Guide to adding content to HF Community Compass

To maintain consistency in the way the content is presented and to ensure we follow best practice for web content and make it accessible for all, please follow the guidance below.

Registering and adding your services

Registering and adding your services is a 2-step process. Please first register and wait until we have confirmed your organisation has been approved.

Then follow the guide to adding your service.

Registering your organisation (PDF, 318KB)

Adding your services (PDF, 274KB)

Style guide

You will be inputting content via template forms which control the look and feel of the website and give some guidance where needed. However there are free text fields for you to add descriptions which allows you a bit more freedom and you can add headings, images and links. For useability and accessibility reasons we ask that you follow these guidelines.

Writing content for the web

Writing great content clearly, in plain English, and optimised for the web helps people understand and find the information they need quickly and easily. The GOV.UK style guide show how to write great content.

Adding headings correctly

If you add headings to your descriptions always use H2s then H3s. Don't use H3s unless there is an H2 already above it.

Adding text links

You may want to add a link in the free text field to another website or a document on a website etc. Please always use descriptive text for these links rather than just 'click here'.

• Linking to another website. Often when you copy a URL into the text it will automatically show the webpage title. Welcome to GOV.UK. This is preferable to https://www.gov.uk/

• Linking to a document - the text link should be Document name, file type and size eg Starting school brochure 2025 (PDF, 7.82MB)

Some advice on preferred words

Use 'at risk' rather than 'vulnerable'

FAQs

Q - Can more than one person in my organisation have a user account?

A - Yes, you can have as many people managing your content as you want.

Q - My organisation provides services for other organisations, can I still add my organisation to this site?

A - Yes, of course! You can add the eligibility criteria to your entry to make it clear who your service if aimed at.

Q - Can I upload documents to my service / event /organisation page?

A - No, you can't upload PDFs or word docs to the website. This is to ensure that content being presented in html which is accessible to screen readers and other assistive technology. You can link to documents on other websites though.

Q - Can I add images to my services, events or organisation pages?

A - Yes, we encourage use of images and organisation logos and there are plenty of opportunities to add images. However, do not use images to present written information as this is not accessible to assistive technology.

Exceptions would be where your logo contains text or other images with short snippets of text. These can be made accessible by adding alternative text. All image upload fields require alternative text to be added to the field provided.

Please keep image file size to less than 500KB as anything more than this could prevent to page from saving and being published.

Q - How do I add a new location - I tried to do it when adding and event but it didnt work.

A - Please check which locations are available before starting to add your event. You can find the available locations via the 'Locations' button on your dashboard. If the location of your event is not already listed, please add as a new location from the Locations screen.

Unfortunately, once you are in the events form, although there is an option to add a new location and the address fields appear, this does not work at the moment - we are working with suppliers to fix this.

Q - Can I amend an event after I have published it?

A - Yes, log in and go to your dashboard. Choose 'Go to services' and open your service to edit it.

Q - When should a service be classed as an event and visa versa

A - When the information you want to post is a one off occurrence it is better as an event. To add recurring events you need to add individual entries for each date. It is probably easier to add the recurring event a s a service.

Q - Can I add multiple locations / days / times to services or events?

A - Unfortunately not. We are working with the supplier to allow this function.

Q - I can't seem to load my image - the page just hangs, what is wrong?

A - It could be because the file size is too large. Please reduce the file size to less than 500KB and try again.