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Caution - Your computer or network may be set to disconnect you from the internet if you stay too long on any given page. This could result in the loss of anything entered into the interface. It is, therefore, recommended that you compose your article off line on your local computer, using any word processor or text editor. Once complete, the article may be copied and pasted into the 'Content' area, in a separate internet session.
You may use all the fields displayed, and edit your work in the interface. Once your entries are complete, click the 'Save' button to submit your article for review and publication. If you decide not to publish, you may click 'Logoff' without clicking 'Save'. Clicking 'Save' yields a 'Submit' window which provides a final warning and the choice to either 'Submit' your article for publication, or 'Cancel' the process.
Created - This is the default creation date
Last Updated - Updating is not available to Guest Writers.
Date / Time Field - If you wish to date your article with a date previous to the default date shown, use the drop down choices to set the date. The Moderator will not accept dates set in the future, and will reset them to the default date.
Title - Enter a title for your article. A title is required. Articles are listed by title.
Category - Choose an island name(Category) from the drop down list. You may also choose the plain category 'Other' if your island is not listed, or the 'Island Time' category for general 'Island Time' articles.
Status - Choose 'Pending' (article not displayed on website), or 'Visible' (displayed on website). This is not available to Guest Writers.
Other Island (Category) Name - If you chose the plain category 'Other', please enter the island name here.
Other Island Location - If you chose the plain category 'Other', please enter the island location here.
Author - Enter the name you wish to appear as the author of your article.
Auto Format checkbox - click the associated Auto Format (?) help symbol for a description of this field and its' function.
Summary - Enter a brief summary of your article. This will be displayed on all pages that show article summaries.
Content - This is where you enter the article you wish to publish. You may type directly into the text entry area or copy from a suitable text or document editor and paste into the text entry area. Article size is limited to 200 Kbytes.
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The user interface includes a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) text entry area, which will function in Windows with the following browsers:
All other browsers will use a plain text entry area to enter and edit information, using html tags.
Please note the following browser specific differences:
Copying and pasting content from a word processor such as MS word may add formating that is particular to the word processor and possibly in conflict with the formatting of the WYSIWYG text editor.
A "Paste from Word" button is included in the toolbar. The function of this is to strip out most of the code that is added when you paste Microsoft Word content into the WYSIWYG text editor. To use this button, simply copy your content from Word, click the "Paste from Word" button in the WYSIWYG editor and paste your Word content into the popup window.
If there is still a problem, one simple solution is to copy the text into a basic text editor such as Notepad, and copy from there into the WYSIWYG text editor
The WYSIWYG text entry area permits an assortment of formatting choices, and generates the necessary html to provide the display of your article as intended.
The text area may be expanded to full screen by selecting the Enlarge Editor button 
. When editing is complete, select the Enlarge Editor button again to return to the standard editor.
To enter HTML directly into the WYSIWYG text box, select the HTML button "<>", enter the HTML and select the HTML button again to view the results.
Preview Without Publishing - Clicking this button will diplay your article as it will be displayed when published. If you use a popup blocker, it is necessary to allow popups for this function to work. Close the preview window in order to continue entering or editing your article. You can preview your work as often as you wish.
Remember to click the 'Save' button only when your work is complete.
Upload Images - Each article can have up to 25 images of type .jpg, .jpeg or .gif associated with it. Image file size is limited to 200 Kbytes.
While image dimensions can be as large as 900 pixels wide and 600 pixels high, it is recommended that thumbnails be used within the article, with a link to the larger image. In order to be used, the images must be uploaded to the server.
A good program for producing thumbnails, or resizing images in general, is called Easy Thumbnails, and can be downloaded at http://www.fookes.com/ezthumbs/?Easy%20Thumbnails=2800. Best of all, it's free!
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To upload images, click the 'Upload Images' button. You can now select files to upload from your local computer. Depending on the connection, if a number of images are to be uploaded, it might be desireable to upload a few at a time, clicking 'Save' (Uploaded Images) between uploads.
