• Item: An individual item can be saved as a draft. This is a fairly secure method of removing one or more pages from public view. To save an item in draft, simply choose 'Add to drafts' when saving. If you are in the admin area it is below the body text area, if you are in the pop-up window, click 'Options'. Choose the 'Add to drafts' radio button, then click 'Add Item' When you are ready to continue editing, go to the admin area where you will find a list of all your draft items. When you are ready to publish your item, choose 'Add Now', then 'Add Item'.
• Chapter: Drafting a chapter is not very secure, as anyone who knows the url of the chapter could hack the url to find it. A chapter in draft is visible to anyone on that stories' team. Chapters are in draft mode by default. To un-draft a chapter, go to the admin area, click 'Ordered' under 'Plugins' in the left column. Next to 'Story to Manage' select your story from the drop down list. Then choose 'Manage Categories'. A chapter with '0' in the column 'Order' will be in draft mode. Change the order to any number from 1000 to 9999, for normal story chapters. Note, there is a 'Set' button for every chapter, you will have to hit 'Set' for each chapter.
• Story: Your story is set to draft mode when first created, un-draft it by changing the description to something other than 'draft'. This is done in the admin area, under 'Settings' for your story. If you would like to put it back in draft mode, simply change the description back to 'draft'. Note, like the chapter, this simply removes your story from casual viewing, if someone is really determined to see what you wrote, there is no security in place to prevent them from finding it.

Ok, now that you have finished your story, and un-drafted it, send an announcement, a press release, to WillyP and he will publish it on the front page of Reactor, and move the link to your story from 'Drafts' to 'Bookshelf'. Before you do, though... Please log out and check your work!

Login

Most story skins don't have a login form... go to Reactor to login. The login form is at the bottom of this page. Enter your username and password. If you are on a shared computer, such as at school or a library, check 'Shared Computer'.

Now that you are logged in, your story will appear under the heading 'Drafts'. You might want to follow the link to your story in a new tab so you can refer back this article easier.

Your Profile

Now you are logged in, you will see a link to the Admin Area. It's location may vary depending on the skin, but here is an example:

Once you are in the Admin Area, look in the left side column and you will see a link to your profile. You can change your name, password etc. When you are done scroll down and click 'Change Settings' to save your changes.

Add Members To Your Team... Or Join Someone Else's Team

After a book is created, you can choose to allow others to collaborate with you on your story. If you would like to allow other members to contribute to your story, they must be registered here, then you can add them to your team. To add a member to your team, login to the Admin Area. Your books will be listed here. Click 'Settings' for the book you want to add members to. Near the top of the page you will see a list of your team members. Below that is a link... 'Click here to edit your team...' Clicking that link brings you to a page with more details about members who are already on your team, and below that a dropdown list of members who can be added.

Add Notifications

Under the settings for your story, there is a field called 'Notifications'. If I haven't done so already, add your e-mail address here, and anyone else you would like to notify when an item is added. Use a semicolon to separate addresses.

Add Pages And Chapters

Each page is an item. And each page needs to be in a Chapter, called a Category in the Admin Area. There can be as many pages in a chapter as you want, of as few as one. And Chapters can be as many as you want or as few as one. If you prefer to write short stories, a book can contain multiple stories, and categories would then be renamed Stories. So, how does one add a page? Most skins have an 'Add Page' link that appears when you are logged in and are in a book to which you are authorized to add a page. This link will pop up a small window with an editor in it. Or you can go to the Admin Area, and in the top left you will see 'Add Item'. Select your book from the drop-down list underneath.

You can save your page as a draft, or publish it right away. Note, when your story is first created, the whole story is in draft mode and you really don't need to save a page as draft. When you are ready to publish your page, select a category, or choose 'New Category' in the Category drop-down. Make sure you choose one under the book title you want to publish to! Select the radio button 'Add Now', then click click 'Edit Item'. If you chose an existing category, it will be published now. If you chose to create a new category, you will be asked if you want to create a new category.

If you are in the admin area, use this drop-down to select your story to add a page to it. However, if you have added or edited a page from a link ('Add Page' or 'Edit') in your story, then you are not in the admin area, and won't see this, or be able to order your pages. You need to be in the 'Admin Area' to do that!

In fact most of what follows requires you to be in the 'Admin Area'.

Changing the Order of Your Pages

Nucleus by default will display your pages with the newest ones at the top. For writing a story that is the opposite of what we usually want. In the admin area, there is a link called 'Ordered'. You can see it in the screen shot, under plugins. Follow this link to begin ordering your pages after you have saved a few of them.

Next, select your story from the drop-down.

Here I have numbered the items in the order I want them. You have to enter one line at a time, then hit set, then the next line, etc... Note that instead of '1, 2, 3' they are ordered '10, 20, 30'. This is to make it easier to add pages in-between. Instead of having to renumber a bunch of pages later, I can add a page and number it '15'.

Creating, Naming and Ordering Chapters

You can change the names of your categories and the order they appear. More on that later, this page is a work in progress...

If you would like to write your own story, PM WillyP at PlanetDescent.

If you would like to join a team, the Team Administrator will need to add you as a team member. Contact the Team Administrator of the team you want to join.

   To read stories published here, pick one from the bookshelf.  Authors have a great deal of flexability in how the book is laid out, but generaly, just click on the title or the more link of the first page to read that page, then use page navigation to advance the pages.  If you start by choosing a chapter, then at the end of the chapter you will have to choose the next chapter to continue reading.

   If you would like to leave a comment, there is a comment section for each story. There is also, comming soon, a site-wide comment area. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!