Image via Wikipedia

We have been asked by more than a few people to talk a little bit about how to create an article for the website. Having the ability to create your own content on the site is an exciting change for all of us, but it can seem a bit intimidating if your experience on the internet consists mostly of clicking on links and occasionally filling in a form. Here's the way we approach the task, and the tools we use to get the job done:

First, know what you want to say. This is probably the hardest part of writing, and we suffer from the "blank page" syndrome just like anyone else. One tactic is to jot down a short outline of your thoughts and use that outline to guide you in creating the article. A novel approach is to use the new Zemanta tool that we have turned on for article creation. When you click on "Submit an Article" and open up the Editor window, you can scroll down just under the main text area and the Zemanta tools will be ready for you. You should see a button called "Get Inspired". If you click the button it will open areas that have images and links for you to use. Click on an image or link and it will be be placed in the Editor text area. Click on another image and the new image will replace the old; this might start your writing engine.

Your article should make use of images and links in an appropriate manner; you don't need links to a football team in a story about Lent (at least I can't see the connection), so you can let Zemanta suggest links for you. As you type, Zemanta reads your text and will suggest links and related articles that you can use as you see fit. The links appear as buttons below your text, the images appear as thumbnails and the related articles are listed in grey boxes.  Clicking on a link will cause the corresponding word in your article to become a link, clicking on a thumbnail will add the photo to your article, and clicking on a related article will add that resource to a list below your text. These additional items change as you type; Zemanta tries to reflect all of your text, so every so often you will see things shift in the Zemanta window.

Another important idea is to link to other articles or assets on our site. You can do this easily with the Linkr button below the text area (the button is labelled Linkr with a small chain link next to it. Opening up Linkr will give you a list of articles, menu items, contacts and files that you can link into your article. If you need to upload a file, you can click on upload and send the desired file to the server, creating your link. Once you find a link you just click on "Get Link" and the link will be inserted into your article.

Let's review how far we have progressed: we started with a general idea, refined it and entered text into the Editor. We added links to other website items with Linkr, added some Contact information with Linkr, uploaded a needed file and created a link with Linkr, added a great image with Zemanta, inserted links to our key words with Zemanta, added related articles with Zemanta, and Presto! we're done. We now pick the area of the site for the article and save.

Congratulations! You've just created a professional looking article for the web! We won't spill the beans about the fact that you know nothing about HTML, XML, Web Services and the Semantic Web. Your secret is safe with us.

For those persons who would prefer to see the site in their native language, there is a selection box in the upper left column that will allow you to translate the site into just about any language imaginable (apologies to those who are not listed). You just select the language and the translation is automatic. Note that the top menu may appear in two rows if the translation of the menu item is long. In order to go back to English, click on the "X" in the Google translation bar that will appear at the top of the screen.

If you ever wanted to see what the site looks like in Chinese or Arabic, here's your chance to experiment!

As the number of technical Articles has grown it has become necessary to make sure that they don't take over the entire Front Page.  For this reason a new Section has been added to the website, called "Technical Articles".  We will no longer publish these articles to the Front Page; you can go to the Technical Articles Section by clicking on "Help" and then "Technical Articles".  If you have suggestions for technical information that you'd like to see submitted, please send an email to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Post a Suggestion in the Feedback area.

Fear Not!

If you are having problems with the website or just have techie questions about using electronic systems to do the many tasks that our work for the Knights requires, help is at hand.

There is a new section in the Feedback area called "Help Me!" where you can post a question; we can't promise to answer every question posed, but we're pretty good at this computer stuff and if we don't know the answer we know other people who do. This area is monitored every day, so we should be able to respond to your questions fairly quickly.

Go To Help Me!

As promised, here are four recorded instructional movies that explain how to create Links, Events and Articles on the website. Feel free to view them as many times as necessary so that you can understand the tools that you will be using to create these items.

Note that you must be logged into the website in order to create the actual items; you do not have to be logged in to view the movies.  The movies open up in a window on your screen; when you have finished viewing a movie you can click on the white X in the lower right of the window to return to this page.

How to Create a Link

How to Create an Event

How to Create an Article Part 1

How to Create an Article Part 2

If you have questions about the movies or need more assistance after viewing the information please feel free to contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it via email with your questions.