How to Use This Website (Help/FAQs)

thedirt.org uses a web application called Civicspace and this book is on how use Civicspace. More importantly how to login, submit events, edit your own events, ...

Before going into the details of how to use Civicspace it would useful to touch on what is Civicspace. Civicspace is a version of Drupal, which is a "content management system". This means it's a system for managing website content--like articles, photos, or other files. Drupal is a "dynamic" rather than a "static" system. Instead of being in pre-generated (static) files, content like the text on pages is stored in a database. When visitors bring up a page, a script runs on the web server, querying the database and putting the content of the page into a template. (Sometimes, to save time and resources, these scripts are run ahead of time and the resulting pages are "cached" or stored on the server instead of being generated afresh with each visitor.) So to create or edit pages, you as a user don't have to write web pages. You don't have to know HTML (the language web pages are written in). Instead, all you usually have to do is:

  • register with a Drupal site
  • log in (type in the user name and password you got by registering), and
  • type content (articles, etc.) into forms that you submit.

What is Your Role on Dirt!/SRSF Civicspace?


Welcome! Currently Dirt!/SRSF Civicspace is setup with seven roles that people can take. The different roles allow for different access points and participation levels on the site. We hope you will enjoy your visit and that you will find a role that fits right for you.

1) Anonymous Cruiser: anyone who can get to the website. An anonymous user will be able to surf the events, the blogs and the forum but will NOT be able to submit any content (events, comments, blog entries, forum threats...)

2) Honored Registered Users (HRUs, Previously called "registered users"): people who have registered and therefore can login with their account from any drupal site. This means they have taken the time to get a login name (FREE) and password (ALSO FREE).

In addition to be able to browse the content, HRUs can submit events and browse through the past event archives. HRUs will also have access to the forums and be able to leave comments. All content will need to be approved by the SRSF Editors. HRUs are invited to also receive The Dirt! as a weekly email version in their inbox.

 

3) Supporters: people who have donated something (in-kind, money or otherwise) to support Spreading Roots, Spring Forth.

In addition to all the perks that come with being an HRU, these valued supporters of our efforts can browse all of the events that are posted into the future, have their own blog (the content will need to be appropriate to the general mission of SRSF) and be able to leave comments and post to the forum without going through the moderation queue.

4) SRSF Editors: Language conscious, detail-oriented, skilled SRSF volunteers who are willing and able to look over content posted to the website and edit information as necessary.

Editors will have access ability to edit content on the website on either all or specific sections, depending on their own acknowledged, time, availability, and interest.

5) SRSF Board: The SRSF Board of Directors

The SRSF Board will have the ability to edit any content and be able to post content that is only visible by the other SRSF Board and the SRSF Web Admins.

6) SRSF Web Admins: Likely just Ryan and Jeremy, for now.

For all of the behind the scenes geeky stuff.
If you have questions or concerns about anything technically-web related, you can reach us by email: webadmin (at) thedirt.org. For other queries please send questions to info (at) thedirt.org

7) Organizers:Individuals who work with an organization, government agency, small business or community group and organize various events in which the public is invited to participate.

Similar to HRUs, these members of the Dirt!/SRSF Civicspace will have abilities to edit their events as well as (in the future) events posted by other organizers who belong to their organization. As always, the content will need to be appropriate to the general mission of SRSF. Organizers will also be able to leave comments, post to the forum without going through the moderation queue. (Additionally, in the future, Organizers will have opportunities to provide a link to their website or, if they don't have one, they may simply create a "business card" that states the mission of their organization, address and other contact information as relevant.) All registered organizers are automatically eligible and invited to be added to our monthly email reminder list where we send messages that keep organizations apprised of possible collaboration opportunities, how to post events and SRSF's own developments and directions.

How to Login

When you first go to The Dirt! you should see the following in the upper left hand corner.

  • If you don't see this graphic, it means you or someone else is logged in as the User Login block will auto-hide when someone logs in.
  • If you want to create an accout for yourself, click on "Create new account"
  • If you already setup an account and don't remember your username and/or password, click on "Request new password"

Questions about Accounts

Q: What does having a free account allow me to do?

A: A free Dirt! Community account on this website civic space will allow you to create content - in the form of *comments and, at this time, *events. If you want to submit events to thedirt.org, then you must be a registered user. (In the future we will be building in greater capabilities to sort users as organizers also.) Either way, having an account will allow you to edit your events after they are submitted and comment on the forums and blogs.

Q: How do I get an account?

A: To create an account for yourself, click on Create new account which is visible in the "User Login" block in the left hand corner of the page. It is useful to note that if no one is logged in on the browser you are using, you should see a "User Login" block in the left hand corner of the webpage. If anyone is logged in with your browser, the "User Login" block will not be present as it auto-deactivates.

