Creating an author

September 01, 2023

Rosie Atherton

What's inside this article:

Basic information
Open author settings
Manage author settings
Preview the bio page
Set the status of the author
Save changes
Learn more

Basic information

This article explains how to create a new author in Pangea CMS. After you create a new author:

A bio page for the author is published on the site.
The author can be assigned to content pages.

Open author settings

Go to the relevant section below:

Create a new author
Edit an existing author

Create a new author

You can create a new author via Settings > Authors > Add new.

Alternatively, go to Upload > Author on the edit screen for a text-based content page. The author settings open in a new tab, so you won't lose unsaved work.

This option is available when you edit the following text-based content pages:

Article
Blog
FactCheck
Feature
Feature story
Live blog
News
Transcript

Edit an existing author

To update the settings for an existing author, follow these steps:

Go to Settings > Authors.
Select the last name for the author you want to edit.

Manage author settings

The following settings are available:

First name, Last name, and English name
Contributor ID
Email
Facebook username and X (Twitter) handle
Highlight author
Generate content
Description
Image
Short description

First name, Last name, and English name

Enter your name in the First name and Last name fields. You might enter your real name. Alternatively, if you need to remain anonymous, enter a pen name. If you go by a single name, enter it under Last name (this is the only required field).

Under English name, optionally enter an alternative name. This option is useful if your name uses non-Latin script, and you also want to provide a transliterated version. The English name is visible internally in CMS (not on the public site).

Contributor ID

NOTE: This field is redundant for all entities except RFE/RL.

Under Contributor ID, optionally enter a valid contributor ID.

If a valid contributor ID is provided, the author can be assigned to content pages as a contributor. For detailed information, see the following article:

Assign contributors

NOTE: If you need a Contributor ID, contact the RFE/RL Finance Department.

Email

Under Email, optionally provide a contact email address. If you tick Display Email, the email address will be visible on the public site. Otherwise, it will only be visible in CMS.

When Display Email is ticked, the email address is visible:

On the author bio page
In the author highlight box on content pages

Enable Display email only if you're happy to receive comment and opinion from readers.

Facebook username and X (Twitter) handle

Optionally provide links to social media profiles that are visible as follows:

On the author bio page
In the author highlight box on content pages

Under Facebook username, optionally enter the username for your Facebook profile. If this field is filled, the Follow button will be visible on the public site.

Under X (Twitter) handle, optionally enter the handle (without @) for your X (Twitter) profile. If this field is filled, the Follow button will be visible on the public site.

The username / handle is available at the end of the public URL for the profile.

Highlight author

If you tick Highlight author, the author highlight box is automatically displayed on text-based content pages where you are assigned as an author.

NOTE: For detailed information about author highlight boxes, including where they are displayed, see the following article:

Author highlight boxes

If you enable Highlight author, ensure you also provide a Short description. Otherwise, the highlight box will not include a description.

Generate content

The Generate content setting is ticked by default.

Keep this option ticked to enable the following behavior:

Your name on content pages functions as a link to your author bio page.
Your author bio page includes links to recently published content pages.

For detailed information about which content pages are linked on author bio pages, see the following article:

Content links on author bio pages

Description

Under Description, provide a description / biography. The description is visible on your author bio page. Although it's not required, we strongly recommend providing a description for every author.

Write the description in third person. At minimum, include your name (or pen name), job title, and the organization you represent, for example:

John Doe is a correspondent for RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service.

You might additionally mention:

Your specific experience and expertise
Your work history / professional background
Your interests
Special projects you've worked on
Your educational background and relevant qualifications
Any special awards and achievements

IMPORTANT: Only include information that you're comfortable sharing. If you need to remain anonymous, ensure you don't include information that might identify you personally.

Image

NOTE: Before you can select your chosen image, the image needs to be uploaded to CMS. For instructions, see the following article:

Uploading images

Under Image, hit Select content to choose an image to represent you on the site.

You might use a real photo. If you need to remain anonymous, use your service logo. If you don't select an image, a generic avatar will be visible on the site (shown below).

After selecting an image, you can adjust which section of the image will be visible on the site by selecting the Crop the image icon.

Please be aware that on the site, the image will be circular. This means that what you see in CMS does not exactly match what is on the site. Before saving the changes, we recommend checking exactly how the image will look using the preview.

Short description

Under Short description, optionally provide a summarized version of the Description. Ideally, the short description should include no more than 2-3 sentences.

NOTE: If the main author description is relatively short, you might use the same text for the Description and Short description. However, it is necessary to manually add the text in both boxes.

The short description is not visible on your author bio page. Instead, it serves the following purposes:

Visible in your author highlight box on content pages
Applied as the meta description for the page

Preview the bio page

As you make changes to the author settings, you can preview how these changes will affect your published bio page.

Use the options under Preview in the left panel to preview the bio page on devices with different screen sizes.

NOTE: It's not possible to check the preview until the Last name field is filled. This is the only required field in the author settings.

Set the status of the author

The following options are available in the Status drop-down menu:

Active: An active author can be assigned to content pages. When you run a search in CMS, active authors can be added as search filters.
Inactive: An inactive author cannot be assigned to new content pages. When you run a search in CMS, inactive authors cannot be added as search filters.

If you change the status of an author to Inactive, the author name is not removed from content pages and the author's bio page remains published on the site. The Inactive status simply stops new content from being assigned to an author.