Regular news stories are one of the best ways to keep your website current. Nothing screams inactive website more than the latest news section running with an event from 2012.
To add a news piece to your website, first, login as an editor and go to the home page of the website you want to add the news story to. Then choose ‘add news’ from the drop-down menu.
Headlines
You will be asked to add a Title – this is the headline for your news story. We recommend that headlines not be more than 10 to 15 words; the shorter, the better. The headline should be a summary of the topic you are writing about.
So, if it is an announcement of research funding for example it could be “UL WebTeam receives €10 million in research funding,” or if someone in your department has been awarded an honour it could be “UL Web Manager honoured with international award”.
Make the headline as encompassing as possible and avoid acronyms and words your audience may not understand.
Imagine you have one minute to tell your news to a member of the public - that is your headline.
Photographs
Next, you will be asked to add media this is where you add the photograph to accompany your news piece. Make sure again that it is representative of the story. If you are uploading a new image don’t forget to add an alt text. Here are more guidelines about images.
The next block under the image is Teaser Image Caption – where you can fill in the caption for your photo if required.
It is ok to leave this blank if there is no need for a caption, if, for example, you are using a generic UL image. The Teaser text block can also be left blank.
Front and centre
The body of your news story is where you put the text of your story. Always start with the most important details in the first paragraph.
When organising your news story remember the inverted news pyramid. This puts the most important information at the top of the story; the rest of the information is given in order of descending importance.
This allows the audience to read the crucial details quickly so they can decide if they want to continue reading.
Avoid acronyms
When writing news stories, remember to keep your sentences and paragraphs short this can be helped by using hyperlinks throughout your news story where appropriate so readers can find out more information or background if they wish.
Avoid acronyms but if you do use them please spell them out in the first instance. Use plain language and don’t forget to check for spelling and accessibility.
If your news story is no more than a paragraph in length then consider sharing it as a post on social media instead. In general, a news story should have at least three to four short paragraphs.
When you are happy with your news story save the page and you will then be asked to confirm that you are adding the content to the correct website. The news story will then be automatically added to the website news centre and will also appear on the homepage as the latest news.
Read more about writing effective news pieces and how to build a news page.