Q: I forgot my password, what do I do?

A: In the same "User Login" block, click on Request new password,
then at the next screen put in your username OR your e-mail
address. Your new password will be e-mailed to the e-mail address
stored in the Civicspace database.

Submitting A Question

First off, to have a question appear within this "book" of questions, it must be asked frequently, or at least seems to be of fundamental pertinence.  You can e-mail webadmin (at) thedirt.org for specific questions about the new website.

Creating New Content

As a Honored Registered User* who has logged-in, congratulations!
You are now ready to start posting content.

Different Types of Content

There are various types of content that you can post using Drupal. Many of these are organized into what are called "nodes". Basically,you can think of a node as the content of a page. This might be, for instance, an article you wish to post, an event, or a comment. Content is added or updated through web page forms. So to add an article, you bring up a form, enter text into it (like the title and content of an article), and hit a button to submit the form.

Topics/Categories/Terms

Content on Drupal websites is usually organized using categories through a system called "taxonomy". A taxonomy has different "terms" that are used as categories for articles. When you are adding an article, you will find a drop-down list for you to select a "Focus Area" and "Habitat". If you are entering an event, you will also be given drop-down options to select such things as "Region" and "Setting." By selecting one, you choose how to categorize your article on the site and where it will show up. If this seems hard to relate to, you can think of topics as being like folders on your hard drive--they help to organize content, so that you can find similar things in the same place.

Permissions

What types of content you can create or edit depends on the privileges that have been assigned to the "role" or user group to which you have been assigned. In general, to find out what you can do:

  • On your user menu (the collection of links that has your user name as a title), look for a link that says "create content". Click this to get a listing of the types of content you have permission to post.
  • Or else on a particular page, look for links at the bottom of an article. These links say things like "12 comments" (if there are comments that have been made on the article) and "read more" (if you're looking at a short version of an article). If one of these links say "administer" or something like "edit this page", you have permissions to edit that type of content.

Submission Queue

Q: I submitted a story, but it doesn't appear anywhere!
Sometimes a Drupal site is set up so that when you submit a story it goes straight up on the site. Often, though, a Drupal site is set up with a "submission queue". This means that articles submitted are marked for evaluation to be read by an administrator. Don't worry! When a site administrator has had a chance to look over your submission, they wlll make the decision about whether it meets the criteria and post it accordingly.


*HRU's are the minimum role required to post content to the site. Click on the link for a more in-depth description of roles.

What is The Difference Between A "Special Announcement" and an "Event?"

Special Announcements vs. Events
Thanks for your interest in posting content on The Dirt! website. Keep in mind that a summary of all "events" are also listed in our weekly email newsletter that is sent out to more than a thousand readers that are separate from our current users that access their information via our website.

"Special announcements" are also featured in this weekly email newsletter but appear in a different fashion. They also are different in terms of their purpose and the scope of information that they are conveying.

Originally, prior to upgrading The Dirt! to include our spiffy current website, The Dirt! existed only in email form. There, events were things that occurred at a particular time, for a particular duration, on a particular day. Events then exist as opportunities for people to actively get out, get involved and do something concrete to help the environment for part of their day.

Special Announcements now, they also present opportunities for people to get involved but in a different manner. The time span may vary: as in a few minutes that people spend when they personally write a letter to their representative in Congress; extend for longer than 1 day like a conference or multi-day training for a volunteer to take on a leadership role, or simply may entail a piece of information or news that may have a deadline attached to it or may affect a person's personal behavior at any time.

Now  that we have an understanding of the basic differences between these two things as they exist in our email newsletter, let's take a quick look at how to create a Special Announcement vs. an Event on our website.

 

Now you might think that, as an organizer that has a lot of upcoming events that maybe listing one Special Announcement is the way to go? We would encourage to think NO on this account. What is the use of a calendar that does not accurately reflect when the events are actually taking place? Mt. St. Helens Institute may be somewhat of a special case. Consider that for their trips they are requiring RSVP in advance since their trips book up quickly. Also, they took the time to individually enter each event separately as well. Once that has been done it become an easy task to link the Special Announcement to the actual events where details specific to that event (like meeting place and cost) are described. Redundancy then is eliminated!

 

Question: How do I enter a Special Announcement?

This also is a bit of a trick on the website, since Special Announcements, depending on what they are, can have very different final purposes and therefore show up in different place on our website (although they show up in the same place in our email newsletter!). To help you decide how to go about it, think about:

  • 1) If your main purpose is to describe an-event-that-is-taking-place-over-a-period-of-many-days, then perhaps it is best to post a special announcement by filling out our event form on the web.
  • 2) If the main purpose of your special announcement is introduce our readers to a current campaign or letter-writing opportunity, or lifestyle that will make a positive impact on society, then it is better to post your special announcement by creating a new forum topic.
  • 3) If your special announcement tends more to be something like piece of news, then perhaps the best place to post it is as "story."

