The Press Releases service

This facility allows the easy storage of Press Release documents on the TOPRA website so that they can easily be accessed by members (and non-members) using the site. The Press Releases are usually PDF documents that are produced by Cicero on behalf of TOPRA. In a small number of easy steps, TOPRA can upload the PDF documents to the Plaza site where it becomes part of the website.

The service is accessed via the “Press Releases” item on the “What’s new” menu ( http://www.topra.org/pressrelease/Main.phx ) and this link will display the stored press releases in descending date order (most recent at the top). To access one of the Press Release you should click on the subject (shown in bold text).

Information for administrators:

Adding a new Press Release

To access the add press release page, a “Press Releases Administrator” clicks on the “Upload release” link ( http://www.topra.org/pressrelease/Main.phx/newRelease ). At the top of the upload page you can see all the press releases currently in the system (to save you uploading one that's already there). The bottom (important) part of the page contains the form to complete when adding a new press release file. The form is fairly self-explanatory and is only 4 boxes.

·         The first "Title of release" is where you enter the title of the press release. By convention, this takes the form “TOPRA Press Release - , ” but this can be any information. This text is only used in listing the press releases that are on the system.

·         The "Subject" field is used to allow further information about the content of the press release to be supplied. The aim of the field is to help the user locate the press release(s) they are interested in from the lists of those available.

·         The "Date" field is used to ensure that the press releases are displayed in date order (regardless of the content/format of the title. In this field you should enter the date as given on the press release (or when the release was issued), e.g. 12/05/2004 - today’s date will be shown as a default.

·         The final "Upload" field is used to add the file to the system. Use the 'browse' button and you should be presented with a familiar dialog for finding and selecting the file from your PC. (Note: you should have saved the press release PDF document on your PC so you can select and upload it!).  Clicking 'open' in the dialog places the full name/path of the file you have selected into the upload type-in box.

With the correct values in the fields, click on the OK button and the press release will be added to the system!

Notes:

In the previous press releases, the subject has been taken from the content of the press release and title has been taken from the name of the document (which is also the first/emphasised heading in the press release). This convention has lead to the subject being more informative than the title therefore the list page places more emphasis on the subject which is placed above the title text.

Removing a Press Release

To remove a newsletter from the system, a “Press Releases Administrator” clicks on the “Delete release” link ( http://www.topra.org/pressrelease/Main.phx/delRelease ). The delete page is very simple, containing only a selection option and a couple of buttons.

·         The selection box allows you to choose the press release to be deleted. You should scroll through the list of press release (the titles of the releases are shown in dated order) and then highlight the release you wish to delete.

With the correct press release highlighted, click on the delete button to progress to the ‘confirm’ page.

In case you have accidentally selected the wrong press release, a confirmation page is displayed that shows you the release you have selected and you must click on ‘delete’ on this page to carry out the removal of the press release from the web site. Pressing ‘cancel’ at any stage returns you to the list of press releases without deleting anything,

Manage storage

This Press Release Service uses the standard Document Folders to store the uploaded documents. The next option “Manage storage” (where available) allows an administrator with the correct privileges to use the Document Folder functionality directly to manage the uploaded files (at http://www.topra.org/dman/Folder.phx/Press+Releases?cmd=browse ). This extra level of administration supports renaming/copying/replacing uploaded press release documents, and also moving and deleting multiple documents at a time. When using the Document Folder functionality directly, there are a couple of points to remember:

1.       The service expects to find the press release in a single folder (by default this is: [Root] / Press Releases). If documents are removed from here, they will not be shown. If required, other documents can be stored here, but these will be displayed amongst the press releases with the ‘Title’ and ‘Subject’ being taken from the ‘title’ and ‘comment’ fields of the uploaded document.

2.       The service expects the press releases to be in either PDF or MS-Word format. If you wish to add a document of another type, you can do so by placing a document in the correct folder using the Document Folders/Manage Storage functionality.

3.       Entering the date of the press release into a custom property ensures the correct sorting of the press releases when listed on the screen. To view the custom properties, open the “Document properties” screen by clicking on the card-file icon next to the document (in the Document Folders’ normal folder view) and use the “Custom properties” link. If no custom properties are displayed at the bottom of the screen, click on “Add custom properties”, otherwise use “Modify custom properties” to change the date. You need to ensure that the uploaded document is assigned a global category of ‘press release’. Within this category you can supply a value to a property called “Date”. This property should contain the date in the form (dd/mm/yyyy).