Tradesimple: Managing Publications and Stories – Fourth & HotSchedules Customer Success Portal

Overview

This functionality can be used to convey information directly to users when they log in to the system, without the use of phone calls, emails, etc.

Creating Publications

Access to publication/news story management is via the News category on the left side menu

Fig.1 - News Category

Go to the Publication Search screen by selecting Publishing

Fig.2 - Publication Search

To see all available publications, select Search for Publications with all fields blank

Fig.3 - Publication Search Results

To create a new publication, select Click here to create a new Publication

The publication creation screen will display.

Fig.4 - Create a New Publication

Each parameter/segment relates to:

Short description – The title that appears on the right hand publications menu on the homepage
Visible to the Public – Dictates whether or not a publication is available to all visitors to the tradesimple portal. Will display on the homepage before logging in
Priority – Dictates the order in which the publication will appear within the publication menu list. The highest priority publication will appear on the homepage and the others will be listed on the right hand side (of the homepage)
Publication Colour – Sets the background colour of the publication header within the menu list
Image File – Allows the upload of an image file
Long description – Provides an extended description of the publication

On saving, a preview of how the publication will appear in the right hand pane within the homepage will become available:

Fig.5 - Preview Section

Once saved, the publication will appear in the list of publications within the search results.

There are three actions available here:

Edit – Allows editing of the details held against the publication
Stories – Takes user through to the stories held against the publication for creation and edit
Delete – Deletes the publication and any stories associated with it

Creating Stories

Select Stories against a publication the stories search page is returned:

Fig.6 - The Stories button against a listed publication

Select Click here to create a new Story to go to the story creation screen:

Fig.7 - The Click here to create a new Story button on the Story Search page

Fig.8 - Creating a New Story

Each parameter/segment on the Create a New Story page is listed below.

Short Title – The short title of the story that appears in the publication/story menu list
Long Title – The title of the story that appears as the header
Effective From – The date on which the story will become visible
Effective To – The date on which the story will no longer be visible
Priority - Dictates the order in which the story will appear within the publication menu list. The highest priority story within the highest priority publication will appear on the homepage
Source URL – Allows the use of links as stories in order to link to other websites/documents
Image File 1 / 2 – Allows the use of images to appear within the story header, 1 = right hand side, 2 = left hand side.
Synopsis – Provides a brief description of the story
Body Text – The main story content
Review Comments – Internal comments relating to the story. These are not published

On Save, a preview of the story will appear:

Fig.9 - Story Preview

Two further buttons will also appear:

Fig.10 - Save Buttons

It is then possible to:

Continue to edit the story and Save Changes Only to update the preview
Save Changes and Mark Story as Reviewed - this will return to the publication search screen

Fig.11 - Story Search

The story will then have a status of ‘Ready for Publication’.

To publish, select the Publish action

The story will then have a status of 'Published'. It will now appear on the front page, with the publication menu on the right hand side:

Fig.12 - Example 'Sign-in' Story showing under Publication Menu on right hand side

To edit the story, it must be withdrawn from publication.

Go to News > Publishing > Search for Publication > Stories (against relevant publication) > Withdraw (against the relevant story)

Fig.13 - Withdrawing from circulation

To recover the story, use the Review button

Fig.14 - Review Story

The publication process detailed above (Review, Save and Mark as Reviewed, Publish) should then be followed to reinstate the story

Private Publications

To create a private publication, leave Visible to Public unchecked within the publication creation/edit screen.

The Subs action will appear against any non-public publication:

Fig.15 - Publication Search Results

A publication that is not public will need to have a subscription made to it for it to become visible to any member. This requires a subscription category to be created.

Go to Subscription Categories on the left side menu
Select Click here to create a new category, assign a description to the new category, and Save.

Fig.16 - Subscription Categories

The category will require members to be assigned to it to enable viewing.

Go to Subscription Categories > Access (against the relevant subscription category)

Fig.17 - Locations Access

Search individual units by Name, Postcode, etc. or by business Category
To add units to the subscription category, check the relevant In Category? boxes and then Save Changes
To assign a subscription category to a publication, select the Subs action at the publication level and search for the relevant subscription category
To subscribe members to the publication, select the Subscribe action against the subscription category

Fig.18 - Important updates/Subscriptions

Fig.19 - Important updates/Subscriptions

Additional Story Formatting

It is possible to apply additional formatting to stories through the use of HTML to emphasise or provide more impact.

For example:

User-added image
Fig.20 - Additional Formatting through HTML

Within the publication editor on Tradesimple the following text was inserted in the description block:

<h1><b><font color="red">Please sign-in.</font></b></h1>
<h2><i>If you do not have a username, contact your Line Manager.</i><h2>

To explain what is happening here:

<h1><b><font color="red">Please sign-in.</font></b></h1> is applying size and colour attributes to the font of any text it encapsulates.
Font size ranges from a value of 1-7
Colour takes the HEX value, basic colours that could be used are:

Fig.21 - Basic Colour Palette

<b>text</b> - is applying a bold formatting to any text it encapsulates
<u>text</u> is applying an underlined-formatting to any text it encapsulates
Within the editor all HTML must be in line as carriage returns are interpreted when rendering
A good resource for a basic head start with HTML is: http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp
Alternatively there is a lot of resource available on the Internet relating to HTML.

Note: The use of HTML formatting within stories is not supported by the Fourth Service Team. Therefore any use of such functionality is applied a the user's own discretion.

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