Site Overview:

The Primary Navigation Bar is located across the top of the screen. This contains links to the four main categories of content on Newscom - Editorial Images, Stories, Syndicated Content and Creative Images - plus links to Lightbox, Help, About Us, My Account, My Subscriptions, Membership or the Login/Logout pages. These links may vary slightly depending upon whether or not you are logged into the site.

The Secondary Navigation Area is located down the left side of the screen. This contains links to a variety of informational pages and tools, depending upon whether you are logged into the site, and what page you are accessing.

The Content Area is located in the middle of the screen. Within each content landing page, this section contains rotating highlights of key stories, provider spotlights and special promotions. Once you choose to access any content on Newscom, your Search Results or Latest Postings will appear in this area.

Newscom works best with Internet Explorer 6.0 or Firefox 1.5, and Safari. You can download the latest versions of the browsers at:

Firefox:
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

Internet Explorer:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/download/default.asp

Safari (Macintosh):
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/safari

Login/Logout   

You may enter the Member site in one of two ways.
1. Enter your User Name and Password directly from the Newscom Home Page, which will then take you to the Home Page. Alternatively, you may enter your username and password then click the Login button found in the upper-right corner of the Primary Navigation Area. The Login page may also contain important announcements or information from Newscom so we suggest you check this area each time you log in.

NOTE: In order to successfully log into Newscom, you must set your browser to Accept Cookies. Newscom uses them to determine such things as your Home page and your Preferences. Please refer to your browser's Help section for assistance.

Save Your Password   

For Firefox or Mozilla users, this option is turned on by default. The first time you log in to the new site, your browser will ask you if you want to save your User Name and Password for this site. For Internet Explorer users, to save your User Name and Password you must have "Prompt Me To Save Passwords" enabled. You may do so through Tools->Internet Options->Content->Auto Complete.

Editorial Images | Stories | Syndicated Content | Creative Images:   

From the Editorial Images link in the Primary Navigation Bar you will see the editorial images promotions in the Content Area. If you conduct a search, your Search Results will be limited to the Editorial Images content types whose checkboxes are selected. This includes photos, graphics, illustrations, caricatures, cartoons, paginated pages and Web-ready content.

If you click on Stories, Syndicated Content or Creative Images in the Primary Navigation Bar, that link will be highlighted and you will see the corresponding promotions in the Content Area. If you conduct a search, your Search Results will be limited to the content types whose checkboxes are selected. This includes Stories for Stories, Features and Commentary for Syndicated Content, and Creative Images and Illustrations for Creative Images.

NOTE: You may access any of Newscom's content types from any Member Home Page by choosing the clickbox in the Search tool that corresponds to the content type you wish to search. You may choose multiple content types, but it is not recommended that you combine photo and text searches.

Search Tool   

The Search tool contains a number of elements that can help you define or refine your searches in order to obtain the optimal results.

• Keyword: You can search for words or phrases by typing them into the Keyword box.



• Match: The Newscom search engine defaults to All Words. But you may use the drop-down menu to the right of the Match field to select other connectors for your search terms.



• All words - assumes the spaces between the words are treated like the logical AND. All of the terms are required to be in all of the items found.



• Any words - assumes the spaces between the words are treated like the logical OR. Any one of the terms is required to be in the items found.



• Exact Phrase - assumes the words must be adjacent to each other in the exact order in which you entered them.



• Boolean Query - allows you to use additional search syntax and combine different operators in one search statement if you want to use more sophisticated searching capabilities.
  
  
If you type the connectors into the Keyword box, keep the following guidelines in mind.


• AND - All terms must be in the items found.



• OR - Any one of the terms is required to be in the items found.



• AND NOT - Terms following this connector must not be in items found. Multiple terms to be excluded should be encased in parentheses ie squash NOT (game OR sport).



• Date Range: The default date range is All. This searches Newscom's entire database of content. But you may use the Date Range drop-down menu to limit your search to specific pre-set time periods. Your choices include photos posted to Newscom within the Last Year, the Last 30 Days, the Last 7 Days, the Last 24 Hours, or the Last 1 Hour.



