Primary Links
The primary links (at the top, directly below the header image) offer links to some basic information about our town: photos, history, FAQs, etc. The top links are static, although the content they "point to" is not. An example of this: when you add a new "Thing to do" and click submit, it will appear in the Activities section, which is reached via the "Activities" link at the top of the site.
Author menus
For logged-in site authors / moderators / developers, however, the right hand navigation bar will change, depending upon where you are in the site, what your role is (group administrator? site author?), and what you’re allowed to do within that area.
Until you're logged in, there are only a few "blocks" on the right side. After you log in, the Navigation menu changes to show your name at the top, and links to the various things you can do and areas you can visit will appear there. (Go ahead and explore! You can return to the Site Help section by clicking the Site help link in the menu below your name.) The Navigation menu allows you to Create content, and view/edit some of your personal spots on the site, like your account settings, inbox, etc. More on some of this later...the main concept right now is not to be afraid to explore the site and see what it includes!
If you are a member of any groups, a "My groups" block will appear in the right navigation menu after you log in, which will include links to your groups. If you click on the My Groups header to expand that menu, then on a specific group link, a new menu will appear with the group title as the heading. This menu allows you to do things within the group: you can create content within the group, view group subscribers, and change your subscription settings, to name a few. More on groups later.
Keep in mind, you can create content via two routes: using the Create content links that appear under your name(which allow you to easily post public content OR private / group content), or via the Group links (which allow you to easily post directly to your group, although you can also post public content here, too). More on posting content later.
There are also "invite a friend" features that appear in the Group menus AND in your standard "name" menu. The group invite allows you to invite people to join the site as a member of your group; the one found in the menu with your name at the top invites people to the site in general. (More on Groups later.)
Don’t get nervous about getting lost. When you’re logged in as an author, you will notice as you move throughout the site that menus change a bit and options appear in one place that weren’t there on the last page you visited. The site is designed to do that – this is not a static site! If you ever feel lost, just click the HOME link at the top and start over, using the links to get back to what you were trying to reach or do – you’ll remain logged in while your browser is open, even if you cancel out of a post or content you were trying to create.
The back button is your friend! If you begin to create content or edit something and are unsure if you are doing it correctly, or change your mind, you can just click away from that page to cancel what you were doing, or use the back button to return to where you were before.
Explore the links to see where they take you! Create Content is where I hope you’ll spend a lot of your time, however. That’s the section you’ll use to create the site content!
Note about this section: The Site Help section was created as a Book with child pages, so you can use the links at the bottom of each page to navigate throughout the section. Use the previous page, next page, or UP links and save yourself a bit of scrolling!
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