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Websites > FAQs > Basic Website Building

Basic Website Building

Postings

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Q: What's a Posting?

A: Each Publishing page is broken down into sections called postings. Each posting is edited individually without changing the rest of the page.

Q: How do I add a new posting?

A:

1. Go to Lutherans Online and click Log In in the left navigation.
2. Once you've logged in, click on My Site in the left navigation to go to your website.
3. Click Edit Page. The page is broken down into sections called postings.
4. Decide where you would like the new posting to be located on your page, then click "Click to Insert a New Posting Here."
5. Choose a posting layout by clicking on the graphics below. To change posting layout sets, either use the pulldown menu or click Previous Set or Next Set.
6. Add your information as desired, based on the layout you chose.
7. Click Continue.

Q: How do I edit a posting?

A:

1. Below the posting you wish to edit, click Edit Posting.
2. Update your information as desired.
3. Click Continue.

Q: How do I delete a posting?

A:

1. Below the posting you wish to remove, click Delete Posting.
2. Click Continue.

Q: How do I move a posting up or down on my page?

A:

1. To the left of the posting you wish to move, click either "Move Up" or "Move Down."
2. Repeat as desired to organize postings on your page.

Q: How do I copy a posting to another page within my site?

A:

1. Below the posting you wish to copy, click "Copy Posting."
2. Select one or more other pages on your site which you would like the above posting added. Note: To select more than one page, use your control key.
3. Click Continue.

Q: How do I create a new posting layout?

A:

1. Click Click to insert a new posting here!
2. Click Create New Layout.
3. Enter a layout name and optional layout description.
4. Drag and drop content objects into the layout grid below. To change the feature palette, use the pulldown menu. You can optionally hide content objects by clicking the checkbox above Hide for each object. Also, you can scroll the layout grid to fit up to 6 rows of objects.
5. Click Continue.
6. Add information as desired, based on the layout you created.
7. Click Continue.

Q: How do I change the maximum number of postings that appear on a single page?

A:

1. Click the "Edit Page" icon.
2. Click the "Page Settings" link at the top of the page.
3. Use the dropdown to the right of "Max. number of postings displayed on this page" to select how many postings appear on a single page before a "Next" link appears at the bottom. Users clicking this "Next" link will display the next set of postings.
4. Click "Done."
5. Click "Done" again to return to your page.

Q: How do I display a list of links?

A:

1. Click Click here to insert a new posting here!
2. Choose a layout set that contains a link(s) to Page(s) object. You can find these under the Website Navigation layout set, or choose Create New Layout, go to the Website Navigation feature category and drag the Page links icon to the desired location within your layout grid.
3. Click Continue.
4. Add any other information as desired, based on the layout you chose.
5. Click Continue.

Q: How do I add images or files to my site?

A:

1. While logged in, go to the page upon which you would like to add a file or image.
2. Click Edit Page.
3. Decide where you would like to insert a file or image, then click Click to Insert a New Posting Here!
4. Click on any publishing layout graphic that has a image/file included. You can view different layout sets by using the pulldown menu near the top of the screen and clicking Preview.
5. Under Include an image or file in your posting, click Browse to locate the file or image on your computer.
6. For Display image as, if you are uploading an image, choose whether the image should display as a full image, a thumbnail image that will open the full image in a new window when clicked, or just an icon with a link to view the full image.
7. You can optionally change the Image Width and Image Height. If these fields are left blank, the image will default to its normal size. We highly recommend leaving these width and height fields blank, as changing the proportions will distort the image.
   Note: Images uploaded via Display image as: Image have a maximum width of 1024 pixels and a maximum height of 768 pixels. Any images submitted that exceed these maximums will be resized to the maximum width and/or height. To display larger images, choose Thumbnail or Attachment in step 6.
8. If you chose a thumbnail image in step 6, you can also set the width of the thumbnail that will automatically be created. The default is 150 pixels.
9. Optionally add a caption underneath the file or image.
10. Fill in other parts of the posting, based on the layout you chose.
11. Click Continue.

Note: If you are adding a new file to your site, there are maximum file size limits.

If you would like to use HTML within a text posting to create a link to a file uploaded via Freeform, you will need to copy and paste the System URL of the file displayed in the right column of the list Freeform Files page. You can get to this screen from either the Website Manager or Freeform Administration page. Note that the file's System URL will change each time the file is updated. If you are linking to Freeform files from a Freeform page, you only need to use the relative filename and not the System URL name to link to the file.

Q: Do you have clip art I can use?

A: Yes. To insert clip art into your website, save the desired clip art image to your computer by right-clicking on the image, choosing Save Picture As..., Save, and then upload it using the instructions above.

