CivicSpace site adminstrators can control what kinds of markup or formatting can be used in creating content on the site by specifying input formats. Some site administrators might wish to require only HTML coded text, or plain text without any HTML format. In configuring the input formats, administrators can select from filters which limit users to a list of allowable HTML tags or add in custom formatting like automatic line breaks.

NOTE: If you install additional 3rd party input filter modules, in addition to turning the modules on, you'll need to enable them through the input format configuration.

The Settings page, accessible at administer -> settings, contains many general configuration settings for your CivicSpace site. Here you can modify some of the information you entered in the configuration wizard during initial site setup:

• Name. The name of your CivicSpace site, displayed at the top of every page and also optionally as part of your theme in the header
• E-mail address. The email address used as the "From" address for all emails sent out by your site, including for new user registration, forgotten password requests, and subscription notifications.
• Slogan. A short descriptive phrase about your site, which is optionally displayed as part of your theme; required to be included in the Drupal directory. The slogan will also appear in the description for the site's RSS feeds.
• Mission. Brief introduction to the purpose or goals of your site. Optionally displayed in a special style above the first post on your front page. Also required for the directory feature.
• Footer message. Message that is optionally displayed at the bottom of pages as part of the theme. The default message contains a copyright notice which you can add to or modify.

Other default settings include

Trackbacks allow one weblog (or website) to post a comment to another site without actually having the user visit the site to post a comment. Using the trackback URL accompanying each post, other weblog can send a ping across the Internet to your CivicSpace site. Once received, the trackback will show up on the trackback page accompanying the post.

CivicSpace trackback also features autodiscovery. If trackback autodisovery is enabled on your CivicSpace site, someone need only visit your post via a link from another weblog post to have trackback "discover" the linking site and create the trackback. Trackback autodiscovery also works internally within a CivicSpace site, automatically creating connections between pages which link to each other.

The profile module can be used to create customized information fields which users fill out when editing and/or registering their user account. These administrator defined fields allow users to share information such as street address, interests, AOL IM screen names, bios, etc.

To create a new profile information field,

• Go to the profile configuration page.
• Choose the best option for the type of information your users will provide under Add new field. For example,
  • Url is useful for providing a place for users to enter their home page.

The Private Messaging system is an onsite service which allows users to send messages to each other without having to share email addresses. When this is enabled, an inbox link will appear in the navigation block in the column on the top left. Users can also select whether to receive email notices of new messages via their my account section.

The notification module allows users to subscribe to periodic emails which include all new or revised content and/or comments much like the daily news letters sent by some websites. The administrator sets the frequency of the emails in the notification configuration page.

Even if this feature is not configured for authenticated users, it can be a useful feature for an administrator of a site to monitor content submissions and comment posts.

The locale module is used to substitute text which is hard-coded within CivicSpace to create alternative language sets for a site.

Site designers can also use it to replace CivicSpace terminology with more site contexualized text. For instance, an administrator could customize the descriptions of the node types listed on the create content page. Or change the label for the links underneath nodes, such as replacing "add new comment" with "post your thoughts" or something similar.

To begin using the the locale module,

• First turn on the module and give the administrator permissions.