On the Home page you can find useful daily information:

► Today's local weather forecast
► Today's BBC news for Cumbria and the UK

► A newsflash of some coming events
► A list of recent additions to the site
► A menu to find all the other sections and pages on the site.

If you put your cursor on the menu, some items will expand to enable you to find all the sections and pages and forums on the site.

How to receive email announcements

To receive announcements of events by email, simply join the email list. The link is on the menu, and you will receive an email to reply to, to confirm.

You will probably receive one or two emails a week. Note: Both this email list and the newsflashes are limited to announcing local and fully public events that are of general interest (see below).

How to add an event to the events calendar

To add an event to the calendar you must first be an author (see below). When logged in as an author, you will see the 'Add' button above the calendar. Use it to add an event.

Note: As an author you agree to use the calendar only for events that are (i) local and (ii) fully open to the public. (Tip: If when you click Add, you think the calendar has vanished, scroll down.)

How to contribute to the forums, blogs and weblinks

To contribute anything to the site, you first need to register, and then in future you can simply login. The process is explained on the 'Why Register?' page, beside 'Login' on the menu.

When you log in as a registered user, you can add a web link and contribute to the blogs and discussion forums.

Web links need to include an explanation as well as the URL (ie the website address you are linking to). The explanation can have a maximum of 250 characters including spaces. If you want to write more, then you really need to become an author and create a page. Pages are also easier for people to find. Note: Like pages, web links will not appear until they have been published by the administrators.

If you would like to suggest a new discussion forum, and offer to moderate it (ie approve the inputs before they appear) please email: andy27 [at] crake.org.
(ie replace the [at] to make it an email address.

If you have general queries about using the site that are not addressed here, you can also look at the Help forum and ask it, or email as above.

How to become an author and create a page

You can create a page for your local organisation or business or the events you organise or local issues. To contribute anything to the site, you first need to register, and then in future you can simply login. The process is explained on the 'Why Register?' page, beside 'Login' on the menu.

As a registered user, and logged in, you will see 'Become an author' on the user menu. To create a page and to add events to the calendar you first need to complete and submit this form to the Parish Councils. You need to be approved as an author by the Parish Councils, so allow a few days.

Guidance: All the further information you will need to write your own page is contained in a page called 'How to write a page'. The link to this page becomes visible on the user menu when you have become an author and logged in. This overview has links to specific guidance pages which we recommend you print.

Please print and read those instructions - they are written by us to be useful, and have been updated from numerous comments. Reading them before you start will seriously save you a lot of time!

If you have a query that is not covered in the guidance pages, please also look at the Help forum for authors. This will be visible to you as an author. You may find helpful information there, and may find we have already answered your question.

If you have a problem not addressed in the guidance or forum, the overview page, 'How to write a page' also includes contact details.

To request an email announcement

If you would like us to announce an event using the email announcement list, and you are the person responsible for the publicity, you can send the email to ross79 [at] crake.org exactly as you want it to be forwarded.

Note: We will only forward the message if the event is (i) local and (ii) fully open to the public and (iii) of general interest.

Please do not send an attachment. Put the following information in the text of the email exactly as you would like it sent.

You need to include the event name, date, time, venue, and cost, together with your contact name, telephone number and email for people to ask more about it, and include any further details necessary such as directions to the venue and what people should bring.

To request a newsflash

If you would like an event to be announced on the Crake newsflash, (the words actively type across the top of the screen) send a message to simon78 [at] crake.org with the single line newsflash text exactly as you want it to appear.

Note: the same criteria (i-iii above) apply.

The single line of newsflash text can have an absolute maximum of 86 characters including spaces, but preferably less.

For consistency, and so that the date and time details are onscreen longest, sequence the information as: event-day-date-time-location.
For example:
Official launch of this site - Thursday 19th April, 6pm Penny Bridge School

For our records, include in your email request: your name, phone number, location and an explanation of the event if necessary. The Parish Council may phone you to check the details.

Before we publish a newsflash, you must also have provided people with further information about the event on this website. (We suggest the web page includes the event name, date, time, venue, and cost. Include any further details necessary such as directions to the venue and what people should bring. It helps to include a telephone number or email address for people to ask more about it (but see below).

Confidentiality and avoiding spam

Spammers do trawl all websites for email addresses to send spam. They search for the @ symbol. So... we suggest that if you include an email address, you may want to replace that symbol as we have done above.

When you want to give a contact telephone number, you might want to simply omit the area code. Local people will know it anyway or can guess which one it is.

.