Knowledgebase

Target audience: Site administrators who are new to the news feature

The News feature in the OrthodoxWS Site Manager allows you to publish and manage articles, announcements, and updates on your website. Whether you're sharing parish announcements, blog posts, or event updates, the news system provides the tools to organize and display your content effectively.

What Can the News Feature Do?

The news system offers several key capabilities:

• Organize content into categories (Announcements, Events, Parish Life, etc.)
• Schedule publication with automatic archiving
• Display news in multiple formats - from simple lists to image carousels
• Enable search and filtering so visitors can find relevant content
• Generate RSS feeds for content syndication
• Send push notifications when new content is published
• Attribute content to authors and original sources

Understanding Key Concepts

Categories

Categories are the main organizational structure for your news. Think of them as folders or sections - you might have categories like "Parish Announcements," "Saints' Lives," "Weekly Bulletin," or "Youth Ministry Updates." Each news item belongs to one category.

News Items

A news item is an individual article or announcement. Each item has:

• A title and brief description that appears in news listings
• A featured image
• A full article page with detailed content
• Dates that control when it appears as "current" vs "archived"
• Tags, authors, and other metadata

News Sections

News sections are components you add to your website pages to display news content. You can add multiple news sections to different pages, each configured to show different categories or use different display layouts.

Basic Workflow

Here's the typical process for publishing news:

1. Create categories to organize your content (one-time setup)
2. Create a news item with title, description, and featured image
3. Set publication dates to control when it appears
4. Add detailed content to the full article page
5. Add a news section to a page on your site to display the content

When to Use News vs. Other Content

Use the News feature when:

• Content has a publication date and will eventually become outdated
• You want to display multiple articles in a list or feed
• Content should appear in RSS feeds
• You need to organize content by category with filtering

Use regular pages when:

• Content is permanent (About Us, Beliefs, Contact)
• The page stands alone and doesn't belong in a series
• Content rarely changes

Use the Events Calendar when:

• Content has a specific date and time
• It should appear on a calendar view
• You need RSVP or registration features

Quick Start Example

Let's say you want to add weekly homilies to your website:

1. Create a category: Go to Media > News > Manage categories. Create a category called "Sunday Homilies"
2. Create your first homily: Click Media > News > Create news item. Add the title "First Sunday of Great Lent," write a brief description, and upload an image of your priest or church
3. Set dates: Set the "Current as of" date to last Sunday. Set "Archive as of" to next Sunday (so it shows as current for one week)
4. Add the full text: Click the page icon to edit the full article. Add the complete homily text, scripture references, and any embedded video
5. Display on your site: Go to your homepage (or create a "Homilies" page). Add a News section, select "Sunday Homilies" category, choose a simple list layout

Your homilies now appear on your website with automatic archiving each week!

Getting Help

As you work with news, refer to these additional articles:

• Managing News Content - Detailed guide to all the fields and options
• Displaying News on Your Site - Choosing and configuring layouts
• News Display Layout Options - Specifics of layout options