Weblogs (blogs) on the CS Dept website are powered by the Zinnia blog engine. Zinnia is a django application that integrates with our CMS.

Posting an Entry

Only certain users have permission to post entries to a blog. Posts are held in draft status until a moderator approves them for publication.

Sign In

Visit the sign in page and sign in using your Brown Account. Note that you are only signed in when you are connected securely (via ssl). You can sign in from any page on the CS website by clicking on the "Sign In" link in the lower right corner.

Create Your Post

• Navigate to the blog (be sure to use https - a secure connection).
• Click on New Entry in the CMS toolbar Zinnia pulldown menu.
• Enter a title and click on Save and continue editing
• Click View on Site.
• Look for "Your content here."
  • Tip: if the toolbar says "Live" click it so it says "Draft"
  • Tip: no Live/Draft button?  Select Page -> Edit this page
• Double click on it.
• Compose your post in the edit popup window.
• Click Save.

Add Images

You can add an image in either of two ways:

• At the top of the "post an entry" form.
• By adding an image plugin within the text plugin.

Adding an image at the top is simpler, but you can add only one this way per post.  You can add as many image plugins as you like and can access the library of stored images in the CMS.  Using a plugin also gives you finer control over image sizes and how they appear in the flow of your text.

Permissions and Publishing

Blog posting is restricted to certain classes of user, depending on the blog.  Blogs are also moderated.  Authors who do not see a "publish" checkbox should send an email message to the blog moderator (he or she is not automatically notified).

Plugins?

Plugins are a feature of our CMS. To learn more about what they can do and how to use them, visit the cms page.