Setting up the Document
You will need to fill in the school details in the Schoolzine Newsletter Template with the Newsletter Date, your School/College Name, as well as your Name and Email.
Handy Hints
- This information can be filled out in the Schoolzine Newsletter Template in your template folder. That way when you copy the folder, the information is already there.
- Remember to update the Newsletter Date for each newsletter, to the date you would like your newsletter to be distributed.
Style Menu
The style menu allows you to quickly apply custom Schoolzine styles to your content, so that you do not have to colour and style the newsletter content individually. It is important that the template styles are used in your newsletter, as it allows Schoolzine to format your content accurately. This results in quicker turn-around times and less changes during the amendment process.
The style menu should appear by default in the Menu ribbon at the top of your document. If it does not appear here you can access it by pressing Shift, Control, Alt and S.
Adding your Content
To begin adding your newsletter content, you can either copy and paste your content or type directly into the template.
Here are a few tips to make the process easier, and to cut down on changes in the amendment process:
- Make sure you add all of your articles in the order that you would like them to appear in the final copy.
- Ensure that all articles have a heading, this will make navigating to articles in the online version much easier.
- Ensure your newsletter is proofread before you upload your content to Schoolzine.
Headings
Once all of your newsletter content has been added to the template, you will need to apply heading styles to your articles.
Heading 1’s are used for the main headline for each article. To apply, select the text and press the Heading 1 style in the style menu.
Heading 2’s are used for sub headings. To apply, select the text and press the Heading 2 style in the style menu.
Handy Hints
- Any heading styled as a Heading 1 will appear in the Newsletter Articles index at the beginning of the newsletter.
- A Heading 3 style is also available if you require a sub heading underneath a Heading 2.
Images and Galleries
To add an image in your content, type the file name in the spot you would like the image to appear and style it with the Image/Attachment style.
To add a caption, type Caption: and the text you would like to display under the image reference. Make sure the caption is styled with the Image/Attachment style.
Images can be floated next to a paragraph of text, allowing the text to wrap around the image. To insert a floated image within your content, type the file name with either (float left) or (float right) next to it and mark it with the Image/Attachment style.
If you have 5 or more images that you would like to add in the one spot in the newsletter, this will go into the newsletter as a gallery. To make it easier to reference the gallery, place the images in an appropriately named sub-folder in your images folder. Then type the folder name in the spot you would like the gallery to appear and style it with the Image/Attachment style.
If you would like a specific name for your gallery, type Gallery Name: with the name you would like the gallery to be called, under the gallery reference. Make sure the gallery name is styled with the Image/Attachment style.
Handy Hints
- It is important that all Image or Gallery references are styled in red.
- Please do not place images directly into your template as we are unable to extract them when your document is run through our engine.
Attachments
To add a PDF file in your content, type the file name in the spot you would like the file to appear and style it with the Image/Attachment style.
If you would like the PDF file to be displayed as an image in the newsletter, type Embed next to the file name.
Handy Hints
- We do not recommend embedding flyers with a lot of text as they are often difficult to read in your online newsletter, especially if it is being viewed on a small screen such as a mobile or tablet.
Videos
To add a video in your content, type in the video’s URL (web address) (eg. www.youtube.com/abcd1234) in the spot you would like the video to appear and style it with the Image/Attachment style.
By default Schoolzine will embed all YouTube and Vimeo videos. This means that your community will not have to navigate away from the newsletter to view the video. The video URL (web address) will also be placed into the Print PDF version of the newsletter.
Character Styles
The Bold, Italic and Underline styles can be applied to your newsletter content. All three styles can be used at the same time if needed.
Coloured text can also be applied to your newsletter content. The colours available are:
- Blue
- Green
- Orange
- Pink
- Purple
- Red
- Yellow
We don’t recommend using yellow as it is hard to read on the white background of your newsletter.
Handy Hints
- You cannot apply colours to text if you have already used the bold, italic or underline style.
Bullet Points and Numbered Lists
Bullet points and numbered lists can be applied to your newsletter content. If you would like a list to be included, use the default styles from the menu ribbon.
Handy Hints
- We are unable to replicate bullet points with special characters such as arrows, ticks or crosses.
Colour and Border Tables
If you have an article, paragraph or quote that you would like to stand out from the rest of your newsletter, we can format the content with either a coloured border or a coloured background.
Submit the content in a single cell table with Insert Border Table or Insert Colour Table above it. If you do not indicate which style you would like to use, we will pick one based on the content supplied.
Handy Hints
- The colour of your border and colour tables is based on your school colours.
- Please do not use Word text boxes as they are not supported and are removed when your newsletter is run through our engine.
Tables
When submitting a table make sure content is separated into its own cell, otherwise related content may no longer align properly.
If you would like to include a borderless table, remove the borders from the table using the table settings in Word.
Tabbed Data
Please do not use the Tab key to create spaces between words. Tabbed data is unable to be replicated in your newsletter, as tabs are automatically removed from your document when it is run through our engine
If you would like to include this content in your newsletter, we recommend using a table or an alternative formatting style such as dashes ( – ).
Advising newsletter contributors about the recommended format for newsletter content cuts down on the changes you will need to make when putting the newsletter together.
Send the following document to your newsletter contributors to give them a guide for supplying content.