When you have completed uploading the desired images, click save. This will open the 'Manage Images' page. You will be able to see your images and enter captions for them. The 'Manage Images' page also permits erasing of images and editing captions, and may be accessed directly, by clicking on the 'Manage Images' button.
When you are finished uploading images and entering captions, click the 'Save' button to save your work and return to the 'Create Article' screen.
You may return to 'Upload Images' or 'Manage Images' at any time before the article is submitted for publication.
Publishing Images - Images are not automatically published in your article. To place uploaded images into your article, it is necessary to include special 'Placeholders' in your article. The list of uploaded imaged that appears on the User Interface after images have been uploaded also includes a sample 'Placeholder' for each image.
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Copy the 'Placeholder' and paste it in your article in the desired location. This will insert the image and its caption where the 'Placeholder' appears. The default alignment of 'Placeholders' is right aligned. Click the Placeholder (?) help symbol for additional 'Placeholders' which can be used instead of the default 'Placeholder' to position the image as desired.
To determine where to position an image 'Placeholder', an understanding of the image container form is helpful. Images and 'Captions' that are defined by 'Placeholders' are contained in 'floating tables'. This means that the chosen alignment ('left', 'center', 'right') determines the relative location of the text that follows the image 'Placeholder'.
Examples:
The default placeholder (***image1***) produces a right justified image, which expects text to be to its left. When using only large images, or images not separated by text, the center aligned placeholder (***image1:center***) should be used to prevent overlapping and other unpleasant effects.
Center alignment means that the text that follows the 'Placeholder' will be below the image.
The entry
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results in
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Left alignment means that the text that follows the 'Placeholder' will be to the right of the image.
The entry
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results in
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Right alignment means that the text that follows the 'Placeholder' will be to the left of the image.
The entry
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results in
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Since the default 'Placeholder' alignment is left, the 'Placeholder' ***image3*** is the same as the 'Placeholder' ***image3:right*** .
Of course, other positions of the 'Placeholder' are possible. Feel free to experiment.
Thumbnails - It is often desireable to use a thumbnail image in the body of an article, with a link to a larger version of the same image.
To do this, upload 2 separate images, one small (for example: imagesmall.jpg) and one large (for example: imagelarge.jpg). The small image is the image that will be placed in the article as described above.
Use the 'Caption' entry field for the small image to enter the link to the large image. Copy the following line:
<center>caption<br>Click <a href="http://www.itsislandtime.com/artman/uploads/largefilename.ext" target="blank">here</a> to enlarge.</center>
and paste it into the small image 'Caption' entry field.
Position the cursor in the 'Caption' entry field, and use the left or right arrow key to locate the text to be changed, which will no longer be red. Replace the formerly red text 'caption' with the actual caption you wish to use, and the formerly red text "largefilename.ext" with the actual filename of your large file. Click 'Save' and click the 'Preview without publishing' button to confirm that the image is located as desired. Close the preview window and continue with your article.
Note: The link to the large image will only function properly after the article is accepted by the moderator. It will not function properly via 'Preview without publishing'.
(hint - Copy as a single line of text to notepad or other plain text editor (not word processor), make desired changes and copy result to the 'Caption' entry field. A word wrapped line will not work.)
Note: No caption will be shown for the large image.
If a caption is not desired for the small image, copy the following line:
<center>Click <a href="http://www.itsislandtime.com/artman/uploads/largefilename.ext" target="blank">here</a> to enlarge.</center>
and paste it into the small image 'Caption' entry field, and proceed as above.
return to Upload Images
Syndicated Content - This feature permits you to use a program to create a webfeed and add it to your site. This webfeed will pull headlines, dates, and summaries of articles from the itsislandtime.com site and display them on your site. Click here for more information.
Assistance If you would like any assistance with your article, for example, with images, links or Syndicated Content, please feel free to contact the webmaster at beachcomber@itsislandtime.com.
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