This document provides an overview and instructions for using a Content Management System (CMS) called CommunityOS to manage various types of content for state Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) websites. It describes how to create pages, newsletters, fileshares, forums and customize the website. Users can contact National VOAD for training and support on using CommunityOS to manage content for their state VOAD portal.

1. VOAD Disaster Ready:
Level 1
CommunityOS - Content Management System (CMS)
VisionLink: Ray Thompson and Rene Alvarez
alvarez@visionlink.org
www.visionlink.org #50stateVOAD
twitter.com/visionlink #VOAD

2. Introduction
National VOAD in partnership with VisionLink are providing each state VOAD with their
own CommunityOS platform portal. This platform offers a centralized place for each
state organization to maintain all pertinent disaster related information.
Information can be public and restricted to authorized users, including resources,
contacts, policy and processes, documents, and much more.
How to Access the State VOAD Site
VisionLink is creating a website for each state VOAD. The individual state VOAD
contacts will be notified once their site is ready. At that point users will need to
register on the site.
Training
VisionLink will be hosting training sessions on the tools to manage the website. Each
state VOAD contact will be invited to participate in a training session once their site is
available.

3. Introduction (cont’d)
Website Customization
After completing training each state will be able to customize the content, navigation
menus, and images on their website to meet their specific needs.
Who to Contact
Once a state VOAD has completed training, Tyler McKee (support@nvoad.org) at
National VOAD is the contact person for questions about user accounts and website
management.
Monthly State VOAD User Group
Starting in June 2012 (watch for your email dates and times), VisionLink will be hosting
a monthly State VOAD Users Group. These users group sessions will give
representatives from different states a chance to share ideas, and ask questions of
their peers. Additional information about the users group will be distributed shortly.

4. BASIC FEATURES

5. Accessing the State VOAD Site
• VisionLink has created a website for each
state VOAD:
Ex: vlvoad.communityos.org
• All users will need to register on their site.

6. Who to Contact
• Once a state VOAD has completed training,
Tyler McKee at National VOAD will serve as
the contact person for questions about user
accounts, and website management.
• Contact Tyler at support@nvoad.org

7. State VOAD User Group
• Starting June 6, 2012, VisionLink began
hosting monthly State VOAD Users Group
the first Wednesday of every month at 1PM
MST.
• Topics for these user groups have included:
– Suggestions for site improvements
• “I would like it if my site could…”
– Discussing different tasks
• “How do I…”
– Specialized Overviews

8. BASIC OVERVIEW:
CREATING A PAGE
Content Management System (CMS)

9. Creating a Page
• When creating a
page, select the
“Create Page” link
under the
Administer menu
• The Administer
menu will be on
the left side of the
page

10. Creating a Page: Title
• The “Title” field
corresponds to
the header of the
page of content.
• This field is
required and
cannot be left
blank.

11. Creating a Page: Menu Link Title
• To access the Menu link title
field, select the “Menu
settings” link
• The “Menu link title” field will
allow user to name the page
on the menu bar
• A name must be given to the
menu item, otherwise the
page will not show up on the
orange menu bar.

12. Creating a Page: Parent Item
• The “Parent Item:” field
controls whether the page
that will appear on the
menu bar as a primary link
or as a sub-menu:
– If the page will be listed as
a sub-menu, select the
desired menu item from
the “Parent item:”.
– If the page will be listed as
a primary link, leave the
“Parent item:” field on the
default setting, “<Primary
links>”

13. Creating a Page: Weight
• The “Weight:” field can
be used to determine
where on the menu bar
the link will appear. A
larger negative number
puts the menu item
farther to the left while a
larger positive number
puts the menu item
farther to the right.

14. Creating a Page: Body
• The Body field will contain all
of the content related to the
page. The CMS includes a rich
text editor that will allow a
user to utilize a Word
Processor-type editor when
creating a page of content.
• From this one tool a user will
be able to insert images, Flash
movies, change the
font/background colors and
perform a spell check.

15. Creating a Page: Body [Source]
• For the users that are
comfortable with working
with HTML Code, they can
select the “Source” button.
• This will convert the body
text into html code so that
the user can manually enter
or manipulate the page

16. Creating a Page: Body [Image Upload]
• Adding images to the CMS
requires selecting this
button, which will bring up
a new window

17. Creating a Page: Body [Image Upload]
• From here, the image can
be formatted to fit the
user’s needs
• The image dimensions
can be set using the
“Width” and “Height”
fields
• The image alignment can
be set under the “Align”
field. This will allow the
image to be “right-
aligned”, “left-aligned,
etc.

18. Creating a Page: Body [Hyperlink]
• Adding hyperlinks to the
CMS requires selecting this
button, which will bring up
a new window
• The secondary hyperlink
symbol allows the user to
remove the hyperlink

19. Creating a Page: Body [Adding Tables]
• Adding tables to
the CMS requires
selecting this
button, which
will bring up a
new window

20. Creating a Page: Body [Adding Tables]
• Within each box, the
user can add in their
data
• Tables can be used to
organize data on the
page
• The borders can also be
made to be invisible

21. Creating a Page: Body [Coloring]
• Changing the color of the
font, can be done by
selecting “A” button with
the color squares
• Adding color to the area
behind the text can be
done by selecting the
yellow “A” button

22. Creating a Page: Additional Sections
• It is recommended that this
default settings not be
changed for all the subsequent
sections, except “URL path
settings” and “File
attachments”
• The section “File attachments”
will allow the user to attach
files, but the files will be
shared with all that have
access to the page. File
sharing will be discussed later.

