Create an Account -
When you visit the site, you’ll see a box for a username and password. Before you can log in, you need to register an account. Registering online is also a way to ensure that we have your contact information in our database and makes joining as a member easier for everybody. Once you fill out the form and click Create New Account at the bottom, you will receive an e-mail with your new password. Once you receive it, return to the site and use the username you selected and that password to log in (you can use the “request new password” feature if you forget it). The rest of the features in this explanation will assume that you’ve logged in.

Once you register an account, you start out as an authenticated user. You've got more privileges than an anonymous user, such as posting in the forum. However, if you've indicated a desire to be a web volunteer, an admin user will soon upgrade you to a web volunteer. If you get impatient, feel free to bug 'em by e-mailing the webweaver address listed at the bottom of every page. Once you are a web volunteer you'll be able to do the things listed here.

News, Stories and Event Notices -
The front page of the website includes recently posted items of all sorts. The boxes on the left side inform you of upcoming events and recent news items. You can comment on almost every piece of content, so if you want to add a note or question directly to a topic, click the add new comment link.

Create Content: News stories -
As a registered user, you can also submit content for the site. If you see something that looks like interesting election reform news, use the Create Content link, and select Story to submit a story. Ignore the “view/edit permissions” boxes, choose a topic (if one applies) and enter your text (be sure to include the web address of the news story that you want to reference if you want). Click preview, and if everything looks good, scroll down again and click submit. Users who have moderator privileges will look over your content and approve it before it gets published on the site.You can basically experiment without too much danger; only posts to the forums and blog entries will be posted immediately. Other types of content need to be approved by admin users through the submission queue in order to get linked on the front page or other pages.

Use the Forums to Keep in Touch -
Keep in mind that the forum is open to public viewing for now. You can add a topic to the forum by using the Create Content link.

Web Logs (Blogs) @ FairVote MN -
The FairVote MN website enables each user to publish a blog. A blog is a popular new format for digital communication; it’s kind of like an online journal. We’ve got a special section dedicated to blogs. You can use the Create Content link to create your first blog entry, and every other blog entry after that.

-->Web Volunteers
If you are on the Board of Directors or you are a recognized website volunteer, you can edit website content, add your committee's minutes/news, and announce upcoming meetings. Here is information on how to do some of those functions.

Edit content
If you see a tab labeled "edit" above a page on this site, you can edit it. For instance, if you go to the About page, you can click the "edit" tab underneath "About FairVote Minnesota" and add, modify or remove content. Ignore any boxes or fields that you don't understand; just scroll down to the "Body" section where you can edit the body text. The site uses a visual editor plug in that allows you to edit content as it will appear in the final result. The visual editor works with Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox browsers, but may not work for other browsers. If it does not work in your browser, you can still edit content but be sure not to delete any HTML tags unless you understand HTML (HTML tags are text contained in greater-than/less-than signs, like this: <tag> and </tag>).

Plain text edits are easy to make: just enter text and press return when necessary. If you only want a line-break, and not a space between lines, hold down shift when you press the enter/return button. Once you've entered text, you can add highlights, like bold and italic text, bullets, or web links by using the buttons above the text-entry box. Just select the text you want to format and click the appropriate button. When adding a link, be sure to include the "http://" prefix. When adding a link to an e-mail address, be sure to add the prefix "mailto:" before the address.

Finally, scroll down to the bottom and press the "preview" button. This will reload the page and give you a preview of the finished page. You can scroll down and fix any mistakes you made again in the Body box. When finished, scroll all the way down and click the "submit" button. You can always click "edit" again to fix any problems.

Add meeting minutes or general information:
You can also add new pages to the website. The best way to add permanent information is using the "book page" type of content. Book pages can be placed into a hierarchical outline of content, making them easy to navigate. Click the link above, or use the "Create content" link at left to create a new book page. Creating a book page involves the same steps above for adding content, but you also have to be aware of four additional steps. See step one for how to submit content even if you are unsure about how to format it or link it to the site.

First, you need to decide whether this page will be promoted to the front page or not in the "options" box. You always want "published" and "create new revision" checked in the options box; this will ensure that your new page will be available to the public. If you also want the page to be listed on the front page of the site (only for important or interesting news), check the "promote to front page" box. If you are unsure of whether this should be published or not, how to format the content, or how to link the page into the site, check the box labeled "In moderation queue." This will allow other administrators and volunteers to look at the content, correct any errors, and place it in the site.

Second, you need to add a title for the page in the "Title" field.

Third, you need to select where to put the book within the book hierarchies by using the "Parent" drop-down menu. The parent you select here will be the page "right above" the page that you are creating.

Fourth, you should select a category for your page using the "topic" menu. Topics are vary general categories for content on the site, which users can navigate to get a general sense of what is going on across all committees. For example, every page that is labeled with the "FairVote News" topic will be listed under the news list in the left column. Pick a topic if one applies pretty well.

Adding a meeting announcement:
Use the link above, or the Create Content link on the right side of the screen to add a new page of the "event" type. Events are listed in the "Upcoming Events" section in the right column.

Most of the above information about creating content applies to creating an event. However, you also have to choose a category listing under the "Events" drop-down menu, and you have to set the time and date that the event starts. You do not choose a parent for an event. Again, choose the "In moderation queue" checkbox under "options" if you are not sure that your event listing is complete or ready for the public, and moderators will look at it.

Don't forget to include the time, place, brief agenda, and expected audience inside the body of the event listing!