Adding Content

Content on your Rank It WP site can be added one of two ways, depending on who is adding:

1. On the front-end of the site using the pop-up form
2. On the back-end of the site by going to Submissions > Add New

The first option is available for logged-in users of any role and the second is available only for administrators and editors of the site.

Using the Front-End Submit Form

The pop-up submission form on the front end of the site is used by logged-in site visitors and has 4 fields by default, 5 including categories:

1. The submission name, which is turned into the title of the submission. This field is required.
2. The description field, which is added to the excerpt and post content for a submission. This field is not required and can limited by length on the Rank It WP Options page in the wp-admin.
3. The URL field, which is saved as a custom field on the submission and used to link to this content as well as create automatic embeds, if that setting is active. This field can be shown or hidden and required or optional. See the Submission Process tab at Appearance > Rank It WP Options page
4. The category selectors, which can be enabled or disabled on the options page. The categories that display here are all listed at Submissions > Categories in the wp-admin.
5. The “creator is author” flag. This field is used to show that the user who submitted the content is also the person who created it. This field is saved as a custom field on the submission and used to create the “C” badge that appears on user avatars.

When the form is submitted, the site will check:

• That the required fields have been completed (displays error if not)
• Whether that link already exists in the site (displays error and link to the submission)
• Whether the user has reached their submission limit (displays error; this is set on the options page)
• If the post has any blacklisted content (displays error; the list of disallowed content is maintained at Settings > Discussion > “Comment Blacklist”)

If the submission passes all these requirements, the site will:

• Save the submission
• Set the post status to “Pending” if the user is a subscriber or contributor role or “Publish” if the user is an admin or editor and the corresponding setting is activated on the options page
• Save the categories, if any
• Save the URL and creator flag
• Count an upvote by the submitter and calculate the ranking

If the submission was saved as “Pending,” it will not appear on the site until it’s published (see the page on moderation here). Once it’s live on the site, its order will be determined by the ranking or the submission date, depending on the “Use algorithm on homepage” setting on the options page (see the page on content ordering here).

Editing and Adding in wp-admin

Administrators and editors can use the wp-admin screens to both add and edit submissions. The main difference with adding submissions in using the wp-admin is the ability to:

• Modify the publish date to schedule in the future or move a submission into the past
• Create a submission with a different excerpt and post content (the excerpt appears in submission listings and the post content appears on the single submission page)
• Create a submission without a URL (this will act like a regular submission but always link to the single page)
• Turn on or off comments for a specific post

To add or modify submissions in the wp-admin:

1. In wp-admin:
   1. To add a submission, click Submissions > Add New
   2. To edit an existing submission, click Submissions, then the title of the submission you want to edit
2. Use the title field to add the linked text in listings and the title on the single submission page
3. Use the post content editor to add text to the single submission page
4. Use the “Submitted URL” field in the “Rank It WP – Fields” box to add a URL to the submission. Leave this blank to just create an on-site submission.
5. If the author that created the submission is the creator of the content at the link, check the “Author is creator” box
6. Use the “Excerpt” field to add content that will appear on listing pages only
7. You can turn on or off comments for a specific submission using the “Allow comments” control in the “Discussion”box
8. In the boxes on the right, you can set status, publish date (past or future), categories, and tags
9. If you have the “What post types should use a featured image” turned on for Submissions, you will see a “Featured Image” box on the right. Upload a new image or choose one from your Media library to show an image in the listing or on the single display page.
10. To set the post live on the site, click the blue Publish button on the top right. Otherwise, change the status to “Draft” or “Pending Review” and click Update. More information on submission status and moderation is here.

If any of the controls mentioned above do not appear on the submission edit page, look for the Screen Options tab on the top right and check the boxes for the corresponding controls.

One thing to note here, the “Rank It WP – Data” box on the right shows the number of upvotes the submission has received and the calculated rating. These are maintained by the theme and cannot be edited. The rating can be used to order the homepage according to “hotness,” discussed here.