OWFR News Hub
Communications Team Guide

The OWFR News Hub is a special area of the OWFR website where the communications team can publish and manage all news articles, press releases, newsletters, featured initiatives, and ministry communications, without needing to write any code or ask a developer.

Think of it as a self-contained bulletin board built directly into WordPress. Everything you create here appears instantly and automatically on the public-facing "News & Updates" page of the website, organized into clean tabs that visitors can browse.

What can the News Hub display?

• News articles with a title, description, date, and a "Learn More" button
• Downloadable documents (PDFs, Word files) in English and/or French
• Partner logos displayed at the top of a card
• Photos or images associated with a story
• Links to external websites
• The current issue of The Currents newsletter

The four default sections

All items are organized into one of four tabs on the public page:

When visitors navigate to the News & Updates page, they see the following from top to bottom:

1. Hero banner: A green header bar at the top with a title ("News & Updates") and a short introductory sentence. This text can be edited directly on the page if you are logged in.
2. Search bar: Visitors can type a keyword to instantly filter all items across all sections. Results update live as they type.
3. Section tabs: Four tabs (News Releases, Newsletters, Featured Initiatives, Ministry Communications). Clicking a tab shows only the items in that category.
4. Cards: Each news item appears as a rectangular card with an optional image or logos, a category badge, the title, a short description, the date, and one or more action buttons (e.g. "Learn More", "Download").

The Admin Dashboard is your central control panel. You reach it through the WordPress back-end, which is the area you log into to manage the website.

1. Log in to WordPress at ottawawestfourrivers.com/wp-admin using your username and password.
2. In the left-hand sidebar, look for the megaphone icon labelled News Hub and click it.
3. You are now on the News Hub Dashboard page.

The top of the Dashboard shows four summary boxes that give you a quick snapshot of your content:

The three main action buttons

• Add New Item: Opens the form to create a brand-new news card. See Section 5 for full details.
• Export All (JSON): Downloads a backup file of all your content. See Section 17.
• Import Data: Restores content from a previously exported backup file. See Section 17.

The items table

Below the buttons is a table listing every news item you have created. Each row shows:

Section filter tabs (above the table)

Above the table you will see a row of tabs: All, then one tab for each section. Click a section tab to filter the table to show only items from that section, which is useful when you have a long list and want to focus on one category at a time.

You can add a new item in two ways; both open the same form:

• From the Dashboard: Click the green ＋ Add New Item button at the top.
• Directly on the website: When you are logged in and browsing the News & Updates page, you will see a "＋ Add New Item" tile at the end of each section's card grid. Clicking it opens the same form, pre-set to that section.

A panel slides in from the right side of the screen with all the fields. Fill in whatever is relevant for your item, then click Save at the bottom. The item appears on the website immediately.

When you open the "Add New Item" or "Edit Item" form, you will see the following fields. Required fields are marked in red; all others are optional.

Basic Information

Images & Logos

Links & Downloadable Files

Display Options

You have two ways to edit an item:

Option A: From the Admin Dashboard

1. Go to the News Hub Dashboard (WordPress menu → News Hub).
2. Find the item in the table. Use the section filter tabs to narrow it down if needed.
3. Click the ✎ (pencil) button in the Actions column on the far right.
4. The edit form opens. Make your changes.
5. Click Save. The website updates immediately.

Option B: Directly on the website (inline editing)

1. Make sure you are logged in to WordPress.
2. Visit the News & Updates page on the website.
3. Hover over any card; a ✎ pencil icon will appear in the top-right corner of the card.
4. Click the pencil icon to open the edit form for that card.
5. Make your changes and click Save.

To delete from the Admin Dashboard:

1. Find the item in the Dashboard table.
2. Click the ✕ button in the Actions column.
3. A confirmation prompt will appear asking you to confirm. Click OK to permanently delete.

To delete directly on the website:

1. While logged in, visit the News & Updates page.
2. Hover over the card you want to remove; the ✕ (delete) icon will appear alongside the pencil icon.
3. Click the ✕ icon and confirm the prompt.

Every item in the News Hub has a Status that controls its visibility. Understanding this is important for managing older or sensitive content.

