The article editor and its controls

Aeon News extends the WordPress article editor with controls designed for a daily newspaper. Writing remains in the familiar WordPress editor, while additional fields determine how a story is valued, presented and distributed.

The building blocks of an article

A publication can include more than a headline and body:

• a standard headline and an alternative front-page or latest-news headline;
• a regular standfirst and an optional full-width introduction above the lead image;
• featured media with caption, image note and copyright credit;
• up to four summary points;
• an information or fact box;
• category, article topics and tags;
• a principal author and additional authors;
• controls for author presentation, comments, sponsorship and continuous reading.

Not every field is required. A short news brief can remain compact, while an investigation, opinion article or major developing story can use more of the editorial structure.

Recommended working order

1. Write the headline, standfirst and body.
2. Choose the section and relevant article topics.
3. Add featured media and verify credit, caption and crop.
4. Set the story’s editorial weight and front-page treatment.
5. Check the byline, co-authors and author format.
6. Enable fact boxes, summaries, comments or sponsored presentation only when needed.
7. Preview both the article and its front-page context before publishing.

A small-looking admin choice can change headline scale, image position, front-page placement or the modules readers see around an article.

Publishing and presentation are separate decisions

Publishing makes a story available, but does not automatically determine its prominence. Aeon News separates article content from editorial presentation. The same article can appear with a large lead image, a smaller right-aligned image, no image in the main feed, or only in the latest-news list.

This supports a real news-desk workflow: editors publish continuously while deciding which events should dominate the front page.

Pre-publication checks

Confirm that the alternative headline makes the same promise as the article headline, image rights are documented, topics are applied consistently and specialist formats such as sponsored or opinion content are clearly identified. The optional Proofreading add-on can review several article fields, not only the body.

Continue with headlines, introductions and summaries or news dimensioning.