The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University

Things are changing

You may have noticed a few subtle changes to the Peabody website in recent days. We're in the process of updating the technology that runs the site, adding features that have become standard since the site was last updated back in 2005. Over the coming weeks we'll update a few features at a time. Nothing will be radically different, but you'll see a few changes:

1. First, and perhaps most important, we have an updated text editor.
2. We've added comments to blogs, so they function more like actual blogs—please comment on this blog if you have any questions or concerns.
3. These comments also link to the message boards. It's a little tricky to explain, but if you run a message board on your pages check it out.
4. Blogs now have RSS—add this blog to your reader and get updates automatically.
5. We've added a nifty feature to image galleries that make them a bit easier on the eye. See below for an example.

So, for the meat of this post: an introduction to the new text editor.

The WYSIWYG editor looks much the same as the old version, some buttons have moved, so you may need to look for them. A couple of things to highlight:

Styles

The styles dropdown now shows you what each style will look like

 

 

Paste from Word 

The Paste from Word function works a lot better, so if you're copying and pasting from Word, please do it via this tool. Just click on the Paste from Word button, paste your text into the box, and click OK.

Linking 

The Insert/Edit Link button is now much more robust, and a couple of features have moved, so we'll take a closer look:

To link to another website:

1. Select the text you want to link from
2. Click on the Insert/Edit Link button in the toolbar
3. Paste your link into the URL field

If you want the link to open in a new tab or window (which is preferable if you're linking to a page outside the Peabody website):

1. Click on the Target tab
2. Select New Window (_blank) from the dropdown
3. Click OK

You can add anchors within a page (for an example of anchors at work see http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/694)

1. Select the area you would like to place an anchor (this doesn't have to be some text, just place your cursor in the spot you want the link to point to)
2. Click on the Insert/Edit Anchor button
3. Give your anchor a name
4. Click OK - you'll see a little anchor icon in the spot you selected.

To link to this anchor:

1. Select the text you want to link from
2. Click on the Insert/Edit Link button in the toolbar
3. Select Link to anchor in the text from the Link Type dropdown
4. Select your anchor from the Select an Anchor by Anchor Name dropdown
5. Click ok.

This editor also makes linking to an email address a little easier:

1. Select the text you want to link from
2. Click on the Insert/Edit Link button in the toolbar
3. Select E-Mail from the Link Type dropdown
4. Paste the email address - you can also specify the subject line of the email and some text to be included in the message body.

 So there you have it. Some new features that should make posting to the website a little easier. Look out for more enhancements over the coming weeks, and please leave any questions in the comments.

Paul

 

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