ℹ️ This is for CMS News & Alerts — news stories displayed on your school website. Looking for the Edlio App newsfeed? See Create News.
Publishing news stories on your school's website is a great way to keep your community informed about important events, achievements, and announcements. This guide will walk you through the process of creating and publishing news content using Edlio's content management platform.
Getting Started
To begin creating a news story, locate and tap the Add News button on your dashboard. This will open the news creation interface where you can build your story from start to finish.
Step 1: Select News Categories
The first step is to choose which categories your news story should appear in. Click the news category button to open the category selection menu. You can select one or multiple categories to help organize your content and make it easier for visitors to find relevant news. The first category in your dropdown menu, usually called the "News & Announcements" is the category that corresponds to your homepage news articles.
You can add news categories to inside pages, allowing you to display all Athletics stories on your school or district's Athletics page To set this up, add a News Block to the page.
Best Practice: Choose categories that accurately reflect your story's content. For example, use "Athletics" for sports news, "Academics" for educational achievements, or "Events" for upcoming activities.
Step 2: Create Your Headline and Summary
In the headline and summary section, you'll need to provide:
Headline: A clear, engaging title for your news story
Short Summary: A brief description that gives readers a preview of the full story
These elements will be displayed on your homepage and any pages where include that news category, so make them compelling enough to encourage clicks while keeping them concise and informative.
Step 3: Add Your News Content
You have several options for how visitors will access your full news story when they click on the headline:
Option 1: Full News Story
Enter your complete news content directly into the News content field. This creates a dedicated page for your story on your website.
Option 2: Link to an Uploaded File
If you have a PDF, document, or other file with your news content, use the upload file link option to attach it. Visitors will be able to download or view the file when they click your headline.
Option 3: Link to Another Page
Use the news link to page option to direct visitors to an existing page on your website or an external webpage.
Citing External Sources
If your news content comes from an outside source, check the appropriate box and provide a link to the original source. This helps maintain transparency and gives proper credit.
Step 4: Add Visual Elements
Enhance your news story by uploading photos and files in the Attach files or photos section. Click Upload or drop your file(s) here to add images. Visual content makes stories more engaging and provides context for readers.
Set a featured photo
The featured photo is the image shown in news listings and in a Homepage Alert. Once you've uploaded photos, click a photo to mark it as Featured — a Featured label appears on it. Click another photo to change which one is featured, or click the featured photo again to unmark it. Only photos (not other file types) can be featured.
Add alt text to a photo
Every image should have alternate text (alt text) describing it, so screen-reader users and search engines understand the image. To add it, click a photo to open the Alternate Text dialog, type a short description in the Alternate text for the image field, and click Save. For guidance on writing good alt text, see Common alt-text issues.
Best Practice: Use high-quality images relevant to your story, and make sure you have permission to use photos featuring students or staff. Always add alt text before publishing — your story's accessibility report checks for it.
Step 5: Schedule Your Publication
Edlio offers flexible scheduling options for your news stories:
Immediate Publication
By default, your news story will be published immediately when you save it ("Post now"). This is ideal for time-sensitive announcements.
Scheduled Publication
To publish your story at a future date and time:
Set the Publish Date to your desired future date and time (uncheck Now first)
Select your desired publication date and time
Remove from homepage on a date
To automatically remove the story from your homepage after a certain date:
Check Hide from the homepage on
Enter the date and time when you want it removed
Important Note: Stories removed from the homepage will still remain accessible on your website's News landing page.
Best Practices for News Publishing
Timing: Consider your audience when scheduling publication times. Avoid publishing during late evening hours or weekends unless it's urgent news.
Categories: Use consistent categorization to help visitors find related content easily.
Content Length: Keep summaries concise but informative. Full stories should be easy to scan with clear paragraphs and headings when appropriate.
Regular Updates: Maintain an active news presence by publishing stories regularly to keep your community engaged.
After Publishing: Additional Promotion Options
Once you save your news story, Edlio provides additional ways to amplify your content:
Social Media Integration: Post your news article directly to your school's social media accounts
Homepage Popup Alerts: Create prominent popup notifications for urgent or high-priority news
These features help ensure your important announcements reach as many community members as possible across different communication channels.
Remember to review your news story before publishing to check for accuracy, proper formatting, and appropriate scheduling. Well-crafted news stories help strengthen communication between your school and the community it serves.
Related articles:
Manage news stories — edit, reorder, copy, or delete published stories
Set up Homepage Alert — turn a news story into a pop-up alert
Show articles on the homepage — control which stories appear on your homepage and in what order