Welcome to The Soul's new website.
Currently you can't add text docs (eg. guides, stories etc.; this will be functional soon) but you can upload images and edit the main pages.
There are three main image directories:
- user
- gallery
- misc
Users can browse all three directories when adding an image to content, but upload access to the misc and gallery directories is restricted to site admin. All three upload pages can be accessed via the main menu.
Please optimize images before uploading. Images are the biggest files on the site. Optimizing them results in faster page load times for users, less traffic etc. If you don't have image editing software, there are websites like Smush.it (a link to this will be on image upload pages).
A note on renaming images. While you sometimes need to do it, unless the image is in your personal directory you generally shouldn't. When including an image on a webpage, the page finds that image using a URL which includes the image's filename. If you rename an image that will break every link to that image across the site.
User Images
All Soul members have a personal image directory which only they can upload images to, though all site members can view them. This lets users upload screenshots they want to share via eg. their own profile pages or the forum. It's not intended as an image dumping site, though, so the directory size will be limited to 10mb (about 150 jpegs). That can be increased if it turns out to be too small but a limit discourages silliness.
Gallery Images
The gallery directory is for images the guild wants to keep forever - amazing landscapes, guild events etc. It is not a directory for uploading random screenshots. All members can use their own personal directory for that.
All images in this directory must be jpegs (with the .jpg extension) and named numerically and sequentially. The first file is 1.jpg, the second 2.jpg etc. After uploading images into the directory and naming them properly, go to the image search page and a 
icon will appear in the top right corner. Click this and database entries for the new images will be created.
All new images default to 'hidden' status, i.e. they won't be visible to non-admin users. You have to edit each to change their status and while there should also give them a title, description and select which game they belong to.
The keywords field is optional. It allows you to add extra search terms. Eg. you could upload an image of an outpost battle, give it a title of 'Battle for Woodburn', and a description of 'In October 2011, The Soul joined forces with [some guild] to defend Woodburn from Karavan attackers. We were victorious.' But you might want this image to be found if someone searches for 'pvp'. Adding 'pvp' to the title or description could make them sound silly, so you can add 'pvp' to the keywords field instead.
To assign an image to appear in the random image rotator (above the calendar) set its status to Rotator. Note that the site stores the list of images to display in the rotator in a session variable. You won't see changes to this until you log out and back in.
Misc Images
This directory is for things like icons and graphics which you want to use on the site but which don't belong in the gallery.
Guild (non-Soul) Images
A fourth directory will be added for non-Soul guild images when I add the guild directory. The guild directory will let us keep records for guilds we have dealings with, eg. general info, contacts, agreements and even intelligence (access to sub-pages can be restricted by forum group). Each guild will have their own image directory for eg. logos, pertinent screenshots etc.
Editing Content
It's super easy to edit content.
Just click the 
in the top right corner of the page and an editor opens.
If copying content from another site or document (eg. Word) please Select All and Remove Format (last two buttons on second line) to remove junk code.
As much as possible avoid directly editing content via the Source button. I've left it enabled because it is occasionally useful but when people start getting individually creative with styling it can compromise the site's appearance.
Add Image to Text
Click on the Image button, then the Browse Server button. This will let you browse (but not upload to) all image directories. Right-click on an image and you can select either it or its thumbnail. Note there is a Link tab. If you select the thumbnail Image Info tab, then the full sized image in the Link tab and enter 'lightbox' (no apostrophes) in the Rel field, you will display the thumbnail on the page and if the user clicks on it a full sized version will open, like in the image gallery.
Images should usually also have the border applied to them. Click on the image and then apply the Img + Bdr style using the Styles drop-down menu. Images can also be floated to the left or right (as here).
Note that if you change your mind and want to apply a different style to the image (eg. change its float from left to right) you need to erase the formerly selected style using the Remove Format button.
Add Hyperlink to Text
Click on the Link button. For linking to other pages within the website, set the protocol to 'other
Texts and Collections
Apart from the main pages of the site, users can add texts (eg. guides, stories etc.) and each text belongs to a collection. Permissions for who can read the material are controlled at the collection level.
The site will automatically generate a menu for easy navigation to other texts in the same collection, eg. here.
Text Ordering
Each text has an order value - this denotes its position within a collection.
When creating new texts the system automatically assigns a text to the last position in a collection, i.e. if there are 5 texts and you add another, its order value will equal 6.
You can change the order of items in a collection by editing the database entry for it from the text search page. When you change one text's order value the system will automatically re-assign order values to other items in the same collection.
