so far. If the auto-complete does not show then the product could not be found in the project.
  7. In the auto-complete drop down select the relevant product.

The product will be added to the products table, unless the product has already been added to the table. The product may appear to display to users when the they are viewing the products assigned to the news/blog item when they next refresh a content managed web page showing the item.

View/Approve/Deny Comments For A News/Blog Item

For administrator users to view and approve comments  associated with a news/blog item follow these steps:

  1. Open a web browser and go to the Administration Centre for the relevent TOTECS project.
  2. Click on the Marketing menu button.
  3. Click on the News/Blogs menu item link.
  4. In the News/Blog Groups table click on the News/Blog Items button for the relevant news/blog group containing the news/blog item.
  5. In the News/Blog Items dialog click on the number link in the Comments row for the relevant news/blog item.
  6. In the News/Blog Item Comments dialog it will show all the comments posted against the item.
  7. For an admin to approve or decline a comment click on the drop down in the comment column and choose either the options "Approved" or "Declined".

An alternative way to view the latest comments made against any news/blog items is to follow these steps:

  1. Open a web browser and go to the Administration Centre for the relevent TOTECS project.
  2. Click on the Marketing menu button.
  3. Click on the News/Blogs menu item link.
  4. Click on the View All News/Blog Item Comments button.
  5. For an admin to approve or decline a comment click on the drop down in the comment column and choose either the options "Approved" or "Declined".

Note that comments cannot be deleted, they can only be hidden or shown. When a comment is approved then it may be shown to users who are viewing a content managed web page showing a news/blog items comments when the user next refreshes the web page.

Create A News/Blog Group Category

For administrator users to create a news/blog group category follow these steps:

  1. Open a web browser and go to the Administration Centre for the relevent TOTECS project.
  2. Click on the Marketing menu button.
  3. Click on the News Group Categories menu item link.
  4. In the News Group Category Label text box type in text that you wish to name the category as.
  5. Click on the Create News Group Category button.

A record will be added to the news/blog category table. Additionally the news/blog group category may appear on content managed webpages that are displaying a News/Blogs Forum area.

Modify A News/Blog Group Category

For administrator users to modify a news/blog group category follow these steps:

  1. Open a web browser and go to the Administration Centre for the relevent TOTECS project.
  2. Click on the Marketing menu button.
  3. Click on the News Group Categories menu item link.
  4. In the news/blog group categories table click on the name of a category to update.
  5. Type in text to change the name of category.
  6. Click on the Save button.
  7. Click on the Description table cell.
  8. Type in text to change the description of the category.
  9. Click on the Save button.
  10. Click on the Ordering table cell.
  11. Type in a text value to change the ordering value of the category.
  12. Click on the Save button.

A record will be added to the news/blog category table. Additionally the news/blog group category may appear on content managed webpages that are displaying a News/Blogs Forum area.

Delete A News/Blog Group Category

For administrator users to delete a news/blog group category follow these steps:

  1. Open a web browser and go to the Administration Centre for the relevent TOTECS project.
  2. Click on the Marketing menu button.
  3. Click on the News Group Categories menu item link.
  4. In the news/blog group categories table click on the X button of a category to delete.

The category will be removed from the table, and unassigned from any news/blog groups that is was assigned to. No news/blog groups will be deleted in this process.

Dependent Configurations

  • For administrator users to be able to view the News/Blogs and News Group Categories Administration Centre interfaces they must be assigned to a Admin Permission Role that has the "News" permission set to Allow.
  • For administrator users modifying a News/Blog item within the News/Blogs Administration Centre interface, in the News/Blog Item Details dialog a number of permissions associated with user's website permission role will dictate the following:
    • The Image Libraries icon will only display if the user has the "View Library Images" permission is set to Allow,
    • The user will only be able to upload images to a website image library if the "Add Library Images" permission is set to allow.
    • The Attachment Libraries icon will only display if the user has the "View Library Attachments" permission is set to Allow, 
    • The user will only be able to upload file attachments to a website image library if the "Add Library Attachments" permission is set to allow.
  • Users can only post comments to news/blog items from a content managed web page that contains a News Comment Form area.
  • Content managed website users can only modify news/blog item data for existing items that they have created themselves. Any text that they place into either the Heading, Body, or Spare1 text of a news/blog item will be HTML escaped to ensure that they cannot inject malicious code into a web page for other users to download.
  • Users within the Trade interface will only be able to views news/blog items if the Facility Permission role they are assigned to has the "View News" permission set to Allow.
  • Products assigned to a news/blog item will only be displayed to users when the user has permission to view the products baed on their assigned inventory permission role.

Recommendations

  • The News/Blogs feature can be used to set up forums in content managed websites by treating the News/Blog Group Categories as "forums", the News/Blog Groups each as a single "forum", News/Blog Items and "topics", and News/Blog Item Comments as "posts".
  • When users comment on a news/blog item, Emails can be sent out the original creator of the news/blog item, as well as other people who comment on the item, based on the "Receive News/Blog Notifications" settings that can be configured for each user.
  • Assign customer accounts to news/blog groups if you wish to control which users can see news/blog items in a news/blog group. Ensure that the news/blog group has the "Users View News/Blog Items" setting set to "Users With Assigned Accounts" to restricts users from seeing the item based on their assigned account.