This article provides approved publishers with technical information to post content to the Communications Center. To request access to the Communications Center as an approved publisher, fill out the online form.
Content published to the Communications Center must be for University-related news or events. If you wish to publish content of personal nature (i.e. selling a bike), other platforms such as neighborhood bulletin boards or social media marketplaces are available.
Step 1: Log in to the Communications Center.
Using your Ball State user ID and password, log in to the Communications Center administrative page.
Step 2: Create a new article.
Once logged in, you’ll see the “Manage Articles” page. This is where you can see, edit, and remove published or scheduled articles that you have created.
To create a new article, select ‘Create a New Article’ in the top-left corner of the screen.
Article Content
The first step to creating an article is to enter the title, summary, and body content.
Title
Write a short, descriptive title so that your audience can assess the content’s relevance to them at a glance. For examples of an effective title, see our article on Communications Center best practices.
Summary
The introduction to your article. The summary should be 250 characters or fewer and should briefly describe what your article is about.
Body
The body is where you may compose and format your content. Basic formatting, style, and insert options are available in the toolbar of the “Body” text box. You may customize the layout of your article or include links using any of the available options.
Remember, when subscribers view your article in a daily or weekly digest, they will see only the first 140 characters of your article’s content unless they click the link to view more.
Once the content is entered for all three fields, select “Timing, Categories, and Audiences” to proceed to the next step.
Timing, Categories, and Audiences
The next step in creating an article is to determine who you’re sending to, what categories to publish to, and when you want the article to be published.
Publisher
Although you log into the Communications Center with your own Ball State credentials, you may enter any valid Ball State email address as the official sender of your article. Do not send from an email address other than your own without first receiving explicit authorization to do so.
If you are sending an email on behalf of your department, you may use the department’s email address.
Publication to Comm Center Article List
Choose here whether you intend to publish immediately or schedule your article to publish at a later date or time.
Keep in mind that most of your audience will read the article as part of a daily digest sent the morning of each business day. This digest includes articles published before 3 p.m. the previous day.
Please note that publish times can be affected by the number of users who are scheduling content to go out at the same time. Be prepared for the possibility of a message delay as a result.
Article Expiration
If you’d like for your article to “expire” on or after a specific date, you may select this option.
For example, if you are selling tickets to an event, you may want to set your article to “expire” once the event has passed. If unselected, the article will remain active and searchable.
Email Notification Categories
Select which categories you wish the item to be published in. Only the categories in which you have been approved as a publisher will be available for selection. It is important that you choose only the categories appropriate for your article.
Email Notification Audiences
Select the audiences you wish to reach with your content. With 30+ articles published to the Communications Center each day, it is important you choose only the appropriate audiences for your message.
For example, if your article is pertinent only to active employees, select the appropriate targets but leave “Retired” and the “Student” audiences unchecked. Likewise, if the message is relevant only for “Freshmen”, check that box and leave all others unchecked.
Audiences are additive. For example, by selecting the “Freshman” and “Living on Campus” targets, you will publish an article to all freshmen students (regardless of residence) and to anyone living on campus (regardless of class). Such a selection does not specify only freshmen who live on campus.
Selecting the target audience is the last portion of Step 2. Once selected, proceed to the final step by selecting “Review Article.”
Step 3: Review your work.
In this step, you may quickly review your work and ensure the information is accurate before publishing.
If you need to change anything, select “Back to Timing, Categories, and Audiences.” Once the content is ready and has been reviewed, select “Publish Article.” If you are scheduling your article to publish later, you’ll select “Schedule Article.”
Final Notes
You’re finished!
Once you’re redirected to the “Manage Articles” page, you can select an article’s title to see the number of individuals reached or make edits to the content (if necessary). Learn more about making edits.