Frequently asked questions about the Branch Website

General

The purpose is to add at least a main image, the branch's contact information, and a short description of the branch and its activities, and how to get involved in the activities to each branch's page. All of these contents are added to the front page. You will find instructions for adding these contents in the following pdf files in Finnish and Swedish.

You are also welcome to add other content to the pages, such as news and more detailed information about the branch's different forms of activity, such as first aid or friend activities. You will find instructions for this content in these files in Finnish and Swedish:

The page contents are divided into "packages" of different sizes, so that it would be easy for the page editors to grasp what content must at least be created for the pages and what can be added if desired. The division also helps to break down content production into smaller parts, and you can proceed with them at your own pace.

S-size pages are the so-called minimum-size pages, meaning each branch's pages should have at least the amount of content in this package. These contents are a general description of the branch and its activities, as well as the branch's contact information. You will find illustrated instructions for editing S-size pages in Finnish and Swedish below:

M-size pages include, in addition to the S-size pages, the creation of additional front page content, as well as creating content for the Join aboard page and the Contact page. You will find illustrated instructions for editing M-size pages in Finnish and Swedish below:

L-size pages include, in addition to the S- and M-size pages, the creation of content for the Activities page and the News page. You will find illustrated instructions for editing L-size pages in Finnish and Swedish below:

The branch is not meant to settle on just a certain amount of content. Each branch is meant to create at least the S-size amount of content for the pages, but you can freely continue adding content later at your own pace.

The purpose of the branch pages is to offer the reader information about the branch's activities. The reader could be, for example, a potential future volunteer or a person seeking help.

Oma Punainen Risti is a system intended for volunteers. In Oma, you can register as a volunteer, and registered users can search for suitable trainings, activities, and events, and sign up for them.

Links to Oma can – and should – be placed on the branch pages, so that especially those interested in volunteering can easily get involved in the activities and people can find their way to the branch's events.

There is a peer support group in Oma for all branch page editors. There, the volunteers and employees editing the branch pages can give each other support with the branch pages, ask questions, share ideas, and communicate about updates and possible bugs. Request access to the nationwide group for branch page editors in Oma.

Below you will also find illustrated instructions for editing the pages In Finnish and Swedish as PDF files:

You can also get help with building the pages by contacting your own district.

You can find illustrated instructions for searching for your own branch on the website from page 7 of the files below in Finnish and Swedish:

Ready-made texts have been created for the top of the pages so that branch pages of all sizes have universally applicable and uniform texts. This ensures that every branch's pages will, for example, also have a link directing users to Oma on the page that tells about the branch's volunteer activities, even if the branch itself only edits the minimum content on the pages.

If you would like to give feedback on the ready-made texts, you can do so through this form.

Links opening in the same tab is related to the accessibility of the pages. If, for example, the pages are browsed using a screen reader and a link opens in a new tab, the screen reader does not recognize the new tab and the user cannot proceed to the link's content.

When a link opens in the same tab, however, the screen reader user can proceed and explore the link's content. For this reason, links have been set to automatically open in the same tab, so that the pages' content is as accessible as possible for all users.

It is, however, still possible to open links in a new tab yourself:

On a computer: Move the mouse over the link, press the right mouse button, and select Open in new tab.
On a phone / tablet: Press and hold your finger down on the link and select Open in new tab.

Contact your own district.

You can give feedback on the pages through this form. You can also give the feedback to your district, which will forward it to the central office.

Logging in

You can find illustrated instructions for logging in to the branch pages from page 5 of these files below:

I remember my password, but I still cannot log in

You have received a username (First name, Last name) and a password from your district. Use them when logging in. NOTE! Logging in is not possible with an email address, so use the username you received. It is often in the form Firstname Lastname.

I do not remember my password

If you have forgotten your password, click the Forgot your password? -button to change your password. A password reset link will be sent to your email, from which you will get a one-time password for the pages. Once you have accessed the pages, remember to also change a new permanent password by clicking your name in the top left corner and Edit profile.

In the profile editing, you must set the one-time password you just set through the reset link in the current password field. In the Password fields, of which there are two, type your permanent password and make a note of it for yourself.

The next time, you will be able to log in with your username (First name Last name) and the password you changed.

I tried to log in with my name and I also changed my password, and I still cannot log in to the pages

Contact your district employee. You can find the contact information on the districts' pages.

If you have forgotten your password, click the Forgot your password? -button to change your password. A password reset link will be sent to your email, from which you will get a one-time password for the pages. Once you have accessed the pages, remember to also change a new permanent password by clicking your name in the top left corner and Edit profile.

In the profile editing, you must set the one-time password you just set through the reset link in the current password field. In the Password fields, of which there are two, type your permanent password and make a note of it for yourself.

The next time, you will be able to log in with your username (First name Last name) and the password you changed.

You can find illustrated instructions for logging in to the branch pages from page 5 of these files below in Finnish and Swedish:

Great that you are excited to edit your branch's pages!

An employee must first create your login credentials for the branch pages and assign you as an editor for your branch before you can log in and edit your branch's pages.

So, send an email to your district's employee and tell them which branch you are from. The district employee will create your user account for the pages and reply to your email with your username and password. Proceed to log in to the pages with the help of these instructions.

Home page

The purpose is to add at least a general description of the branch and its activities, how to get involved in the activities, as well as the branch's contact information to the front page. In addition, you can create other text and image content for the front page, as well as highlight news from the News page and the branch's most important forms of activity from the Activities page.

You will find instructions for adding a general description and contact information to the front page in this S-size instruction on pages 8–13.

You will find instructions for adding other content to the front page in this M-size instruction on pages 15–21.

You will find instructions for editing the Current and Activities pages, from which you can also highlight content on the front page, in this L-size instruction on pages 30–36.