23. Creating a Page: Granting Access
• Each page can be
made available to
certain groups of
people
• Access can be
granted
depending on the
user’s level of
access (or “Role”)

24. Creating a Page: Granting Access (Roles)
• Anonymous User: This role will have the ability to view all types of content but will
not be able to edit or create new content. This user will be able to view the forums
but will not be able to interact with the forums.
• Authenticated User: This role will have the ability to view all types of content but
will not be able to edit or create new content. The user will all be able to access
and utilize the forums.
• Author: This role will be able to create content on the site but will not be able to
perform administrative functions like forum, menu and content type
administration.

25. BASIC OVERVIEW:
CREATING A NEWSLETTER
Content Management System (CMS)

26. Administering a Newsletter
• When creating a
newsletter, select
the “Admin
Newsletters” link
under the
Administer menu
• This will then bring
up the “Content
Management” page

27. Administering a Newsletter
• On the “Add newsletter” tab, we
can assign a name under the
Newsletter name: field
• There is also the option to
provide a description of the
newsletter
• A weight must be assigned, which
orders the newsletter in
ascending order based on their
weight

28. Administering a Newsletter
• Under the Sender
Information section, a name
can be assigned to the
“From name:”, indicating
who the newsletter is from
• Also, the “From email
address:” field must be
populated
• Under the HTML to text
conversion section, leave
this section under its
default options

29. Creating a Newsletter
• When creating a
newsletter, select the
“Create Newsletter” link
under the Administer
menu
• In order to create a new
newsletter (or email
blast) a newsletter
group must already
exist on the system.

30. BASIC OVERVIEW:
CREATING A FILESHARE
Content Management System (CMS)

31. Creating a Fileshare
• When creating a fileshare,
select the “Create
Fileshare” link under the
Administer menu
• A fileshare allows a user
to create a secure
location to share
documents between
authorized users.
• A fileshare is a central
repository of files that
can be accessed by
multiple users.

32. Create a Fileshare
• Creating a Fileshare is
similar to creating other
types of content.
• An alternative method to
creating a File share
would be to create a
blank page and utilize
the “File attachment”
section and upload
documents to the
created page

33. BASIC OVERVIEW:
CREATING A DISCUSSION FORUM
Content Management System (CMS)

34. Administering a Forum: Containers
• When creating a Forum
Topic, it is suggested that a
Container be created first.
To do so, select the “Admin
Forum” link under the
Administer menu.
• The Container is a tool that
helps the administrator to
organize the forums.

35. Administering a Forum: Containers
• From the “Terms
in Forums” page,
select the “Add
container” tab.

36. Administering a Forum
• Now that the
Container has
been created, it is
now time to
create the Forum.
• From the “Terms
in Forums” page,
select the “Add
forum” tab.

37. Administering a Forum
Required Fields
• In order to
successfully create a
new forum post the
following fields are
required: Forum
Name and Parent.
• The Parent field will
allow the user to
organize the forums

38. Creating a Forum Topic
• When creating a forum,
select the “Create Forum
topic” link under the
Administer menu
• A user is able to create a
new topic for a forum to
which they have access.
• Please note that a forum
must be created on the
system before any user
may create a new topic.

39. Creating a Forum Topic
Required Fields
• In order to successfully
create a new forum post
the following fields are
required: Subject,
Forums and Body.
• This is different than the
requirements for
creating a page or a
newsletter.

40. BASIC OVERVIEW:
CONTENT MANAGEMENT
Content Management System (CMS)

41. Content Management
• The Content
Management section
serves as the central
repository for all the
content that has been
created on the site,
whether it is hidden or
not

42. Content Management
• The administrator has
the ability to search,
view and/or edit any
piece of content on the
site. The administrator
can search by the
status, type and
category of a piece of
content.

43. Content Management
• In addition, the
administrator can
update any piece of
content by simply
selecting the piece of
content (via a check
box) and then selecting
one of the update
options.

44. BASIC OVERVIEW:
MENUS
Content Management System (CMS)

45. Menus
• The Administrator has
the ability to add menu
items to the menu bar
from Menu link.

46. Menus
• On the “Menus”
page, the only link
that will be used is
the “Primary
Links” link
• It is recommended
that no other link
be utilized

47. Menus

48. BASIC OVERVIEW:
PERMISSIONS/POST SETTINGS
Content Management System (CMS)

49. Permissions/Post Settings
• This section allows the
administrator to control
the permission
structure on the web
site and also control the
content on the front
page of the site.
• It is recommended that
no options be changed
in this section

50. ADVANCED OVERVIEW:
BLOCKS
Content Management System (CMS)

51. Blocks

52. Blocks
• The Content Management System also has the
ability to utilize “blocks” which are located on
the right hand or left hand side of the page.
• Each block is persistent across all pages
• Blocks such as Twitter feeds, links to external
sites, or any other content that can be
embedded in a website

53. ADVANCED FEATURES

54. Disaster Mapping

55. Resource Tracking

56. Social Media

57. Calendar

58. Contact Information
National VOAD:
Tyler McKee
support@nvoad.org
VisionLink:
Rene Alvarez
alvarez@visionlink.org
VisionLink General Information:
877-VSN-LINK
www.visionlink.org
Twitter.com/visionlink
Facebook.com/VisionLink.CommunityOS
www.visiolinkblog.org

59. VOAD Disaster Ready:
Level 2
Tomorrow