• Date Start/Date End: If you are looking for content posted to Newscom on a specific date or dates, enter those dates in the Date Start and Date End fields. Search results will be limited to content posted to Newscom between those dates.



• Search by Content Type: The click boxes near the bottom of the Secondary Navigation Area allow you to limit your searches by content type. The search engine currently defaults to the Content Types that correspond with the category of content that is highlighted in the Primary Navigation Bar, but you may choose any combination that you need. Simply click on "Clear Checkboxes" and then check the boxes that correspond with the content types that you wish to search.



• Search by Provider: This feature allows you to limit your searches to a specific feature on Newscom. Click on the "By Provider" link at the bottom of the Secondary Navigation Area to bring up a list of available databases in the Content Area. If you are on the Editorial Images page, the list will only include our visuals databases. If you are on the Stories page, the list will only include our news text databases. The same logic applies to the Features and Stock pages.

Click on any database on the list. The material currently in that database will populate the Content Area, with the Most Recent postings at the top. The Secondary Navigation Area will change to display the Search tools available for that database. By default these tools include Keyword, Match, Date Range and Date Start/End. The functionality of these tools is identical to that of the full Newscom Search. In addition, some databases may have extra search fields available that are unique to that database.

To exit the Search By Provider section and return to the full Newscom search, click on the Editorial Images, Stories, Syndicated Content or Creative Images links in the Primary Navigation Bar. Or click on "Back to the Full Search" in the Secondary Navigation area.

Search Results   

Once a search has been conducted, your Search Results will appear in the Content Area. There are a number of elements to the Search Results page.

Select Display View: This pull-down menu at the top-right of your Search Results allows you to choose the way you would like your results to display on-screen. The options for Editorial Images or Creative Images include:

• Compact Text - Results are presented in a list showing the file name, the date and time the item was added to the database, and a two or three-letter code indicating the name of the provider. Thumbnails do not display in this view



• Expanded Text - Results are presented in a list that includes the compact text plus the headline, caption and file size.



• Text with Thumbnails - Results include a thumbnail plus the expanded text.



• Thumbnail Grid - Results include the thumbnail and the compact text. The default display is a grid of 40 items with 4 items across and 10 down.
  Note: You can change the display of the grid in your user preferences under Toolbox > Set Preferences.

The options of Text or Features include:

• Compact Text - Results are presented in a list showing the file name, the date and time the item was added to the database, and a two or three-letter code indicating the name of the provider. Thumbnails do not display in this view



• Expanded Text - Results are presented in a list that includes the compact text plus the headline, caption and file size.

Related Content: If you have chosen to search a single content type, Newscom's search engine returns the number of results that satisfy your search criteria for other content types in the form of links under Related Content. This can help you identify forms of content available on your desired subject that may not come to mind otherwise.

xxxx Documents found: This indicates the number of documents found in the selected database(s) that satisfied your search criteria. The Results Page and arrows allow you to navigate through the pages of Search Results.

Document Detail   

To view the Document Detail of any item in your Search Results,

• In Compact Text - Click on the link with the document name.



• In Expanded Text - Click on the link that includes the document name and headline.



• In Text with Thumbnails - Click on the thumbnail or click on the link that includes the document name and headline.



• In Thumbnail Grid - Click on the thumbnail or click on the Detail link below the thumbnail.

For Visuals, the page will refresh and you will see a larger thumbnail of your item, the expanded IPTC caption information for that item, and your purchase options.
For Text, the page will refresh and you will see the first 20% of the text item and your purchase options.

To see the Document Detail of a different item in your Search Results, you may leaf through your results in Document Detail view by using the "Previous" and "Next" links just above the thumbnail or text preview. Or you may choose "Return to Results" to scan through by page.

From the Document Detail view, you may add an item to your Lightbox by choosing the appropriate Lightbox from the drop-down menu just above and to the left of the thumbnail or text preview.

