Creating a TownSite starts by cloning the Template TownSite. At template.townsites.org, we have a Template TownSite which we use for creating new TownSites. This is our first step.
You can access the Site Cloner by visiting townsites.org/site-cloner. You will need your TownSite Dashboard login credentials.
Under Select Source, choose “Template – template.townsites.org”.
Under Create New Site, enter the TownSite Name and the Suggested Domain Name, respectively, that you got from the Customer’s Submission Form.
You do not need to modify any of the Additional Settings.
Click the Clone button on the bottom right-hand corner.
Note: The Suggested Domain Name is only a suggestion.
The Suggested Domain Name field is filled in automatically based on the Customer’s input. It is not always correct. When in doubt, decide on a name that:
– Reflects the Community Name chosen by the Customer.
– Uses only letters and hyphens.
– Is short and sweet. For example, northville.townsites.org is better than northville-michigan.townsites.org.
Wait for the cloning process to complete.
Once it finishes, click the Target Site (see right).
A new tab will open. In the top-left corner, click the Dashboard icon (see below).
You should now be viewing the TownSite Dashboard. From here, you can perform maintenance on the Customer’s TownSite.
Note: See Logging In for instructions on logging into a TownSite that has already been cloned.
The first thing we need to do is create the Customer’s User account.
Create a new User
In the left-hand menu, choose Users → Add New.
Go to the second section, “Add New User”.
Enter the following info:
- Username: Use the first initial and last name of the Customer (e.g., “lmoraitis” for Lee Moraitis).
- Email: The Customer’s email address.
- Role: “Editor”
- Skip Confirmation Email should be checked
Click Add New User.
Edit the newly created User
Once the new User has been successfully created, click “Edit User”.
Enter the following info:
- First Name: Customer’s first name
- Last Name: Customer’s last name
- Display Name Publicly As: Choose the first and last name
- Website: Customer’s business website
- Business Name: Customer’s business name
- Business Phone Number: Customer’s phone number
- Job Title: Customer’s job title
Edit the TownSite’s General Settings
On the left-hand menu, choose Settings → General.
Enter the following info:
- Timezone: Enter the correct time zone.
To find a time zone for a community, simply type “time zone of (city), (state)” into Google.
– For Eastern time, choose “New York”.
– For Central time, choose “Chicago”.
– For Mountain time, choose “Denver”.
– For Pacific time, choose “Los Angeles”.
- CSS Theme: TownSite Theme specified on the Onboarding Form.
- CSS Color Scheme: Color Scheme specified on the Onboarding Form.
- Fill in the Community Name, City, State, and Zip in the same fashion.
- Community Resources: Copy and paste the Community Resources from the Onboarding form into the box provided.
When done, click Save Changes.
Important Note: After clicking Save Changes, a set of coordinates will appear under the Community Zip field. Please verify that the Full Address matches what you entered above.
