Publishing on Capitol Communicator

Ghost opens on Analytics. Click Posts in the left column to see every story, newest first.

1. New post starts a story. The + beside Posts in the left column does the same.
2. Click any story to open it in the editor.
3. A star means the story is in the homepage lead. See section 05.
4. Filter narrows the list by status, tag or author.

The rest of the left column: Pages holds About, Contact and the sponsor and ad records. Tags are the site's sections. Members lists subscribers; leave it alone unless you're told otherwise.

From headline to live in eight steps. This example is a made-up agency hire. Every story follows the same steps.

Click New post. The editor opens on a blank page.

1. Post title is the headline. Write it in sentence case, as you do now; the site sets headlines in capitals.
2. Add feature image sets the photo for the story and the homepage.

Press Enter after the headline and type or paste the story. Pasting from Word, Google Docs or an email keeps paragraphs, bold and links. Select any words to bold them or add a link.

1. Use a landscape photo at least 1200 pixels wide. Click under it to add a caption or photo credit. Alt describes the photo for screen readers.
2. The headline. Ghost saves as you type, and Saved appears at the top left.

Click the panel icon at the top right to open Post settings.

1. Tags. The first tag is the section. It sets the colored label on the story and where it's filed. Pick one of the sections below, then add topic tags after it.
2. Excerpt is the one or two sentences under the headline on the homepage and in social shares. Up to 300 characters.
3. Authors is the byline. Sponsor content goes under the sponsor's own author.
4. Feature this post puts the story in the homepage lead. Leave it off unless you're changing the lead.

Leave Post URL as Ghost writes it from the headline, and leave Post access on Public.

Click Preview at the top to see the story as readers will, then Close.

Click Publish at the top right. The first line starts on Publish and email, aimed at all subscribers. Don't continue from here.

1. Click Publish and email to open the choices.
2. The audience the email would go to. The count is hidden in this guide.

1. Pick Publish only. Never pick Email only.

1. The second line now reads Not sent as newsletter. If it names subscribers, go back to step 6.
2. Click Continue, final review.

Hires, promotions and retirements are ordinary stories with two differences: the photo is a headshot, and People is the first tag. Here is how the Jasmine Gurley announcement is set up.

1. The headshot is the feature image. The People page crops photos square and keeps the top of the frame, so use a photo with the face in the upper half and some room around it.
2. People first. A second section, such as Media or PR, is fine after it. Leave tags that start with # alone: they're internal markers from the move off WordPress, and readers never see them.
3. The excerpt says who, the new title and where, in one sentence.

Headlines follow one pattern: Name named title at organization, such as "Alex Wallace named Washington Post COO".

Once published, the story appears on the People on the Move page.

The top of the homepage shows the three newest starred stories. Starring a story means turning on Feature this post in its settings.

1. The lead story is the newest starred story. It needs a good landscape photo.
2. The first card is the second-newest starred story.
3. The second card is the third-newest starred story.

If fewer than three stories are starred, the newest unstarred stories fill the gaps.

Drafts save themselves. Anything you start stays a draft until you publish it, and Saved at the top left confirms it. Close the editor whenever you like.

To schedule a story, follow the publish steps, and on the publish screen open the third line, Right now. Pick Schedule for later and set the date and time, in Eastern time. Check that the first line still says Publish only.

Use the links under Posts in the left column.

1. Drafts: started, not published.
2. Scheduled: set to go live at a future time. Open one to change the time or switch it back to a draft.
3. Published: live on the site.

Open a published story from the posts list, make the change, and click Update. The change is live at once, and updating never sends an email.

1. Update saves your changes to the live story.
2. Unpublish takes the story down and turns it back into a draft. Use it for anything that needs to come off the site quickly.

Start a new line in the story and click the + that appears at the left, or type / to search the full list.

1. The + button appears on any empty line.
2. Image adds a photo inside the story. Gallery, just below, sets several side by side.
3. Bookmark turns a link into a preview card with the page's title and image.

• Video and social posts: paste a YouTube, Vimeo or X link on its own line and Ghost turns it into the embedded video or post.
• PDFs: type /file and upload it. Readers get a download link.
• Pasted embed code, such as a form or a player you were sent: type /html and paste it in. Preview before you publish.

Click New post, as for a story, and open Post settings.

1. The title is the email's subject line. Start with "The Brief:" and the issue's top item, such as "The Brief: Victor Shiblie joins Qorvis".
2. Tags: #the-brief, and no section tag. It files the issue on The Brief page. Type it with the #.
3. Excerpt is the short line many inboxes show after the subject. One sentence that names two or three items.
4. Authors: Capitol Communicator, so the byline is the publication, not a person.

Leave the feature image empty and Feature this post off.

• Open with a line or two in your own voice.
• Then one item at a time: the headline as a link, and one sentence under it. Type the headline, select it, press ⌘ K (Ctrl K on Windows) and paste the story's address from the site.
• Monday, events: the event's name as the link (to its listing or tickets), then the date, the place and one line on why to go.
• Thursday, news: the week's stories, biggest first. Put People on the Move together near the end.
• Close with how to send news in: capitolcommunicator.com/contact.

Pasting from a draft in Word or Google Docs keeps the links. Ghost saves as you go.

Close the preview and click Publish.

1. Leave the first line on Publish and email. This is the only time you do.
2. The audience is all subscribers of The Brief. The count is hidden in this guide.
3. Open Right now, pick Schedule for later, and set the date and 09:00: Monday for events, Thursday for news. Times are Eastern.

Then click Continue, final review.

1. Read the line: the date, 09:00, and delivered to all subscribers. If it says the post will only be published on your site, click Back to settings and fix the first line.
2. Click Publish & send. The issue is now scheduled, not sent.

Until 9:00 it waits under Scheduled (section 06), where you can open it to fix a typo or change the time.