Contribute – Connecting and Making Edits
Detailed below are the instructions on how to connect to Contribute and then on how to make edits. Email ATLAS at atlas-web@illinois.edu for additional support if the guidelines below don’t answer your question(s).
Connect to Contribute (Windows and Mac)
- Download the ZIP file.
The location
of the ZIP file follows the format http://unit.illinois.edu/unit-Publisher.zip, where unit corresponds to name used by the unit in
its URL (ex: African Studies = afrst; English = english).
Type this
URL into a browser and the prompt to download should appear. Save the file to
an easily remembered location.
- Double-click on the ZIP file and extract it (using
7-zip or a similar such method).
- The key file is named unit-Publisher.stc.
Double-click on the key file.
- Contribute will ask for your login information. Use
your NetID and AD password.
- The password for the key is unit. It will be the
same name as the unit in the URL. If you have issues connecting, please
reach out to atlas-web@illinois.edu for assistance.
Creating a new page in Contribute
- Connect normally to a page on your site that will serve
as a template.
- Click on the “New Page” button on the top left side of
the toolbar.

- Select the “Copy of Current Page” option.
- Type in a site title in the “Page title” box in the
bottom right of the window. Then, click OK. (This title will be visible in
the tab of the Internet browser).
- Once in the new page, erase the existing content; then,
replace it with the new content.
- When done making changes and ready to publish, hit for
“Save for Later” button to save the draft until you have a link to it.
- Go to your “Browser” in the pages column on the left,
and connect to the page that will link to the new page.
- Type a new link. Then, highlight the link content, and
either use the “Link” button in the menu bar or right click for the add
link window to open.
- Select the new page you created (in steps 2-6) from
“Drafts” and hit OK.

- Return to the new page, and click the “Publish” icon.
This will open a new window for you to identify your new site.
- The file name is always “index.html”.
- Then click “Choose Folder,” and click the new folder
button. Once you name the folder and select it—your page is published. The
name of the new folder will be in the URL. Be sure that there are no
spaces, no capital letters, and no special characters in your folder
title.
- Go back to the link page in the “Pages” column and
publish the link page, and you’re done!
Contribute Tips
Connect
After the initial connection has
been made, when opening Contribute, you will find the site listed in the
'Begin Editing' section. Click on it to get started.
Edit
When editing a page, until it is PUBLISHED,
the page will be LOCKED so no one else can edit it while you are working
on it.
Do NOT use tables
There is a spell-check
located in the top right corner of the page, when editing
Right-clicking gives you various
options
Changes will not appear on server
until the page is 'Published'
New
Page
Create A New Page: To create a new page, make a copy of an existing page in
that section, this keeps this template and proper navigation.
- On a existing page in the same section, click
'New"
- Select Copy of Current Page
- Enter a Page Title
- Replace existing editable content with new content

Naming a New Page: When creating a new page, it is important to create a new
folder, name the folder something logical, then place the new page in that
folder and name it "index.html" without the quotes
NOTE: If the page needs to be linked
within the navigation, please contact ATLAS Web Services at atlas-web@uiuc.edu. Please be sure to provide the URL of the new page and what
section of the navigation you would like the page located.
Video of a Contribute Training
Session: