This page explains how to manage a category page on The Speaker. We will use an example, the Ukraine section, to explain how pages work.
Some page management is done by the writers/editors themselves when they compose and publish articles (usually through the use of “tags”) and some is done by the website web developers (coders) who have to edit the code of the page to make changes.
To learn how to contact the web developers to make changes, see the bottom of this page.
Sections of the Ukraine page:
Editor/staff information: The editors of the Ukraine section provided the web developers with the email address associated with (used when they got their The Speaker login) their website account. The other information in this section — about staff — was done custom through the web developers.
First post: This is the most recent article published with the category “Ukraine” checked. (If the Ukraine staff needs to change this because they want to hand-pick the articles that display as the first post — using a tag instead — they must supply the web developers with a request to do so. NOTE: If such a change is made, only the most recent article tagged will display at the top. It will also display chronologically in the lower posts [ie twice] if the Ukraine category is also checked.)
Twitter feed: These are the most recent tweets by “The Ukraine Editor.” This display can also be set to a Twitter “list” or all the Tweets by the accounts being followed by a given account. If the Ukraine staff wants to change this, they must submit a request to the web developers.
Ukraine’s social media links: Custom, done through the web developers. Platforms other than Facebook, Twitter, and RSS can be displayed. All accounts must be owned and administrated by The Speaker admin staff.
Photo / Video coverage, Humour, and Literature: Ukraine’s “Photo / Video coverage” are the most recent articles tagged “Ukraine-av.” Ukraine’s humour section is tagged “Ukraine-cartoon” and its literature section is tagged “Ukraine-lit.” If Ukraine wants to display 2 photo/video posts, 1 humour, and 3 literature, they can do this through a request to the web developers.
Important: these types of articles must also be categorized correctly. Learn how — click here.
List of posts: These are articles with the “Ukraine” category checked displayed in chronological order.
Resources: The first one, “Ukraine in news” is the most recent post tagged “Ukraine-month.” The other links are all custom. To display/change what article links live here, Ukraine staff must submit a request to the web developers.
Our readers answer: Same thing. Custom and done through the web developers.
Facebook page link: Custom, changed must be supply the web masters with the Facebook page address. The Facebook page must be owned and administrated by The Speaker admin staff.
Most recent news / Featured: This is the same across the whole site. It is simply the most recent The Speaker news articles and the current front page featured article at any given time.
Advertisements: Placed by web developers.
If the Ukraine staff want to make changes to the page, they must submit a request. Customizations take a long time to implement, however, and won’t be changed back and forth. Customizations to a page are considered based on two things: 1) size of page and current audience growth levels; 2) amount of work being done by the writers in that section.
Quick chart for page management:
Editor / staff info: Custom request
Top article: Most recent in “category”
Twitter feed: Custom
Photo / video coverage: Most recent tagged “Category-av” (NOTE: Do not write “Category”; write the name of the category)
Humour: Most recent tagged “Category-cartoon”
Literature: Most recent tagged “Category-lit”
List of articles: Most recent in “category,” displayed chronologically
Resources: “Month in” most recent tagged “Category-month.” Other links custom.
Page management resources
About the category pages:
It is important for those seeking and accessing news to be able to find who is responsible for the news published. In the various sections on The Speaker, this is the section editor. The staff and contributors are important in bringing the news, but the editor is the one who is responsible for anything the reader finds in the section. That is why the editor and other staff important for their responsibility to the section’s publishing are displayed prominently.
Readers benefit from a wide range of media that contributes to an understanding of a subject. That is why we feature as many types of media as possible on the section pages: photo journalism, video footage, political cartoons, poetry, creative writing, essays, and other material. So this material is not confused with news reports, it is located separately from the news column of the page.
Those who care about a subject want to bring new people into the area of their concern. People new to a subject need to be brought up to speed. The “resources” section should provide this to the reader. It should be informative, concise and relevant to the news being covered. That is, the reader should be able to catch up on a given subject’s long-term history, recent news context, and important trends, and these pieces of information should related directly to the other material the reader will find on a regular basis on the page.
Our decisions — on any scale — are made based on our understanding. Group decisions are made after serious and involved discussion, which enriches through the range and depth of experience and opinion. Some important questions should be provided on the category page so that readers can have their say while benefiting from the range of comments provided by others.
It is important for a news source to have many social media outlets, on which readers can share and discuss the news. Social media links are provided in several places on the category pages. Readers should also have access to a mailing list, so they can receive reminders and updates to read news on a subject they want to follow.