To change a status, edit the item (either from the Dashboard or inline on the website) and change the Status dropdown to the desired option, then click Save.

Marking an item as Featured gives it a special visual treatment on the website: it receives a gold/green left border and a ★ Featured badge so it stands out from the rest of the cards.

Featured items are still shown in the same section as other items; they are not moved to a separate area. To make a featured item appear at the top of its section, you should also drag it to the first position (see Section 12 on Reordering).

How to feature an item:

1. Open the item's edit form (from the Dashboard or by clicking the pencil icon on the website).
2. Scroll to the bottom of the form and check the box labelled ★ Featured Item.
3. Click Save.

To unfeature it, uncheck the same box and save again.

The News Hub supports three card sizes. On a desktop computer, the cards are displayed in a 12-column grid; here is how each size fills that grid:

To change a card's size, edit the item and click the desired size option in the Card Size selector in the form. The selected size is highlighted with a green border.

You control the order in which cards appear within each section. By default, items appear in the order they were added. You can change this whenever you like.

Reordering from the Admin Dashboard:

1. Go to the News Hub Dashboard.
2. Use the filter tabs above the table to show one section at a time.
3. Click and drag the ⠿ (six-dot grid icon) on the left side of any table row to a new position.
4. After dragging, a green "Save New Order" button will appear. Click it to apply the new order.

Reordering directly on the website:

1. While logged in, visit the News & Updates page.
2. You will see drag handles (⠿ or grip icons) on the cards while in edit mode.
3. Drag cards to the desired position. The new order saves automatically.

Sections are the category tabs shown across the top of the News Hub (News Releases, Newsletters, Featured Initiatives, Ministry Communications). The system comes with four default sections, but these can be adjusted.

Adding a new section (while on the website):

1. While logged in, visit the News & Updates page on the website.
2. At the far right of the section tabs bar, look for a ＋ button.
3. Click it, enter a name and choose an icon, then save. The new tab appears immediately.

Deleting a section (while on the website):

1. While logged in, visit the News & Updates page.
2. When in edit mode, each section tab has a small × next to its name.
3. Click the × to delete the section. Items assigned to it will be hidden until moved to another section.

Resetting sections to the default four:

1. Go to the News Hub Dashboard.
2. Scroll to the bottom section titled Section Defaults.
3. Click "Reset Sections to Defaults".
4. This restores the four default sections in the correct order: News Releases, Newsletters, Featured Initiatives, Ministry Communications.

The Newsletters tab on the website displays a single, special card for the current issue of The Currents. This card is managed separately from regular news items; it uses a fixed design with the OWFR logo and a "View Online" button.

Each time a new issue is published, you need to update two things: the label (the month and year shown on the card) and the URL (the link to the online version).

How to update the newsletter card:

1. Go to the News Hub Dashboard.
2. Scroll down to the section titled "Newsletters: Current Issue".
3. In the Newsletter Label field, update the month and year. Example: change "March 2026" to "April 2026".
4. In the Online View URL field, paste the new link from your email platform (e.g. from Cyberimpact or Mailchimp).
5. Click Save.

One of the most powerful features of the News Hub is inline editing. You can add, edit, reorder, and delete content while looking at the live public page. This is often faster than going through the Dashboard.

What you can do directly on the website:

Editing the Hero banner:

The green banner at the very top of the News Hub page has a title and a short introduction sentence. When you are logged in, hovering over the banner reveals a pencil icon. Click it to open an edit form where you can change the title and the intro text. Click Save when done.

The search bar at the top of the News Hub page allows any visitor (and you) to search across all sections at once. As soon as someone starts typing, the cards are filtered live to show only those that match the search term.

The search looks through the title, summary, source label, and section name of every item.

A small counter (e.g. "4 results") appears next to the search box to tell visitors how many matching items were found. Clearing the search field returns all items.

The News Hub includes a simple backup system so you never have to worry about losing your content. All your items, sections, and settings can be exported to a single file and restored at any time.

Exporting (creating a backup)

1. Go to the News Hub Dashboard.
2. Click the ⬇ Export All (JSON) button.
3. Your browser will automatically download a file named something like owfr-news-hub-export.json.
4. Save this file somewhere safe: a shared drive, your desktop, or an email to yourself.

