As of Monday, December 15, everyone using Intercom to submit a story will see a more user-friendly interface!
A new WYSIWYG editorial tool -- WYSIWYG is short for "what you see is what you get" -- will be added to Intercom. This means that anyone submitting a story (via the "Contribute and Manage Stories" page) will see a graphics-based WYSIWYG that they can use to format the text of the story, encode hyperlinks, and so forth. It is the same tool used by the Web Profile Manager (WPM); but even if you're not a WPM user, it should not prove difficult for anyone familiar with modern word-processing software.
Because there is no longer a need for manual HTML coding in Intercom stories, the "Post Mode" field (with the choices of "Plain Text" or "HTML formatted") will disappear from the Intercom submission interface.
Anyone using Firefox version 1.5 or later, Safari 3+, or Internet Explorer 6+ will see this new WYSIWYG tool. Those using older browsers will see a slightly different, Java-based WYSIWYG -- but you might find it most effective to upgrade to the latest version of your browser.
Two helpful features of the new WYSIWYG are functions called "Paste from Word" and "Paste as Plain Text." The first helps users transfer content from Microsoft Word without losing all formatting, while the second allows users to paste content without any special formatting at all.
Aside from the changes described above, the rest of the Intercom submission process will remain the same.
If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to intercom@ithaca.edu.
Karen Sunderland