In this guide

↓ The Veteran-centered purpose

↓ Purpose of the content type

↓ Add a new story

↓ Edit a story

The Veteran-centered purpose

“As a Veteran, family member, or caregiver, I’m interested in reading stories about things happening at my local VAMC.”

Purpose of the content type

Community stories highlight the role of a VA facility, program, or healthcare system in a Veteran's journey. They may be a case study of a specific patient, a description of a new or successful program, or a community-interest story.

Add a new story

1. In the top menu, after logging in, select Content, then click Add content.
2. On the Add content page, click Story.
3. On the right hand side under Section settings, select the site for which you’d like to create the story for (e.g. VA Pittsburgh health care).
   • If you only have permission to edit one section, you don’t need to change anything here.
4. Add the Title of the story.
5. In the Author field, start typing to locate the profile of the author who wrote the story.
   • If the author doesn’t already have a profile, you’ll need to create one first using the Staff Profile content type. Follow this guide on How to edit a Staff Profile.
6. Using the Where should the story be listed? dropdown, select which site the story should appear on.
   • For example, selecting VA Pittsburgh health care means your story will appear on the VA Pittsburgh’s Stories page.
   • If you only have permission to edit one section, you will only have one option in this dropdown menu.
7. Add the first sentence of the story in the First sentence (lede) dedicated field. This will be used in a few distinct ways from the rest of the story content:
   • The first sentence functions as a teaser description when listed on the Stories or homepage.
   • It appears in social media shares and searches.
   • This sentence will display in large, prominent text that stands out from the rest of the body content.
8. Add the remaining Story content in the Body text field.
   • Do not duplicate the first sentence or author here.
9. Add an Image
   • Click Add Media to open the media browser.
   • Browse the media library to select an image that has already been added and click Insert selected or click Select file to upload a new image.
   • Select the image from your computer.
   • Enter a Name.
   • Enter Alternative text. Follow VA content style guidelines for alt text.
   • Select an aspect ratio and the crop area.
     • Story images should be landscape, not portrait; the system will display the photo in a 2:1 aspect ratio on the story page and a 3:2 aspect ratio for the featured story view.
   • Select your section under Section Settings.
   • Check or uncheck if you want the image to be Reusable by other sections.
   • Click Save and insert.
10. Add an image Caption. This will display on the full story detail page.
11. Feature this story by checking the Featured checkbox.
    • If you have decided to feature the story, select the Order of the story as either 1st or 2nd. Read more about featuring stories.
12. In the Editorial Workflow, click to select a Save as state and enter a Revision log message. For more information on each state, read the Editorial Workflow article.
13. Click Save.

Edit a story

1. On your homepage, after logging in, click the name of the section you want to edit.
2. From the content page, click the Content type dropdown menu and select  Story.
3. Click Apply. 
4. Click Edit next to the Story page in the results list that you wish to edit.
5. Make updates and edits as needed following the same directions as above for each field.
6. When you have completed your changes, scroll down to the Editorial Workflow.
7. Click to select a Save as state and enter a Revision log message. For more information on each state, read the Editorial Workflow article.
8. Click Save.