If you would like to see an enlarged preview of any Visual, click on the "Enlarged View" link beneath the thumbnail in the Document Detail view. You may also purchase the item from the Detail view. Please see our Billing Section for more details.

To exit the Document Detail view, click on "Return to Results" just above the thumbnail or text preview.

Tag Id   

Each item in our database is assigned a unique Tag Id or number which can be found in the Document Detail view of the item, directly beneath the Headline. (Example: afplive562184). This can be useful when browsing through results that may have similar object names or headlines. You can make note of the Tag Id of items that interest you, then return later and find those items easily by searching on the Tag Id. This can be done by entering the Tag ID (afplive562184) into the Keywords field and choosing "By Tag ID" from the Match drop-down menu. A search on the Tag Id will be performed and the item will be returned in the Search Results.

Lightbox Management   

Adding images:
From standard Search Results: Click the checkboxes below the thumbnails you wish to add to the Lightbox. Choose the appropriate Lightbox from the drop-down menu just above the Search Results. Click on the "Add Selected to Lightbox" bar.

From the Detail View: Choose a Lightbox from the pull-down menu provided in the Detail View of the image and then click on the Add to Lightbox bar.

PLEASE NOTE:

If you are adding images to a lightbox from multiple pages of search results, you must click on "Add Selected to Lightbox" prior to moving on to the next page of results. Otherwise, the clickboxes for your chosen images on the previous page will be cleared.

Each Lightbox is limited to a total of 50 items.

Deleting, Moving or Copying Images:
Items are removed from your Lightbox by clicking the checkboxes below the thumbnails that you wish to delete from the Lightbox and then hitting the "Remove Selected" bar.

Items can be moved or copied from one Lightbox to another by clicking the checkboxes below the thumbnails that you wish to move or copy, choosing the Lightbox that you wish to move or copy them to using the drop-down menu, and then clicking on the Move or Copy buttons.

You may easily navigate between Lightboxes using the "Jump to Lightbox" drop-down menu.

LightBox Functions:
Access to My Lightbox can be found by clicking on Lightbox at the top of the Primary Navigation Area of any Newscom page. The Lightbox view will default to My Lightbox. Once you are in a Lightbox, the Secondary Navigation area changes to display the Lightbox Options available to you. These include:

Create Lightbox: From any Lightbox, choose Create Lightbox. A popup window will appear allowing you to type in the desired Lightbox name. Hit Submit, and you will be taken to that new Lightbox. You may create an unlimited number of Lightboxes. They do not expire.

Empty Lightbox: Enter the Lightbox you wish to empty and click Empty Lightbox under Options. The page will refresh and the Lightbox will reappear emptied of its contents.

Rename Lightbox: From any Lightbox, choose Rename Lightbox and a popup window will appear allowing you to type which Lightbox you want to rename, and the new name. Hit Submit, and you will be taken to the newly renamed Lightbox.

Delete Lightbox: Enter the Lightbox you wish to delete and click on Delete Lightbox under Options. This will delete the entire Lightbox, not just the contents. (Note: My Lightbox cannot be deleted.)

Email Lightbox: Enter the Lightbox you wish to email and click on Email Lightbox under Options. A popup window will appear allowing you to type your name, email address, the email of the recipient and a short message. The recipient will receive your message along with a link to a view-only HTML version of that Lightbox. You may email a Lightbox to any recipient. They do not need a Newscom User Name or Password in order to view it. If you are sending the Lightbox to multiple recipients, you should separate each address with a comma.

Exit Lightbox: You can exit the Lightbox section by clicking on Exit Lightbox under Options. You will be taken to your default Member Home Page.

You may buy or download an image from your Lightbox the same way you do from a Search Results page. Please see our Billing section for information.

My Account   

You may view the purchase history of your account by clicking on My Account on the Primary Navigation Area on any page and then choosing Purchase History from the Secondary Navigation area. A list of available billing periods will appear. Click on the billing period you wish to view. A popup window will appear giving you an overview of the purchases that were made during that billing period.

If you wish to review an item on the list, click on its Tag Id. A search on the Tag Id will be performed and the item will be returned in the Search Results.