How to set up and use APSense iChannels

Go to the "iChannels" area by clicking on the "iChannels beta" Tab at the top of the page.

To Create an "iChannel" Click on the "Create My Own iChannel" which is on the right of the light blue band just below the main tabs.

You are now on the "Create iChannel" page.

"iChannel TAG:"

Place the name of your "iChannel" in this box.
You are restricted to a maximum of 20 characters (letters and numbers only) so use them well.

Make this name as descriptive as possible and try to use keywords.
As an example Bjschannel is not going to tell anyone anything and it is not going to help on the search engines either, where as lowcostwebspacenews is telling everyone including search engines that this is a channel for news about lowcostwebspace, it has words that may well be used as search terms ie

web space.
low cost web space.

So I have 2 possible search terms.

"iChannel Name:"

Here you have 50 characters that you can use here.
Note: Make sure you pre count them as it will let you type up to 99 characters but will cut off and display only the first 50 when you save your channel.

Again make this descriptive and include keywords.

example
here again I make sure that LowCost-Webspace is in the title and also the keywords affordable low cost Hosting
this gives me chances with searches on

Hosting
affordable hosting
low cost hosting

So now with just those two boxes I now have 5 possible search terms and all are relevant to LowCost-Webspace.

"Category:"

This is a single choice so select the one that your "iChannel" will be best suited to.

"iChannel Brief:"

Here you have 500 characters to play with but no UBB or HTML code just plain text.

Use this box to write a short description of what your channel is about.
Again here use keywords in the description.
So think carefully and write a readable description that makes sense and not just a string of keywords.

You can see how I have placed several keywords in my description by taking a look here
"lowcostwebspacenews"

When you have everything set up as you want it click on the "Submit" button. and your "iChannel" will be created. and you will be taken to The "My iChannels" page where you will see your "iChannel(s)".

"My iChannels Page
You can reach this page by clicking on the "iChannel beta" tab at the top of the page and then clicking on "View My Channels" on the light blue band just below the tabs.

With each "iChannel" you will see the title, description, and TAG name plus on the right you will see 5 options.

Publish News.

To post a news item to your "iChannel" Click on the "Publish News" link.
Note: You can also click on the "Publish News Buttons" you will find on the "View iChannel Report" page as well.

Clicking either of the "Publish News" options will take you to the "Publish News" Page.

At the top of the page you will see the "iChannel" TAG and the title so you can make sure you are publishing to the correct "iChannel".

Step 1

"News Title:"
Here you have 100 characters in which to create a good title for your News Item.
As always think keywords when creating it.

"News Brief:"

Here you have 200 characters in which to give a short description about the News Item you are publishing. Again try to think keywords when writing it.

"Step 2"

"News Content:"

You have two ways to "Publish a News item" for "iChannels".

"Use External Link"

You can use an existing Article you have already published and not just here in "APSense".
To use this method Click on the radio button and enter the full URL of the news article.

or

"Write your own Press News"
You can write a completely new article using either the design or the HTML options in the editor window.
Make sure you check the radio button for this option.

When you have completed which ever option you are going to use Click on the "Publish My News" Button.

"View Report".
This will take you to "View iChannel Report".
At the top you will see your "iChannel" TAG and the title followed by the brief description of your "iChannel".

Below that you will see the news items you have published

Example

My Published News	Recipients	Clicks
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to construct tables in HTML - APSense help. Published From: Apsense | Max Viewed: Unlimited | Posted Date: Dec 9 2007 23:40	0	1	X
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The "Recipients" show how many have received the news item and the "Clicks" shows how many times it has been clicked on.
The Red X is there so that you can delete a news item if you so wish.

Click on your browser back button or on the "View My iChannels" to return to the "My iChannels" page.

"Set up API"

I Need to get more information on this item. I will update as soon as I have it.

"Edit iChannel"
Clicking on the "Edit iChannel" will allow you to edit the "iChannel Name", "Category", and "iChannel Brief".
Note: You can not edit the "iChannel" Tag.

After making changes click the "Save" button.

"Delete iChannel".
Self explanatory. If you want to remove an "iChannel" Click on the "Delete iChannel".

Bj
Bill Brown aka Bjantiques
Hosting
Skype bjantiques