News Releases: Troubleshooting Tips

How Do I...

• Edit an existing news release
  • Add a footnote to a news release
• Login to the system (I've logged in before)
• Delete a news release
• Find a draft already created
• Create a non-English news release

Other Issues You Could Encounter

• Delay in published news release showing in Newsroom list
• No access to the News Releases web area

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How Do I...

Edit an Existing News Release

Follow the instructions available on the News Releases: The Basics page.

• Note: If you do not see the EDIT bar: at top right, click the ADMIN INFO button. The actions bar should appear plus a "SET" button. Click the "SET" button. This will preserve your view to always show the edit bar. You should never have to touch the ADMIN INFO button again. Learn more about the Admin Info button.

Add a footnote to a news release

First, gather all the information/edits that you will need to make to update the page. 

1. Create the footnote link at the bottom of the news release

• Scroll to the bottom of the release and insert a horizontal line by clicking on the button to the immediate right of the quote buttons in the menu at top of the Body field.
• Immediately under the line add the number 1 at the start of the line.
• Put your cursor to the left of 1 (this will be at the very start of the line) and click on the flag icon on the menu at the top of the Body field. This will open a new pop up window, where you should enter 1 as the anchor name.
• Then enter the applicable descriptor text that is relevant to the addition. 
  • Example: ¹ Updated to reflect the co-host and other key partners that helped organize the 2024 Global Methane Forum. (from the EPA celebrates 20 years of methane reduction accomplishments at the Global Methane Forum)

2. Add or edit content in the body of the news release

• Add the new/edit information to the news release where it belongs. At the end of the new (or edited) sentence, put the number 1 after the period (like this.1).
• Highlight the 1 with your mouse and follow the two steps below:
  • Add a link to the 1 using the link button in the menu at the top of the Body field. When the pop up window shows up, pull down the drop down list next to the word "Anchor" and select 1. Hit Save to close the pop up window.
  • Ensuring the 1 is still selected, go the menu at the top of the Body field and click on the superscript icon (x² above). After you click on the that icon, the 1 will become superscript (like this.¹).

Save the page, republish and you are all set!

Log in to the WebCMS (I've logged in before)

Always, always use the full URL of https://www.epa.gov/user  -- after you are successfully logged into the VPN, of course.  One way to test that you are, in fact, logged into the VPN is if you can access https://work.epa.gov/.

Please use the full URL starting with https (and never just http), even if it seems to work sometimes or just because it's a handy typing shortcut. Instead, create a bookmark in your browser for the full URL and use it.

Delete a news release

You can't delete a news release* but you can unpublish it to take it offline.  To do this:

• Make sure you are logged in to the WebCMS at https://www.epa.gov/user
• Find the published news release at https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/search.
• Hit Control-Shift-R if you do not see the Admin Info option (editing options).
• Under the "Change to" menu header select "Unpublished," enter a log message for recordkeeping and hit the blue "Apply" button.

*Only a system administrator for the news releases web area can delete pages or files. This is for records, being able to check back when something goes wrong, etc.

Find a draft already created

Use the Group Dashboard to find drafts or revisions. You can filter this page based on author (LAN ID of initial creator) and/or sort by status (Draft) and date last modified. Log in, then go to the group dashboard here.

Note: You can edit an existing draft news release that someone else has created. They can either give you the URL of the draft or revision, or you will need to use the Group Dashboard to find it. This is the preferred practice, instead of creating new news release.

Create a non-English news release

Create and publish a non-English news release the same way that would an English release, with one important change:

Before you save the news release, scroll toward the bottom.  Under the Other Metadata tab, select the Language* of the news release. This will ensure that the news release appears correctly in the Newsroom list. 

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Other Issues You Might Encounter

Delay in published news release showing in Newsroom list

• The news release list https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/search sometimes doesn't update immediately. It can take anywhere from a few minutes, to being stuck and not updating for quite a while...
• If it's super-important that your news release appear in the list RIGHT NOW, here's what you can do:
  • Re-open the news release (but don't post it all over again!) and go into EDIT. Then SAVE, and REPUBLISH it. Make no changes, just re-publish it.  (Remember,  you must publish it again; just saving your changes will not put it online.)  After it republishes, go back to the news release list and refresh the page.

Otherwise, just wait it out. Your news release will eventually appear in the list.  IMPORTANT - please avoid posting a whole new, second copy of the same news release. You can't put a "try it again" version online any faster, and then we'll just end up with two versions online.

Related Info

• If you publish a new news release, the new release itself should (will) be online immediately.
  If you need the news release's URL to send out, you can go directly to the published news release by changing wcms to www in the URL; you do not have to wait for the list page to update (see below).
• If you edit and republish an existing news release, also, the changes should (will) appear online immediately.
• General information about how long it takes to publish in Web CMS.

No Access to the News Releases Web Area

At HQ, only the press officers in the Office of the Administrator may post or edit HQ or national news releases; in the regions it's the Public Affairs Director and staff. Please contact your AA's communications director or Web Council Member regarding news release process in your office.

To gain access to the News Releases web area, review News Releases: The Basics.