How to Edit our News Page

== How to Update the News Page ==

The 401st News page is built using custom snippets designed to display date-sensitive announcements with images and summaries. Updating the News page involves inserting NewsCard entries below the NewsPoster snippet.

=== Step 1: Locate the News Page ===
Navigate to the [++News|News Page]. You'll need editing rights to make changes.

=== Step 2: Understand the Structure ===

Each entry is made using the following two snippets:

* <NoWiki>{s:NewsPoster}</NoWiki>  
  This '''must appear only once''', at the top of the page. It enables the date filtering and validation logic for the news cards.

* <NoWiki>{s:NewsCard|StartDate|EndDate|Title|DateText|Link|ImageURL|Summary}</NoWiki>  
  One or more of these can follow. Each represents a single news item.

=== Step 3: Add a New NewsCard ===

Here's a basic template:

@@
{s:NewsCard|YYYY-MM-DD|YYYY-MM-DD|Headline Title|Date Text for Display|Link to Full Article or Page|Image URL or leave blank|Brief summary of the news item.}
@@

=== Parameter Reference ===

* '''StartDate''' – When this news item should begin showing (e.g., `2025-04-10`)
* '''EndDate''' – When this item should disappear or become visually "ghosted"
* '''Title''' – Headline that will be shown in bold
* '''DateText''' – Human-readable date shown to visitors (e.g., `October 1, 2025`)
* '''Link''' – URL for "read more" (optional)
* '''ImageURL''' – Optional image path (e.g., `{UP(News_20250415)}P1010541.jpg`). If left blank, a fallback image will be used.
* '''Summary''' – A brief description (1–3 sentences)

=== Step 4: Example ===

@@
{s:NewsPoster}

{s:NewsCard|2025-04-10|2025-11-05|401st in Colorado Springs!|October 1, 2025|News_20250415.ashx|{UP(News_20250415)}P1010541.jpg|The 401st will be joining the 8th Air Force Historical Society on October 1–5, 2025.}

{s:NewsCard|2024-11-20|2025-02-20|New Website!|November 20, 2024|https://401bg.org||The new 401st Website is now active and official.}
@@

=== Step 5: Validate ===

Once saved, the NewsPoster script will:
- Highlight missing or invalid titles, summaries, or dates
- Hide items not yet active
- Ghost items that have expired

If errors are found, fields will be marked in red with "***".

=== Tips ===

* Maintain reverse chronological order (most recent first).
* Only one <NoWiki>{s:NewsPoster}</NoWiki> snippet is allowed per page.
* Keep summaries short and relevant.
* Use <NoWiki>{UP(FolderName)}FileName.jpg</NoWiki> to access uploaded images.

=== Related Snippets ===

* [++Help.NewsCardSnippet|NewsCard Snippet Page]
* [++Help.SnippetsReference|Snippets Reference]
Meta Keywords:
Meta Description:
Change Comment:
Modified on 2025/07/09 19:09 by Administrator Categorized as Uncategorized