Help

  • LOGIN. Usernames and passwords are the same. Login link is (as in Education and PREM sections) in the top right corner of each section. Login from the MAIN PAGE is FOR ADMIN only. If you are using Internet Explorer and do not see login link - please let me know. If you cannot login to any of the sections - please let me know.
  • Once you are logged in, you can add new entry either using Add New Entry link on the top of the page or go to Admin interface and Write new posts of Manage existing.
  • Additional links "Edit this page"   gives you quicker/direct access to the entry/post in admin interface. Inside the interface there is a link View, that shows you what post looks like in viewing mode. There is a link New Entry next to login in each section, which allows you to create new post quickly.
  • There is link to Wordpress instructions on how to create new entries
  • Admin interface has several drop down menus in Manage section ( Browse Month… / Browse Category…) which allow you to select your categories to find your posts quickly.
  • IMAGES. New image upload utility allows you to add Description (used as caption) and Title (used as content for "alt" property) and automatically creates standard thumbnail. You can upload image and then you need to send it to click button Send to Editor to place image inside the post. I am currently working on making image features more efficient. Let me know if you have questions on how to work with images.
  • Optional Excerpt field is under Upload section- please use it for text that is being displayed on index pages.
  • Information in different sections is heavily cross-linked, so try to fill as much info in each section as you can, where applicable (e.g. related IRGs in Highlights). Some information is used in another sections or in sorting/browsing back end, such as URL on mrsec's sites and IRG nubmers listed in dropdown menu
  • Related Publications - quotations will cause additional \" in Related publications field, so for now we are making name of the publication bold or Italic. Another options is to use “ and “ instead of regular quotes. I hope to fix this problem within next week - this is known bug.
  • PRE-FORMATTED highlights for NSF ANNUAL REPORT - there is a link in a sidebar on Centers' pages in Highlights section. I will be sending more info about this new feature later.
Email me if you have problems or issues Irina Zaks, webmaster

Additional instructions / recommendations (by Kristin Black)

Posting to mrsec.org

These step-by-step directions tell you how to post information to the mrsec.org website.  The underlying platform for mrsec.org is called WordPress and is designed as a platform to support blogs, and some of the features of the website make more sense in that light. 1.  Navigate to the SPECIFIC page on mrsec.org where you want to post your information.  Each section of the site requires  separate login and you may not have privileges to login to every part of the website. 2.  Login with your own or your mrsec's unique login and password.  Note that different sections may have different passwords. 3.  Logging in opens up the "Dashboard" page where you can chose to add or edit your "posts."  Once you are logged in you can also add new post using  "Add new entry" link on top.  Posts are essentially blog entries.  You can do this from the handy navigation links that Irina has added to most Dashboard pages.  Alternatively, you can choose the "Write" tab at the top of the page to add new material or the "Manage" tab to edit or delete material. 4.  Every post must
  1. have a title (for example a teacher module might be "Atomic Force Microscope Model")
  2. have a text description/entry
  3. be saved (best by "save and continue editing")
5.  Many posts contain information such as links or photos, or need to be associated with other information (e.g. the originating mrsec or keywords).  Some of this information is entered as check-off boxes, some as text and some you need to upload from your own computer.
  1. To add a link within your descriptive text, highlight the text that you want to become the link, then click on the image of 3 "chain links" in the tool bar immediately above the text box.  A new "inset/edit link" box will open where you can add the url link to the text.
  2. To upload images or other files, scroll to the bottom of the page where you have been entering your information.  There is a blue bar across the bottom of the page with the tabs ‘upload' and "browse all" embedded in it and the fields "file," "title," and "description" below the blue bar.
I.       The Browse button next to the "File" field allows you to find the file on your computer's hard drive. II.       The "Upload" button under the description field allows you to upload it to mrsec.org. III.       Add the file your post by clicking on "Browse All," finding your file name among all the posted files, clicking on your file name and then on the button "Send to editor." IV.       A link to it will appear in your text description at the top of the page.  You can copy and move that text-link within your text box.
  1. Check to be sure that you have completed all the associated information boxes.  It is especially easy to forget about the boxes on the far right side of the window.
6. Check what your post will look like by clicking on the "View Site" button at the very top of the page.  Use your browser's back button or a link  "Edit this entry" at the bottom of the page to continue to edit the post if you are not satisfied.
  1. You can do some limited text formatting using the formatting bar above the content box (bold, italics, bulleted or numbered lists, left or right or center paragraph justification, spell checking)
  2. If your content comes from an MS Word document, you should paste it into the content textbox using the "paste from Word" icon (a clipboard with a blue W).  Much of the information included in MS Word text is confusing to WordPress, and will cause strange abberations when pasted directly into WordPress.  (fyi: WordPress uses rtf formatting)
7.  Be sure to "Publish" your post when you are done or no one will ever see it but you.