Welcome to ARCOS!
ARCOS is an all-in-one marketing platform and donor database that lets you create, manage, and publish website and email content.
To use ARCOS, you don't need to be a programmer or know HTML — you need only a basic understanding of Internet usage. It is recommended that new users contact their site administrator or Plus Three account manager for ARCOS training first, and use this help documentation as a reference in the future.
System Requirements
Web browsers vary in their support for current recommendations and standards relating to the presentation and utility of Web content. Application of these standards within ARCOS excludes less sophisticated browsers from access to its full functionality. For best results, the following browsers are recommended:
- Internet Explorer, version 7.0+ (Windows)
- Firefox, version 14+ (Windows / Mac / Linux)
- Safari, version 5.0+ (Mac and iPad)
- Chrome 20+ (Windows / Mac / Linux)
Login
To access ARCOS, simply go to the URL provided by your administrator. You will need a username and password. Enter your username and password and click "Login".
The User Interface
ARCOS is designed to keep the creation and management of content as simple as possible. Here are some pointers to keep you oriented as you're working in ARCOS.
- Navigation
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All high-level ARCOS functions are accessible by the navigation in the left column. The navigation appears on all pages within ARCOS and links can be selected at any time. Depending on a user's permission set, certain links may not appear in the navigation. For example, if a user has not been given access to the Templates, the Templates link will not appear.
- Page Title
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Every page in ARCOS has a title. The title reflects the page that you are on and will help identify where you are in the system.
- Error Messages
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Error and status messages are displayed in yellow at the top of the page. Required fields will turn yellow if they are left blank.
- Getting Help
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Many pages in ARCOS have a Help link. Clicking the Help link will open a pop-up window with information about the page you are on.
Basic Concepts of Content Management
Types of Content
There are three types of content in ARCOS: Stories, Media files, and Templates.
A Story is a page of content on your site (not a file like a PDF or image). Everything from a breaking news article for the homepage to a welcome letter from the president to a category-specific event flyer is considered a Story. (This is actually not entirely true; a page of content is actually the combination of a Story and a Template. For now, though, you can think of a Story as a page of content on your site.)
Media refers to any media file you have uploaded to ARCOS, such as an image, video, PDF, Word document, or Excel spreadsheet.
A Template file is how ARCOS knows what you want your Story content to look like when it is published as a web page. Templates format Story content with HTML (or other languages) for publication.
Check In / Check Out Logic
ARCOS is a Check In/Check Out system, meaning you must Check Out content (a Story, Media file, or Template) in order to modify it, and you must Check In content for another user to work on it. The simplest analogy is a library: once you have checked out a book, it is not available to others until you have checked it back in. In the online world, this type of system ensures multiple users in an organization do not try to modify the same files at the same time. If they did, someone's changes might get overwritten! Note that publishing content to the site automatically checks it back in.
You can Check Out a Story, Media file, or Template from their respective Find pages (Find Story, Find Media, or Find Template).
After you have made any changes to a Media file or Template that you like, you can save it (it remains checked out by you), check it in without publishing, or Publish (Media files) or Deploy (Templates) it. Remember: Publishing/deploying content automatically checks it back in.
After you have made any changes to a Story that you like, you can choose to check it in to a Desk (see Desks) or Publish it.
Desks
The Desk structure allows you and other ARCOS users to define a workflow that mirrors your organization's requirements for creating and publishing online content.
My Workspace
After logging in to ARCOS, you will be on the page My Workspace. This is your personal space within ARCOS. This page is particular to YOU, as a logged-in user, and acts as YOUR home base. You can return here at any time by clicking the My Workspace link at the top of the navigation.
When you create or edit a Story, Media file or Template, it is considered checked out by you and sits on your My Workspace. It will remain on My Workspace until you check it in or publish it. Items on your My Workspace cannot be edited or published by other users. If another user tries to access this content, a message is displayed indicating that it is currently "Checked Out by "; that other user will only be able to View the Story.
Content that is checked out will not be published to the website as the system assumes it is "in process". This is important to remember if, like many ARCOS-driven sites, your website has one or more Stories that are scheduled to be published automatically at recurring times.
My Preferences
My Preferences is where you can set certain system preferences for items in ARCOS. My Preferences are specific to each user and can only be accessed by that user.
My Alerts
My Alerts allows you to set up email alerts based on other ARCOS users' actions. Alerts can streamline your organization's internal communication and help keep everyone who plays a role in maintaining your website(s) informed.
Stories
This section contains the tools you need to create, edit, preview and publish stories.
Media
This section contains the tools you need to create, edit, preview and publish Media files.
Templates
This section contains the tools you need to create, edit, preview and publish Templates.
Mailing
This section contains the tools you need to create and send mailings to all of your members or to a subset of them.
Members
Your organization's member list is all the people who have taken action on a form on your site. This action might have been making a contribution, signing a petition, sending a letter-to-the-editor, registering to volunteer, creating a community fundraising page, or sending a tell-a-friend email.
Managing your list is one of the most important aspects of a successful organization. This section of ARCOS lets you browse your list, upload information about new members, update existing member records, and download member data for use in other applications or offline activities.
Reports
In this section of ARCOS you can view web traffic statics for your site and the all-important data about the action pages on your site — contribution forms, petition forms, letters to the editor, etc.
Admin
The Admin tools allow users with administrative permissions to manage important ARCOS configuration settings such as: which users are allowed access to which parts of ARCOS; what regularly scheduled Jobs run; and what payment accounts are available for use with contribution forms.