Q: Can I use HTML within a posting?

A: Yes, you can add HTML or JavaScript within any text posting.

1. Add or edit a posting that contains a text content object.
2. Above the text box, check the box that says "Check box if you are using HTML tags in text below."
3. Insert your HTML text into the box below. Note that any code outside of the <BODY> tags will not be rendered.
4. Click "Continue."

Note: If you are using Microsoft® Word 2000 or higher and choosing "Save as HTML", you will also need to select a certain HTML file format. Under "Save File as Type", choose the "Web page filtered" HTML file format. Saving it as regular HTML will save it as XML, which is not compatible with Lutherans Online at this time.

If you would like to create entire pages using HTML, see Freeform HTML for more information.

Q: How do I add a mini-calendar posting to my Web site?

A:

1. Go to the page in which you would like to add a mini-calendar.
2. Click Edit Page.
3. Decide where you would like to insert the mini-calendar posting, then click Click to Insert a New Posting Here!
4. Click on the drop down box to select Interactive Layout Sets, Calendar and click on Preview.
5. Click on Mini-calendar. Add a posting name.
6. Click Continue.

Q: How do I add a poll or a hit counter to my site?

A: You can add polls or counters from third party Internet companies to your site. Although we do not guarantee or endorse a particular vendor, you might choose to look at one such as sparklit.com. Visit this site to find out more about the features. To add the code you are provided:

1. Copy the code given to you by the site.
2. Navigate to the page on your site where you would like to add the new poll or counter.
3. Click Edit Page and insert a new posting where you would like the new poll or counter to appear on the page. Note: You may want to choose a simple posting layout containing just text.
4. Paste the HTML code into the text box. Be sure to check the box above indicating that you are using HTML tags. You can also optionally name your posting by entering text into the Posting Name field.
5. Click Done.

Q: How do I play an audio file on my page?

A: To play an audio file when someone visits your site, you will first need to obtain an audio file, such as a MIDI or MP3. If you do not already have a file, there are many places on the Internet where you can download them, many for free. However, before publishing them on your site, make sure that the site you got the audio file(s) from allows you to reuse and publish the file on your site.

Next, you will need to upload the music file onto your Web site. Instructions are provided for adding a file to your Freeform site.

Once you have your file uploaded, now all you need to do is add HTML code to your site to play the audio file. Within your Freeform HTML file text, insert the following code, replacing "mymusicfile.mid" with the name of your audio file. You can also change loop="true" to be "false" if you do not wish to have the song repeat, or a number such as "5" if you would like it to repeat five times, etc.

<EMBED src="mymusicfile.mid" autostart="true" loop="true"><EMBED>

If you would just like to have a link to your music file, you can do that by using a simple A HREF code tag like the example below.

<A HREF="mymusicfile.mid" target="_blank">Click here to listen to my music file.</A>

Note: If you would like to add this code to a new posting within a Publishing page, you will need to use the full system URL instead of just the name of the file to get this to work properly. You can obtain the system URL by clicking "Web Site Manager," "list Freeform Files" and copying the corresponding URL to the file you would like to use.

Q: How do I add a website logo to my site?

A:

1. Click Edit Page on the page where you would like the logo added.
2. Click Click here to insert a new posting here!
3. Choose a layout set that contains your Web Site Logo. You can find these under the Headers and Footers layout set, or choose Create New Layout, go to the Website Info feature category and drag the logo icon to the desired location within your layout grid.
4. Click Continue.
5. Add any other information as desired, based on the layout you chose.
6. Click Continue.

Q: How do I add a participate button to my site?

A: To add a participate button to your site, you will first need to make sure you have participation turned on within your Participation Policies. To add a participate button to your site, follow the instructions below:

1. Go to Lutherans Online and click Log In in the left-navigation.
2. Enter your Log In information and click Log In.
3. Click on My Site in the left-navigation to go to your website.
4. Click Edit Page. The page is broken down into postings.
5. Decide where you would like the new posting to be located on your page, then click Click to Insert a New Posting Here.
6. Choose a layout set that contains a participate button. You can find these under the Participation layout set, or choose Create New Layout, go to the Participation feature category and drag the participate button icon to the desired location within your layout grid.
7. Add any other information as desired, based on the layout you chose.
8. Click Continue.

Now users can request participation rights to your site by clicking the button.

Q: What is a content feed?

