A Guide to Creating Press Releases
Press Releases are created by adding new sections to the Press Releases page called 1/3 Column Content Boxes. Adding a title, excerpt and then linking the actual PDF of the Press Release to the new content section allows content to be displayed correctly. The steps described on this page help illustrate the correct process to create a new Press Release. Follow the steps below to create a new content box for your Press Release and then edit content within that box as needed.
Step 1: Uploading the Press Release PDF
The first step in creating a new Press Release is to take the PDF file of the Press Release and upload it to the Media Library so we can link to it later for visitors to access the PDF. In the backend of the website, navigate to Media > Add New and Drag & Drop the PDF into the area as prompted. This is just like adding any other image to the Media Library. Once the file is uploaded, click Edit to see the details of the file’s location, then Highlight & Copy the URL for the file so you can create the link to the file later.
At this point, you’ll need to go to the Press Releases page by clicking the following link and then selecting Edit Page to access the backend area to add the new Press Release.
Step 2: Adding a New Content Block
In the image above, you’ll see sections of the Press Releases page broken down into their corresponding elements within the backend editing portion of the page. This image provides a visual representation so that when we refer to items such as Containers or Text Blocks, you’ll know what those reference and how those items will appear on the live website once edits are made.
To create a space for the new Press Release, you’ll need a new 1/3 Column content box. To create this, you’ll simply duplicate the newest Press Release content block by clicking the Duplicate icon as illustrated in the image to the right. This will make an exact duplicate of the most recent Press Release content block, which means you’ll now have 2 blocks exactly the same next to each other. You’ll edit the 1/3 Column content block on the left so that the newest Press Release will show up first. Continuing to add Press Releases in this manner will keep the Press Releases ordered chronologically.
Step 3: Editing the URL
Now that you have 2 identical Press Releases, we simply want to change the title, excerpt and link the correct PDF to create the new Press Release. To start with, we’ll edit the URL of the PDF you uploaded earlier to the Media Library. To Edit any of the content blocks on the page, click the Pen icon as indicated in the image to the right.
Once you click the Pen icon, you’ll see a window containing specific properties to edit for the content block. In this case, we’re only going to be editing one area, so no changes should be made to any of the other sections within the window. Go to the Link URL section as shown in the highlighted image below, and paste the link you copied when you uploaded the PDF to the Media Library earlier. Once you’re sure the link for the URL is correct, click Save to close the window.
Step 4: Editing the Title
After you’ve added the URL to the new Press Release’s content box, you’ll need to edit the title of the Press Release. To do this, move your mouse over the first Text Block which contains the Title and click the Pen icon to open the editing window. With the text block window open, change the existing title to that of your new Press Release. Make sure the title is using the Heading 3 setting as shown in the drop-down highlighted in the image below. Once you have the title the way you want it, click Save to close the window.
Step 5: Editing the Date & Excerpt
As described in Step 5 above, you’ll click on the Pen icon for the second Text Block to open the editing window for the Press Release excerpt. Once open, you’ll be able to edit the date and the brief excerpt of the Press Release as shown below. As before, when you have this area set up as you want it, click Save to close the window.
Step 6: Update and You’re Done!
The final step is to click the Update button along the top right side of the page and then you’re changes will be made live for everyone to see.
That’s it, you’re done!