Importing (restoring from a backup)

1. Go to the News Hub Dashboard.
2. Click the ⬆ Import Data button. An import panel will appear.
3. Either click Choose File and select your saved JSON backup file, or paste the contents of the JSON file directly into the text area.
4. Click Import & Replace.
5. A confirmation message will appear once the import is successful. The page will reflect the restored content.

What the backup file contains

The exported JSON file contains:

• All news items (title, summary, dates, links, files, images, statuses)
• Section definitions (names and order)
• Item ordering within each section
• Plugin settings (colours, newsletter URL and label, hero text)

You do not need to understand the contents of the file. Just keep it safe and use it to restore if anything goes wrong.

Writing good summaries

• Aim for 2-3 sentences, enough to tell visitors what the item is about.
• Front-load the most important information (the "who, what, where" first).
• Avoid repeating the title word-for-word in the first line of the summary.
• If the description is long, that is fine. A "Read more" link will appear automatically for visitors to expand it.

Keeping images consistent

• Use landscape (horizontal) images. They fit the card format better than portrait (vertical).
• For partner logos, square or horizontal PNG files with a transparent or white background look best.
• Always upload images to the WordPress Media Library first, then use the Media button to insert them, which ensures the files are properly stored on the website server.

Organizing content

• Use the Featured flag and drag items to the top when something is especially important.
• Set items to Archived rather than deleting them, as you may want to reference old content.
• Use the Date field consistently, as it helps visitors quickly understand how recent an item is.
• Use the Source Label to indicate which organization a release is from (especially for ministry content).

Monthly newsletter workflow

1. Send the newsletter through Cyberimpact as usual.
2. Copy the "View Online" link from the top of the newsletter email.
3. In the News Hub Dashboard, scroll to "Newsletters: Current Issue".
4. Update the label (month and year) and paste the new URL.
5. Click Save. The card on the website updates immediately.

Regular maintenance suggestions

• Review the News Hub monthly and archive items that are no longer current.
• Export a backup at the start of each month before making changes.
• Keep the number of Active items per section reasonable, as too many cards can overwhelm visitors.

I saved an item but I don't see it on the website. What happened?

Check the item's Status. It may have been accidentally saved as "Hidden" or "Archived". Edit the item and change the Status to Active, then save again. Also confirm the item is assigned to the correct Section. If it is in a section that does not currently exist, it will be invisible.

I deleted an item by accident. Can I get it back?

Unfortunately, deleted items cannot be recovered from within the News Hub. If you had exported a backup recently, you can use Import to restore all content, but be aware this will also overwrite any changes made since the backup was taken. Going forward, archiving items instead of deleting them avoids this problem.

The section tabs are in the wrong order / an extra one appeared. How do I fix it?

Go to the News Hub Dashboard, scroll to the Section Defaults area, and click "Reset Sections to Defaults". This restores the four standard tabs in the correct order.

Can I add a completely new section that is not one of the four defaults?

Yes. While logged in on the public News & Updates page, click the ＋ button at the end of the tab bar and give the new section a name. Keep in mind that items need to be assigned to the new section individually.

The "Read more" button does not appear on some cards. Is that a bug?

No, that is intentional. The "Read more" button only appears when the summary text is long enough to be cut off at 3 lines. Short descriptions that fit entirely within 3 lines do not need the button, so it is automatically hidden for those cards.

Can two items be in the same section?

Yes. In fact, most sections will have multiple items. All items assigned to the same section appear together in that section's tab, in whatever order you have arranged them.

I see editing icons on the website but my colleague does not. Why?

Editing controls are only visible to logged-in WordPress users with Editor access or higher. Regular visitors and logged-out users never see the pencil or delete icons.

Can I have both an English and French file for the same item?

Yes; use the Attached Files section when editing an item. It has two tabs (English and French) where you can add as many files as needed for each language. They will appear as separate, labelled download links on the card.

Who do I contact if something is broken or I need more help?

Reach out to the website administrator or the developer who manages the OWFR website. Before reaching out, try exporting a backup so the current state of the content is preserved.