Hope this helps clear up any confusion! Remember, if you are posting something that you would like to show up as a Special Announcement, WRITE THE TITLE IN ALL CAPITALS!

 

Adding An Event

Adding an Event

Step 1. Logging In to The Dirt!
Make sure you have logged-in with your user name. If you have never logged in, you will need to register to get an account.

Step 2. Creating Content
Click on the words under your login name in the right column that say "create content." Choose "event." You will be directed to an online Events Form.

Step 3. Filling out the Events Form
There are 4 categories that will make it easy for your event to be searched and sorted by different users of the site. These are:

  • "Focus Area"
  • "Habitat"
  • "Region"
  • "Setting"

Please choose from each drop-down list the category that most closely describes your event.

Step 4. Things to Remember
If you want to select more than one category in each list remember that you can do this from a PC by holding down the control button and from a Mac by holding down the "apple" button. Fill in the additional fields (especially those with a red * next to them!) and include a brief description of 150 words or less.

Step 5. Submit It
When you are finished, click to "preview". This is your chance to check your post for errors. If you are happy and have made any additional changes necessary, click to "submit"

Step 6. (Optional) Adding Multiple Events
You just sent in your first event but you realize that you still have 5 more to do... Instead of starting over at the beginning you can Click the "Back" arrow or button on your internet browser. This will take you back to the web-form you just filled out. Change ONLY the relevant details (like date, time, location, directions) and the other fields will already be filled in for you from before. Click to "submit" again and you are done. Event #2 accomplished! Oooh fun. Repeat this process as many times as you would like for as many events as you have.


Permissions For Different Users

Depending on what "role" or user group you have been assigned, your event may either get put into a moderation queue or posted directly on the web. In general, recognized Organizers or SRSF Editors have the ability post content directly. Thank you! The Dirt! is published both on this website and sent out via email to over 1100 additional readers each week. The weekly email is usually published on Thursdays.

Comment on Community Forums



The Community Forums are a place where we hope people will be able to explore issues in greater depths. This is a place where we all can educate and dialogue with each other online, and post what previously have been considered "SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS" or our "COMMUNITY PAGES" (things that do not fit the mold of exactly BEING an event yet still offer ways that people can participate like writing a letter to the editor, or a congressperson, a conference that might be happening in another state, reading an excellent inspiring book or learning more about a local issue.

Do you have a GREAT IDEA for a NEW FORUM TOPIC?

To add a new forum topic you need to be one of the following things:
  • a) A Forum Moderator for The Dirt! (willing to help make sure spammers don't go crazy on the site with wierd posts)
  • b) A Dirt Community Member Deemed Organizer * (ie. you post events with us )
  • c) A Spreading Roots Spring Forth Editor willing to edit portions of the site
  • d) Patient and Dedicated to propose your forum topic * to The Dirt!'s Web Administrators. To do this just:
    • email WebAdmin (at) thedirt.org
    • suggest the forum topic you are thinking of posting,
    • wait for them to post it up for you.
OR
  • e) A SRSF Supporter*


*= these options are open to pretty much anyone
Thanks for your interest!

COMMENTING ON A PRE-EXISTING TOPIC

It is super easy to participate on an existing forum:
  • a) Make sure you have an account and are logged in.
  • b) At the bottom of a post you will see some blue links that might say something like "add new comment".
  • c) Click on this, type your thoughts to your heart's content, and click "submit."
  • d) Ta-DAH! That's it.

Editing and Deleting Content

To edit or delete existing content, log in and then bring up the page you wish to edit. You either must be the "owner" of that page (like BLOG owners or Forum moderators) or you must have permission to edit that page (like an Spreading Roots, Spring Forth Editor). To find out if you have the ability to edit an article (or article summary) look a the "tabs" just above the text on the page. One might say "view" while if you have permission to edit the page, the next one to the right might say "edit".

Depending on your user permissions, you might see this on all pages or only certain ones (like those that you yourself submitted).

Clicking this "tab" will bring up a page with a form for changing the page. To edit the page from there, change the text (found in a box that might say "Body" with a red * or category sorting settings and then submit. If you wish to delete the page, look for a "delete" button near the bottom of the page. When you click it, you'll get a second chance to confirm that you wish to delete the page--or to change your mind!

Hope this helps. We will provide more information about how to edit specific aspects like
* Blogs
* Forums
* Event Calendar
as time allows for us to develop this.

Let us know what your questions are in the meantime and we will do our best to answer them!