Installing and launching Contribute

Installing and launching Contribute

The first step in getting started with Contribute is to install the Contribute software on your computer. Contribute works only on computers running Microsoft Windows ME, Windows 98 SE, Windows 2000, Windows NT, and Windows XP or Apple MAC with OS X operating systems.

To install and launch Contribute:

1. Locate your unique product serial number. This was provided to you at the same page where you downloaded the installation file. The format of the serial number is CTD200-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX.
2. Follow all of the onscreen instructions. When asked if you would like to make an alias and put it on your desktop, check the box. This will place a Contribute icon on your desktop.
3. Once Contribute is installed, launch Contribute by clicking on the icon just installed on your computer's desktop.
4. Register your copy of Contribute, by entering your name, the words "University of Notre Dame" for the organization, and your serial number.

Connecting to your website

Contribute provides two options for getting connected to your website:

1. Your website administrator can send you a connection key that includes the necessary settings to access your AFS space.
2. Create a Connection. Enter the connection information yourself using the Contribute connection wizard. This includes the Notre Dame SFTP host "darwin.cc.nd.edu" as well as your AFS ID and password.

If your website administrator sends you a connection key:

1. Open the e-mail containing the connection key in your email application (ie. Outlook, Eudora, Webmail, etc.). The connection key is included in the email as an attachment.
2. Double-click the connection key. The Import Website dialog box appears.
3. Enter your name, email address, and the connection key password. If you don't have the password, contact your administrator to obtain it. NOTE: Your name and email address are used only to identify you from other contributors on your web team. This information is not distributed in any way. For example, in the window, if you wanted to put "Master of The Universe", that is what would show up when you check the file out from the server.
4. Click OK. The website's home page appears in the Contribute browser.

If you are entering the connection information manually:

You can use the Contribute Connection Wizard to easily create a connection to your website. Enter specific website setting information in the Connection Wizard to access your website files (ie. FTP host, AFS ID and Password, etc.).

To start the Connection Wizard:

1. Select Edit > My Connection.
2. Click New, and then follow the instructions on your screen.
3. Choose SFTP as your connection. The SFTP server at Notre Dame is:
darwin.cc.nd.edu
4. If you need additional info about completing the Connection Wizard options, click the Help button located at the bottom of the dialog box.

Browsing to a website

Using the Contribute browser, you can visit a website by entering its web address in the Address field in the toolbar.

You can browse to any website with Contribute, but you can only edit the pages of sites that you have created connections to.

Editing a web page

Before you can edit a web page on your site, you must first connect to the website. This can be done through the Connection Wizard or by clicking on the Create Connection button inside the browser.

To edit a page:

1. Browse to the page you want to edit, then click the Edit Page button.
2. Click in the page where you want to make changes. Please note that you can only change the areas of the page that have been designated as "editable regions" by the page Template.
3. To add text to your page, either type directly into the page, or copy and paste text from another document (ie. Word).

Creating a new web page

When you create a new web page, make sure you link it from an existing page in your website so your site visitors can view it.

To insert a link and add a new page:

1. Browse to the page that you want the link to appear in, then click the Edit Page button.
2. In your draft, click where you want to insert the link.
3. Click the Link button in the toolbar, then choose Create New Page.
4. In the Link Text text box, type the text you want to appear on the page.
5. In Create New Page From, select New Blank Page or choose a page you want to base the new page on.
6. Enter a title for the page in the New Page Title text box, then click OK.

Adding the contents of a Microsoft Office document to a page

1. Browse to the page you want to add the content to, then click the Edit Page button.
2. In your draft, click where you want to insert the content, then choose Insert > Microsoft Word Document or Insert > Microsoft Excel Document, depending on the document.
3. Browse to and select the file you want to import, then click Open.

The document's contents appear in the draft. Please note that if you have your Word or Excel document open at the same time you have your web page open in Contribute, you are able to drag and drop the text, table, etc. from the Microsoft application to Contribute.

Linking to a page or document

Macromedia Contribute lets you link to either existing or new web pages, files on your computer (such as Office documents), pages on other websites, and e-mail addresses.

To create a link:

1. Browse to the page that you want the link to appear in, then click the Edit Page button.
2. In your draft, click where you want the link to appear. You can also select and link text (or an image) that's already on the page.
3. Click the Link button in the toolbar, then choose the type of link you want to create.
4. In the Link Text text box, type the text you wan to appear on the page.
5. Select or browse to the page you want to link to, then click OK.

Inserting an image

You can easily add images to your web pages. Drag an image, or copy and paste it from another page to the draft you're editing. You can also use the Image button in the Contribute toolbar to select an image to insert into your page.

To insert an image in a page:

1. Click in the draft where you want the image to appear.
2. Click the Image button, and in the pop-up menu that appears, choose From My Computer.
3. In the Select Image dialog box, browse to and select the image, then click OK.

Please note that you are also able to add images that already exist on the Internet. Make sure that you have both your browser open (ie. Netscape, IE), and your Contribute document. Then simply click and drag the image from your Internet browser into your editable Contribute area. When you Publish the file, a copy will be made and placed in your website structure.

Inserting a table

Tables are a common way of presenting information, and are often used in web pages to lay out information and to present tabular data.

To insert a table into a page:

1. Click in the draft where you want the table to appear.
2. Click the table button.
3. In the Table dialog box, choose the Table Options you want to apply to the table - such as the number of rows, columns, headers, borders, and others.

Publishing a page

In the Contribute editor, select the draft you want to publish from the Pages panel in the sidebar, then click the Publish button. When the "sunny globe" icon appears, your changes have been made and are viewable in any web browser.

Putting a page up for review

From the File menu select "Email Review". You will be prompted with a box that says a copy of the file is being stored in a Temporary folder. After you click OK, Contribute will place a draft of your file in this folder, open your default email application, create a new mail document, and insert a link to the temporary file. You simply have to type in the recipient's email address. After the approver receives the message, approves the work, and replies to your email, you then only need to click Publish. When you click Publish, the temporary file will be erased.