The Showcase and Its Powers

The Showcase is the column of images that appears, by default, on the right hand side of every page. It displays pictures lovingly chosen by the site's administrators. It was created so that content editors like yourself could create good pages without having to worry about finding and adding pictures. It can be turned off and on by the site's administrators, but as a publisher, you have a fair amount of control over it as well. Here's how it works:

• For any given web page, the Showcase looks for a folder called "showcase" to find the pictures it will display. If there is a folder called "showcase" in the same folder as the page being viewed, the Showcase will display those photos. If there is no folder called "showcase," then the Showcase will look up the website's hierarchy to find a folder called showcase and it will display the photos contained therein.
  
• At the top level of the site is a folder called "showcase". The Showcase will display the photos from that folder unless you take action.
• The Showcase displays up to three pictures. If there are more than three pictures in the showcase folder, then the showcase will randomize the presentation of those photos.
• If the Showcase finds a folder called "showcase" with no picture files in it, then the Showcase will not display.
• Images in the showcase will display at a fixed width of 200 pixels. If you upload images wider than 200 pixels, they will take longer to load, but if a curious reader clicks on that image in the showcase, he or she will be treated to a larger version of the picture.

From these basic rules, if follows that you can put your own pictures in your area of the site. Here's how:

1. Log in.
2. Navigate to your section of the site.
3. Add a new image folder (see image to right)
   
4. Important: Give the image folder a short name of "showcase"  (without the quotes.)
5. Save your changes.
6. Change the state of your new folder to "published". If you don't have permission to do that, the rest of the world will have to wait until a site manager has approved your Showcase for publishing.

If you stop right here, you'll have successfully removed the Showcase from your section of the website. If you want to add pictures, keep reading.

1. From within the showcase folder that you just created, add an image through the same "add a new item" process that you followed when you added an image folder.
2. In the ensuing form, click the "browse" button to find the picture you want to upload to the web server. You'll be presented with a dialog box that allows you to navigate your hard drive to find the picture.
   
3. Recommended but not essential: give your image a title and a description.
   
4. Save your changes.
5. Publish your image.
6. Repeat as necessary.