A: Content feeds are premade postings which you can add to your site and are updated automatically as they are changed. We have a variety of content feeds to choose from, including Thrivent Financial news or Member Activity Highlights, the Lutherans Online poll, news from any of the three major Lutheran church bodies, and more. To add a content feed to your site:

1. Go to the page in which you would like to add a content feed.
2. Click Edit Page.
3. Decide where you would like to insert a content feed, then click Click to Insert a New Posting Here!
4. Click on the drop down box to select Publishing Layout Sets, Basic Two and click on Content Feed. You can also choose Create New Layout, go to the Publishing feature category and drag the content feed icon to the desired location within your layout grid.
5. Add a posting name (this step is optional.)
6. Click Continue.
7. Click Format Content Feed.
8. Choose a content feed from the list on the left.
9. Click Done.

Q: How do I place content from RSS Feeds onto my site?

A: Within your site, you can display customizable content from any RSS feed on the Internet by choosing the "RSS Feed" posting type under the Basic Two layout set. An RSS Feed option is also available in the Feeds menu of the Custom Layout interface.

Within the RSS Feed posting, enter the URL (web address) of where the feed is located, choose whether you would like the feed title and/or description displayed, and if you would like links from the feed to open in a new window. You can also customize the number of feed items to display, if the date and time are displayed (including a time zone preference), whether the feed is displayed as a simple bulleted list or with full HTML-formatting (if available from the feed), and if item discriptions and links display. In addition, you can change the font style of how the feed displays within your site.

Q: Can I feed pictures and video from Flickr and/or YouTube onto my site?

A: Yes. Within your Lutherans Online site, you can embed pictures and/or video uploaded onto Flickr and YouTube! To do so, choose the "Flickr" or "YouTube" posting type under the Basic Two layout set. Flickr and YouTube options are also available in the Feeds menu of the Custom Layout interface.

Flickr

You can display photos or video from Flickr by entering in a particular username and/or a search tag. You can also customize the photo/video size, number of media items displayed, a horizontal or vertical layout (if choosing more than one media item), if the user's buddy icon displays next to the media, and if you would like the latest uploaded media displayed or random choices each time the page refreshes.

YouTube

You can choose to embed one particular YouTube video within your page, or the latest of a series of videos uploaded by a particular user and/or with a particular tag. You can also customize the size of the embedded video, and if embedding more than one video, the number of videos displayed and whether they display horizontally or vertically on the page.

Q: How do I embed widgets from other sites into my Lutherans Online site?

A: Many social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Vimeo, have widgets that website administrators can use to embed content from these pages directly into your site. To add an external widget to your site:

1. Visit and log into the external site.
2. Look for an area that contains the embed code for your widget. For example, here is where you can retrieve social plugin widgets for Facebook, Twitter and Vimeo.
3. Highlight and copy this code.
4. Log into your Lutherans Online site.
5. Click "Edit Page" from the page you wish to add this new widget
6. Decide where you would like to add this new widget, then click "Click to Insert a New Posting Here."
7. Click on the "Text only" layout image.
8. Paste your code into the textbox. Make sure the checkbox for "Check box if you are using HTML tags in text below" is checked.
9. Click "Continue."
10. Click "Done." Your widget should now be displaying on your page.

Q: Can I put a link on my site to another site outside of Lutherans Online?

A: Yes, you can add links to your site that can go anywhere you wish.

1. Go to the page in which you would like to add a link.
2. Click Edit Page.
3. Decide where you would like to insert a link, then click Click to Insert a New Posting Here.
4. Click on the drop down box to select Publishing Layout Sets, Basic Two and click on any graphic that includes a link. You can also choose Create New Layout, go to the Basic feature category and drag the link icon to the desired location within your layout grid.
5. For your link content object, under link Description(required), enter the text you would like to be linked.
6. Under link URL, enter the website address URL. This can either be a regular web address (example: http://www.lutheransonline.com) or an email address (example: mailto:LOhelp@thrivent.com.)
7. Add other information as desired, based on the layout you chose.
8. Click Continue.

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Pages

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Q: How do I edit a page?

A:

1. To edit an existing posting, click on the corresponding "Edit Posting" button.
2. Follow the instructions to update the posting and click "Continue."
3. To add a new posting to the page, select the desired placement of the new posting and click on "Click to Insert a New Posting Here."

Q: How do I add a new page?

