Publishing Articles – Step by Step

Section I – Preparing Text and Photos

1. Write Microsoft Word Document including title, subtitle, and text for article in paragraph format without any bolding or large fonts. Just use the Microsoft Word defaults with everything flush left. Note: this makes it easier to later copy and paste text into the article interface.

2. Size photos in pixels to 250 wide for images 1,3, and 4 and 430 wide for image 2. In all cases the height should be about 300 pixels. Remember to always crop images prior to sizing. If an image is taller than 300 pixels, it is not a problem, just make sure if you are using a template that places two images side by side that they are the same height (e.g. 250 wide by 324 high).

3. After prepping your image be sure to do a save as and rename your image using the title of the article and a one, two three or four denoting the number of the images. (Below, we will go into detail regarding images – see Section 3)

4. It is generally easier if you save the word document and associated images in their own folder; so it’s easier to find them when you are publishing.

Section 2 – Publishing Article

1. Log on to the AreaGuides Administration page and log in using your username and password (these are set up by an AreaGuides administrator).

2. Then click on Add Article

3. Next fill in the article information and be sure to click on the ‘active box’; so your article will be included on the web site. Note: If your article is a work in progress, don’t click the ‘active box’ until your article is completed.

4. Be sure the ‘key word box’ contains any words you would like to have associated with this article. You might want to include misspellings of words, such as names and places that searchers might misspell.

5. After all article information is complete, click on the Edit Article Information ‘button’ at the bottom. Note: On each page of this interface, you will find similar ‘buttons’ that you must ‘click’ on to execute any work performed.

6. Next ‘click’ on Article Contents. Now go to your Microsoft Word document and copy the article text and paste said text into Text Field #1. Note: If you are using more than one photo for your article, you will probably place some of your text into Text Field #1 and some into the other Text Fields. In this example, we are dealing primarily with simple article containing only one photo.

7. After the text is in place, scroll to the bottom of the Web Page and ‘click’ on Edit Web Page.

8. Next on the same article content page, scroll down to the Image # 1 section and ‘click’ on the New Image – upload now radial button, and then click on the Browse button to the right and find your prepared image on your computer, then select image and scroll to the bottom of the page and ‘click’ on Edit Web Page.

9. Now ‘click’ on Preview Article in the upper right hand corner to open a new window; so you can proof your article. After proofing, close this window by ‘clicking’ on the X in the upper right hand corner and make any necessary changes to your article content and be sure to ‘click’ on Edit Web Page, once again to finish.

10. Now that you are comfortable with your article, ‘click’ on Article Categories in the upper right hand corner and ‘click’ in the check boxes for any categories that apply to your article. Then ‘click’ on Submit Category Placement.

11. To place another article ‘click’ on Article Home and then repeat the process. Note: Below the Add Article link, you will also find an area where you can select any of your published articles and edit or delete them.

Section 3 – Cropping, Sizing and adding Drop Shadows (These tips apply to Microsoft Image Composer only)

1. Open image and drag the dotted crop lines with your mouse so the part of the image you want to keep is inside the dotted lines. Note: It is best to grab the lines outside of the image area so as to avoid accidentally changing the orientation of the photo.

2. Now save your work and close and reopen the image. You should now see only the part of the image that was inside the crop lines.

3. Now ‘click’ on Tools and then Arrange. In the Arrange dialog box enter the width that you desire. Then ‘click’ on Apply. Note: As long as the keep aspect ratio box is checked the height will automatically be kept in proportion.

4. Next ‘click’ on View (in the upper left) and then ‘click’ on Fit Composition Space To Selection. This brings in the crop lines to the newly sized image.

5. Now ‘click’ on Tools and then Effects, then scroll to the right and ‘click’ on Drop Shadow and then ‘click’ on Apply.

6.  Next ‘click’ on View (in the upper left) and then ‘click’ on Fit Composition Space To Selection. This brings in the crop lines out to include the Drop Shadow.

7. ‘Click’ on save and your image is ready to go.