The address is not mandatory information, so you can also leave the address field blank. However, you can, for example, enter only the town/municipality and postal code as the address for the branch (e.g. 40100 Jyväskylä).

Images

Every page (Front page, Activities page,...) has a main image at the top of the page. You can set a different image as the main image for each page. If main images have not been set for the other pages, the Front page's main image will also be displayed on the other pages. In addition to the main images, images can also be added to the pages' body text.

You can find illustrated instructions on how to upload images to the branch pages from page 10 of these instructions below:

The recommended size for the pages' main images is 1900 x 682 pixels. The main image refers to a horizontal, wide image that is displayed at the top of each page (front page, activities, news, join aboard, contact information) together with the heading.

If you add an image to the other content of the page, the image size is more flexible and it can be either a portrait or a landscape image.

Before you upload an image to the pages, it must first be cropped to fit the pages (1900 x 682). Please note, however, that a little bit will be cropped off from the edges of the image, and the branch's name will appear over the bottom edge of the Front page's main image.

Suitable programs for cropping your own images can be found in the image editing on phones, on the computer, and online with the crop image feature. If you retrieve images from the Red Cross material bank, you can crop images with the Vapaa rajaus feature, which appears when you have selected the image you want and press Lataa. Enter the image sizes, width 1920 and height 682, into the fields and then click the lock button, after which you can move the image area and drag the edges however you like. It is a good idea to center people's faces in the middle of the image so that they are shown in full in the image.

You are allowed and encouraged to use your own images on the branch pages. Local images and those depicting the activities are welcome on the pages, as they tell the readers what kind of activities they can participate in at your branch.

Remember, however, to ask the people visible in the photos for photography consent, and tell them that the images will also be utilized on your website. Please also note that all images uploaded to the branch pages are currently visible to all page editors. If you would like to utilize an image from another branch, please contact them about it.

General images that can be used freely on the pages have also been uploaded to the site. You can find these images by searching with the file name kuvaus or ystava.

Activities page

On the Activities page, you can present the branch's activities in more detail. Blue boxes are created on the page, which are given headings (e.g., friend activity, first aid group, fundraising) and a short description can be written for them. By clicking the blue box, the reader is taken to a page where the activity in question is presented in more detail.

Three blue boxes will also appear on the branch's Home page, so that, for example, the branch's most active forms of activity are visible right on the front page. The three boxes that you place highest in order will be shown first on the Home page and the Activities page. Instructions for changing the order of the blue boxes in Finnish and Swedish below:

You can find instructions for creating content for the Activities page in the files below on pages 30–33:

News page

On the News Page, you can publish the branch's current news, bulletins, and updates. In a news item, you can, for example, tell about upcoming events, meetings, or even share the result of the branch's Hunger Day collection. You can add text, images, links, and attachments to the news items.

Light brown boxes are created on the page, which are given headings and a short description. By clicking the light brown box, the reader is taken to a page where the news item can be read in its entirety.

Three newest news items are also displayed on the Home page. They automatically appear on the branch's front page, newest first. However, you can pin a certain news item to be displayed on the branch's Home page by clicking the "Highlight on the branch's Home page" button blue in the news item's editing view, after which it will be shown on the Home page even if new items are published.

You can find more detailed instructions for creating content for the News Page in these instructions on pages 34–36.

Not at the moment, but the request for this feature has been noted down for future website development.

If you want a news item to be visible for a specific time period, you must publish the news item at the desired time and also remove it yourself.

At the moment unfortunately not. A news item cannot be archived.

Unfortunatly, not at the moment.

Join Aboard page

The purpose of the Join Aboard page is to create content that encourages the reader to join the branch's activities. On this page, it is recommended to direct users to register in Oma and sign up for events. For example, you can also add the branch's event calendar to the page and tell about the branch's history.

You can find more detailed instructions for creating content for the Join Aboard page in these instructions below on pages 22–24.

Contact page

The contact information added to the front page—meaning the address, email, and phone number—will also automatically appear on the Contact page. However, you can also add other contact details to this page, such as the members of the branch's board and other contact persons of the branch, or the addresses of multiple different premises.

You can find more detailed instructions for creating content for the Contact page in these instructions below on pages 25–29.

Footer

The footer (or page footer) refers to the wide section with a light brown background at the bottom of the page, which always looks the same at the end of every page. The footer is a uniform information box for the branch pages, where the user can easily find important information regardless of which page they are browsing. In the branch pages' footer, you can add the branch's contact details, social media profiles, and other relevant links.

You can add the branch's contact details, social media profiles, and other relevant links to the footer.

The branch's contact details will also automatically appear in the footer once you have added them to the front page. Therefore, you do not need to add the contact information to the footer separately.

You can add links to the footer, for example, to the district's pages and the pages of other relevant entities, stakeholders, partners, and local organizations. These can include, for example, the Blood Service, Youth Shelters, food aid, municipalities and wellbeing services counties, or other partner organizations. You can add the links from the Front page's editing view under the section "Footer links."

You can add social media profiles to the footer from the Front page's editing view under the section "Social media."

Language version of branch sites

It is possible to make the branch pages in Finnish, Swedish, and English.

You can have a language version enabled for the branch pages by asking a district employee to open it. So, send an email to your district employee, tell them which branch you are from and which languages you would like to have enabled on the pages.

After this, the language menu in the top right corner of the branch pages will appear in black, and you can switch, for example, from editing the Finnish side to editing the English side. Fill in the contents of the opened language version in the same style as on the main language side.

When you create news or activities using the "Add content" button for the language version—meaning the brown and blue boxes—remember to select the language version's language from the language menu in the editor, so that the activity appears in the correct language version.

Give feedback about the Branch Website