A:

1. Click "Web Site Manager."
2. Click "Manage Web Site Pages."
3. Click "Add a new page to your site."
4. Choose a page style. Your options are Publishing (using postings), Freeform HTML, Online Form or a Framed page.
5. Enter your page name, description, and an optional secondary page alias.
6. Choose whether you would like your page to be public or private.
7. Click "Continue."
• If you chose a Publishing page, choose whether you would like your new page to be blank or copied from an existing page on your site.
• If you chose a Freeform HTML page, click "Browse" to upload an HTML file to your site, which will be displayed as the default page on your site. You can also optionally click "Click to Create and Edit a new HTML file" if you would like to write a new HTML page from scratch.
• If you chose an Online Form, you will need to set up your form with a title, introductory text, questions and more. For more information about online forms, click here.
• If you chose a Framed page, enter the URL address you would like shown in the bottom frame when people visit this page on your site. For more information on framed pages and sites, click here.
8. Click "Continue."

Q: How do I create an alias for each page within my site?

A:

1. Click "Web Site Manager."
2. Click "Manage Web Site Pages."
3. Find the page you wish to update, then click "Edit."
4. Under "Enter alias for your page," enter a secondary alias for your page. Example: entering "youth" would allow visitors to go straight to that particular page by typing in "http://www.lutheransonline.com/mychurch/youth, where mychurch is your site alias.
5. Click "Done."

Q: How do I delete a page?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your Web site.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Manage Web Site Pages."
4. Find the page you wish to remove, then click "Delete."
5. Click "Delete" again to confirm that you are deleting the page.

Q: Can I have a mix of both Publishing and Freeform HTML pages within my site?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your Web site.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Select "Manage Web site Pages."
4. Click on "Click here to add a new page."
5. Click the radio button of either "Freeform" or "Publishing" to add a new page to your site. You also have the option of creating an online form or top frame page.

Q: How do I change the background color on a page?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your website.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Manage Web Site Pages."
4. Find the page you wish to update, then click "Edit."
5. Use the "Background Color" pulldown menu to choose which color you would like as the background on your page.
6. Click "Done."

Note: If you would like the same background color on each page within your site, you will have to update each page with your color preference.

If you want an image as your background, you will need to encompass your whole page into an HTML table. Wrap your entire page content around this code, changing the image filename and page text placeholder with your own information: <TABLE background="whateveryourfileiscalled.gif"><TR><TD>Insert all your page text here.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Q: How do I change the number of postings that display on a page?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your Web site.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Manage Web Site Pages."
4. Find the page you wish to update, then click "Edit."
5. Use the "Max. number of postings displayed on this page" pulldown menu to choose how many postings you would like displayed per page. Any additional postings will be available by clicking the additional pages link that will display at the bottom of each page that has more postings than the limit specified here.
6. Click "Done."

Q: How do I make a page inactive?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your Web site.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Manage Web Site Pages."
4. Find the page you wish to update, then click "Edit."
5. Under "Page Status," choose either "Active" or "Inactive." Active pages will appear within page link postings, while inactive pages will be hidden. Making a page inactive is a great way to test a page before making it public.
6. Click "Done."

Q: How do I make a page private?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your Web site.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Manage Web Site Pages."
4. Find the page you wish to update, then click "Edit."
5. Under "Page Access," choose either "Public" or "Private." Public pages are available to be viewed by anyone. Private pages can only be viewed by site participants and administrators.
6. Click "Done."

Q: How do I change the order my pages display within page link postings?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your Web site.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Manage Web Site Pages."
4. Using the "Move Up -or- Move Down" arrow column, click on the up or down arrows to arrange the page order to your liking. The top page listed will be the one first shown when visitors come to your site. You can also have pages be subpages of others by clicking "Make a Sub-page -or- Move back one level."
5. Click "Done."

Q: How do I change which page is the home page of my site?

A: The top page on your list of pages will determine which page shows up first when people visit your site.

Q: How do I create a sub-page?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your Web site.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Manage Web Site Pages."
4. Using the "Move Up -or- Move Down" arrow column, click on the up or down arrows to move the page you would like to be a sub-page directly below the page you would like to be the parent page.
5. Click the right arrow under the "Make a Sub-page -or- Move back one level" column to make that page a sub-page of the page above it.
6. You can have as many pages as you like be sub-pages of any other page. You can also adjust Page Links postings to only display sub-pages from a particular page.
7. Click "Done."

Q: How do I change the name and description of a page?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your Web site.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Manage Web Site Pages."
4. Find the page you wish to update, then click "Edit."
5. Edit the name and/or description by changing the "Page Name" and "Page Description" text fields.
6. Click "Done."

Q: How do I update my affiliation?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your website.
2. Click "Website Manager."
3. Click "Change Church Body Affiliation."
4. Your current affiliation is displayed at the top of the screen. Click "Select" next to any other affiliation to update your site.

If your site is not directly affiliated with a Lutheran church body, including personal Web sites, choose "Lutherans Online Default." If the site is a Thrivent Financial Chapter, choose "Thrivent Financial Chapter."

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