Anatomy of an Intercom Post

By David Cameron, July 1, 2021

It's important to remember that the first sentences of your post will also serve as an automatic teaser (the short version people see in the list of all posts) so be sure to write an informative introduction. Long sentences may be cut off in the middle so be sure you don't use too many words to get to the important stuff. Better to be pithy and nudge your readers to want to read more.

NOTE: This is not intended to represent an "ideal" Intercom post. It was created as a reference to demonstrate how the different content options available in an Intercom post can be used most effectively. Actual posts should be much shorter than this example and focus on sharing the details of what you want to communicate as simply and briefly as possible.

Optional Section Heading

Here we've used the optional Text Heading field on a new Text paragraph to break up this paragraph visually from the paragraph above it. This paragraph will be a little longer for reference so let's throw in some fun facts and show off some formatting:

The first person charged with speeding in a car was only going eight miles per hour.
The world wastes about 1 billion metric tons of food each year
The human body literally glows, emitting a visible light in extremely small quantities at levels that rise and fall with the day.

Bulleted lists or numbered lists are effective ways to make content stand out visually on a page. Note that you can also use in-line links to point your audience to other web resources as needed.

Using Image - Flow Text

A breakdancer on the floor of a dance studio spinning their legs in the air

Captions appear beneath the image and may be used to credit the photographer.

The Text field in this special paragraph is designed to automatically wrap around one side of an image. In this case we've selected the Image Position on the Right, so the text automatically "flows" around the image on the left to completely fill a space equal to the height of the image. As soon as this text becomes longer than the height of the image, it will begin to flow beneath the image for the rest of the paragraph, completely filling the column width of the page like a regular text field. Note that this happens even if there is a hard break in the middle of my text paragraph.This text starts a new paragraph within the same text block, so it is still included in the wrapping text accompanying the photo. The image used here is much taller than it is wide, so it would require a lot of text to make it completely wrap this image. If my text is not long enough to fill the space, you'll find a large gap of space after your text before the next section of text begins, just like this.

Choose wide images that will take up vertical space less than or equal to the amount of text you have written if you plan to use this feature. You may need to adjust as you go to get the best result.

You should also be aware that this is best suited for photographs related to your story. Using the image of an event poster or graphic not designed for the web will likely not translate well to being used in Intercom. Also note that words inside an image do not meet our accessibility standards and may mean some users don't get the information. It's always better to focus on sharing information in writing in the text of your post, and only use images to further illustrate or enhance the story you want to share.

Alternative Image - Flow Text Layout

Student performers in 18th century costumes performing in an IC opera.

Students perform in the opera Wolf by the Ears by Dana Wilson. Photo by Durst Breneiser '15

Here we've reversed the layout so that the image is on the left and the text flows around it to the right. Note that if you use an image that is wider than it is tall, it will still fill only half of the column width, so the amount of text required to fill the height of the image is reduced.

Also be aware that the side-by-side layout is unique to desktop screen sizes, but these images stack on top of the text on mobile screens. You can drag your web browser window to a narrower width if you want to simulate this. Try that on this page and you'll see how much more space that vertical image above takes up on the mobile screen, which may be another reason to keep your images cropped closer to square when possible. If you publish your post and then decide it doesn't look okay or if you find an error you'd like to fix, just go back to it and select the "Edit" option at the top to make your changes.

Adding the Accessibility Statement

Finally, please remember that any Intercom post promoting a campus event requires adding an accessibility statement. All you need to do to create that is check the box next to "Add disability access statement" when you're writing your post, and fill out the appropriate fields in that form. The statement will then be appended to the bottom of your post like the one below.

Fill it out, click Save to publish, and you're officially an Intercom contributor! ?

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Dave Cameron at web@ithaca.edu or 607-274-3809. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.