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Articles

The Articles tool can be used in addition to the News tool when you want to post lengthy articles or news to course participants.

Navigate to the Administer Articles Page

Before articles can be added, you must first log in to D2L and enter your course. Once you have logged in you are brought to the My Home screen. To enter your course click the course name from the list.

To add articles, click the Administer Articles link in the upper right hand corner of the screen. See Figure 1.

Note: If you do not see the articles, you need to create a custom homepage and add the Articles widget. (See Homepages tutorial)

Figure 1

Manage Sections

You should now see the News Article Administration screen with the following options(See Figure 2):

Create News Article
Manage Page Layout
Manage Sections and Articles

Articles are separated into Sections, much like a newspaper. A section must be created before an article can be added. To create a new section, click the link called Manage Sections & Articles.

Note: If you click the Create News Article before you create any sections you will automatically be brought to the Manage Sections & Articles screen.

Figure 2

You have entered the Manage Article Sections screen. To create a section click the New Section button. See Figure 3

Figure 3

You are now viewing the New Section screen. Enter information inthe form provided. See Figure 4

Figure 4

Required Fields

The Section Name and Number of Articles to Show fields are required. All other fields are optional.

Section Header and Footer

The Section Header and Section Footer work like they do in most documents. The header appears at the beginning of the section, and the footer appears at the end.

Note: You can use HTML in the header and footer, but there is no editor available, so HTML must be entered manually, or copied from another editor.

Display Options

The Number of Articles to Show option will limit the number of articles displayed in the section. If the "Sort Articles by Date" option is enabled, only the most recent articles will be displayed. If this option is left unchecked, the articles displayed will depend on the Sort Order which is set up at the Manage Article Sections screen. This will be covered later in the Create New Article section of this tutorial.

Other choices include Show Date in Headline and Display Section Name which optionally display the article date and section name. The Display Section as Box option places a box around each Section.

Section Name Style options are Banner or Plain. Banner will display the section name in a block of color. (Similar to the Section "banner" at the top of Figure 4.) Plain will display the section name as plain text.

The Fields to Display options control which Article fields are displayed in this section. Be sure to select at least one of these options otherwise no part of the article will be displayed.

Note: Because images are included as part the article summary the Display Summary option must be checked in order to include images with your articles. This is also discussed in the next part of this tutorial (Create a New Article). Select this option if you intend to include images with some or all of the articles in this section.

Save Changes

Once you have entered all of the information, click the create button to save your changes. You will be brought back to the Manage Article Sections screen. The section you just created will now appear in the list. See Figure 5.

Figure 5

Create a New Article

Now you are ready to create your new article. To do this click the New Article button. See Figure 5

Figure 6

You are now brought to the Add Article screen. Enter information in the form provided. See Figure 6

Required Fields

Date Available, Time Available, Section and Headline are required, all other fields are optional.

Options

Date Available and Time Available options control when an article is made available to students. Before the specified Date and Time, the article will not be displayed on your course home page.

Section refers to the section created in the previous step. Choose the appropriate section from the dropdown list.

Enter a Headline for the article. The Headline will be displayed according to the section options selected earlier.

Provide a Summary of the article if desired. The Summary will be displayed according to Section options selected earlier.

The By Line and Place of Origin are used to give credit to the author and publication where the article was found.

Section Title Style options are Banner or Plain. Banner will display the section name in a block of color (Similar to the Add Article "banner" at the top of Figure 6). Plain will display the section name as plain text.

The Display Article in Box option will place a box around the article.

The Display as HTML option will display the content of the article exactly as it is seen in the content text box. For example, if you have used the HTML editor to write the content for the article, the HTML code appears in the Content text box. This code will be displayed in the Article as you see it here.

The Open Content in New Window option is especially useful when used with the Link Directly to Content option. With the Open Content in New Window enabled, the Article will open in a separate window. This allows students to view the article and continue navigating your course without using the browsers back button.

The Link Directly to Content option can be used to link directly to a page or file. Use this option to link students to an article located on another website, or to link them directly to a file in your course. When linking to content on another webpage, it is usually best to use the Open Content in New Window option so students don't have to leave your course to view the article. Enable this option and enter the URL of the desired resource in the Content area.

Note: the URL must include HTTP:// (Ex. http://www.mnsu.edu)

If you are not using the Link Directly to Content option, place the body of your article in the Content area. Content will be displayed according to the options selected for the section where the article is found.

The processes for attaching an image and a file to the article are exactly the same. To include an Image or Attachment with the article, click the Browse button next to Image or Attachment. Then, locate the image or file on your hard drive and select it with a single click. Click Open. The path and filename should now appear in the Image or Attachment text box.

Note: Images are part of the article summary. If you have attempted to include an image with your article and it is not displayed, be sure you have selected the Display Summary option in the section properties described earlier in this tutorial.

Save Changes

When you have finished entering information, be sure to click the Save button or your changes will be lost. You will then be brought back to the Manage Article Sections screen. Your new article will now appear in the list. See Figure 7. New Articles and Sections can be added by clicking either the New Article or New Section buttons. You may also edit previously created articles or sections by clicking the Edit icon corresponding to the object you want to edit. See Figure 7.

Sort Order

Articles can be sorted within their sections using the Sort Order option. Order articles by numbering them, then click the Save Order button to save your changes. See Figure 7.

Note: Sort Order will be overridden if you have selected the Sort Articles By Date option when you set up your section.

Figure 7

Manage Page Layout

Now that you have added your Article, there is just one step left before you can view it. You must put your Section somewhere on your course homepage.

Figure 8

To do this, first click the Administer Articles link at the top of the Manage Article Sections screen. See Figure 7. This will bring you back to the News Articles Administration screen. See Figure 2.

Click Manage Page Layout. You will be brought to the page shown in Figure 8.

Select Page Layout

In the top panel (Select Page Layout) select Layout 1 by clicking the radio button below it.

If you want to display the Article Search Box, which allows students to search articles in your course, select the check box next to Show Search Box.

Save Page Layout Changes

Click Change Page Layout to save your change.

Assign/Unassign Sections

Now that you have selected your news layout, you need to assign your Article Sections to the layout area. This is done in the bottom panel (Assign/Unassign Sections)

To do this, click on Layout Area 1 in the diagram in the bottom panel. See Figure 8.

The news sections you have created will appear in the box labeled Unassigned Sections.

To assign these sections to Layout Area 1, select the section you wish to add by clicking its name in the list. Now click the > button. This will move the selected section to the Assigned Sections box.

Repeat this process for all other sections you wish to display.

If you have assigned multiple sections to the layout area, their order can be rearranged by selecting the section you wish to move and clicking either the up or down button. See Figure 8.

To remove a section from the layout area, select the section in the Assigned Sections Box and click the < button.

This should move the selected section to the Unassigned Sections Box.

View Articles

Your articles will now appear in your course. In order to view your articles, click the View Articles link in the top left corner of the Manage Page Layout screen or click Course Home in the D2L navigation bar. (Both links will bring you to your Course Home).

Your Course Home should look something like the screen in Figure 9.

Figure 9

You can easily edit any of the newly created articles or sections by clicking the Administer Articles link (See Figure 9), or by clicking the small edit icon next to the article or section name you wish to edit. See Figure 10.

Figure 10