How to set up your platform (administrators)

Before you can start inviting people to your platform it needs to be set up. Getting everything ready is simple. Still, there are a few things to keep in mind. This article is here to guide you through the steps, helping you create an inviting and well-organised platform that makes visitors want to contribute their ideas.

First things first: choosing the right pictures

Your homepage is the entry point for all people looking to participate in your concertations or to find out more about your community. It should be set up in a way that makes it look both representative of your community and inviting to new users. Choosing the right pictures is a central part of personalising your platform. 

To upload pictures on your community homepage, click 'Settings' in the grey sidebar-menu. 

There's 3 types of visuals you can add to your homepage:

• Choose a cover photo: The panoramic photo will stand out most on your homepage, so make sure that it is pleasant to look at and draws users in! The recommended size is 1900x375px (150x56px minimum) with a ratio of >2:1, <4:1.
• Choose a logo: The logo will appear in the top left corner of the page and should reflect your community. If possible, it's best to use your official logo. Choose a format of 500x180 (150x56px minimum) with a ratio of >2:1, <4:1.
• Choose a profile photo: Your profile picture will be shown on top of the grey sidebar-menu. Format: 500x500px (170x170px minimum)

In addition to personalising your homepage, you also have the option of adding visuals to your consultations. We strongly recommend that you do this as it allows users to quickly discern the topic of the concertation, thus encouraging engagement. 

Creating new pages for your homepage

Being well-informed is a prerequisite for any constructive exchange. Making additional information - on the topic of a concertation, the process of digital citizen participation etc. - available to the users will therefore greatly enrich your concertations. Civocracy let's you add pages to your sidebar menu for this purpose. 

To add a new page, 

click on 'add a page' at the bottom of the grey sidebar-menu. 

To add attachments to the new page,

Once you've added a new page, you can upload different attachments (documents, photos, videos...).

1. Upload your documents directly from your computer: scroll down to the bottom of the page and click 'select a file'. After you've selected the file you wish to upload, click 'open'. 

2. or copy a hyperlink into the 'enter the URL...' box. You can change the title of the link by clicking 'change the title'. 

Regardless of the method you use, you will be able to see a preview of the attachment by clicking 'generate preview'. Once satisfied that you want the attachment to appear on your page, click 'add an attachment'. 

Adding administrators 

All your team-members need administrative rights to access the statistics, moderate the concertations and edit your community page. So don't forget to add them as administrators!

On the Settings page,

1. Scroll down to 'Owner Settings'

2. Enter the name and email-address of the person you'd like to invite as an administrator. 

3. And click 'send invite'

Last step: make your platform public

The content of your homepage is set and the visuals are in place, your first concertation is ready to be launched... it's time for your platform to go public!

Here's how you make your platform visible to the users:

1. Select 'Settings' in the sidebar-menu on the left side of your homepage. 

2. Scroll down to the bottom of the settings page and check 'everyone' to make your platform visible to all the users.