A former contributor, Karen Wehrstein, wrote her own walkthrough for creating entries. It differs somewhat from the walkthrough in this guide, but there's never just one way to skin a cat, and her walkthrough may work better for you than this one. Take a look at hers and if it works better for you, by all means use it. Or perhaps a combination of the two works for you. (I've exerted executive privilege and inserted my own commentary.) — Michael Tuck, site administrator
#1: Write your entry in a separate piece of document software, such as Word, and save it onto your hard drive. Note: I advise against using a program such as Word, because it adds formatting that can be troublesome later on down the road. A simple text editor is my recommendation. But other veteran contributors use Word, so if a word processor works for you, use it. It should include headline/title (using traditional journalism syntax including single rather than double quotation marks), date, text -- a news-style account of a single significant event -- and sources (where you drew your info from). If you don't already know the etiquette/rules of journalism, read the Style Guide. Enter sources at appropriate points in the story, with short name of the media outlet and date using this exact syntax (square brackets, vertical line and everything):
[[ New York Times | 1/31/2009 ]]
...FOLLOWED BY AN ENTER, SIX HYPHENS IN A ROW AND ANOTHER ENTER or you'll get an error message. Each source should look like this:
blah blah blah (text). [[ New York Times | 1/31/2009 ]]
------
Note: It works better to add TWO enters, so your text looks like this:
blah blah blah (text). [[ New York Times | 1/31/2009 ]]
------
#2: In that same Word (or other) document, do up a list of your sources. (You have to have at least one, or the HC system will reject your entry.) For each one, include: title/headline, media outlet, URL (if you want a link to it). (You don't need the date, except for your own reference to differentiate your sources if necessary; you'll see why.) Include author(s)/director(s) and page number(s) if you prefer. MAKE SURE THEY'RE IN THE SAME ORDER as they appear in the story -- this will save you a world of trouble.
Now you are ready to post onto HC!
#1: Log in and go to the relevant timeline.
#2: Click on "add event."
#3: Enter the date the event happened (not today's) in the date box, spelling out month and year, replacing [Display date]. Add time of day if relevant. Approximate or ongoing dates are okay if the exact date of the event is unknown or it's an ongoing story.
#4: Copy and paste your headline/title into the "title" box, replacing [Title].
#5: In the text box, copy and paste the text of your story between the line of six hyphens and the line of six equals signs, replacing the words "Write a summary of the event here. You must provide at least one source." Don't worry about where you're going to add in the information in your list of sources -- that comes later. Make sure your sources are in proper syntax including the ------ on its own line, enters before and after it.
#6: Next tab over from text is "Entities." Click on it.
#7: In the "Search text" box, enter the name of your first entity. Idea here is to search the HC database in case he, she or it is already there (e.g. Barack Obama). If so, the name will appear underneath, possibly as one line of a table with several similar names. To add the one you want, click on "Add" to the left. Repeat this process until all your entities are entered. If you have to add a new entity because your entity doesn't show up on the search, click on "Add new entity" and fill out the form that comes up. That adds it to THE DATABASE ALONE -- NOT the story. Repeat the "Search text" process above to add it to the story.
#8: Next tab over from Entities is Categories. Click on it. Check one or more boxes that best apply to your story.
Note: You may not have access to the Categories tab yet. Don't worry, you will eventually.
#9: Next tab over from Categories is Topics and Countries. Click on it. You'll see two tables, one for topics -- check one or more boxes that best apply to your story -- and one for countries -- check one or more boxes that best apply to your story. (Note: to get "United States of America" run the scroll bar about 80% down and look for "North America" -- the list is arranged alphabetically by continent.)
Note: You do NOT have to click on the general topic boxes, such as Economy, or the general countries category boxes, such as Africa.
#10: Next tab over is "Syntax." It's instructional, you don't need to do anything there, but you might want to reference it.
#11: Go back to text. Want to add an image? Click on "Show/hide image upload fields" just below the text box. Read the formatting and size rules first and if you aren't sure about copyright, INQUIRE of the editors. The image has to be uploaded from your machine, so first you have to download and save it from wherever you've found it, and then possibly downsize it to fit the image rules. Once you've done that, use the "Browse" button to upload it. Fill in the "Image Source" box with the source: photo/art credit and/or media outlet from which you got it. Write a caption in the "Picture caption" box that describes the picture, identifying whoever is in it.
#12: Want to add an internal link, i.e. a link to another item in History Commons? In the appropriate point in the text, type:
(see [[x]])
Go to the item in the relevant timeline in a separate tab or window, click on "copy link" next to the headline, then paste, replacing the "x" but leaving the square brackets. Strip down any code to the pure link name, which should look like:
kosovar_self_determination_tmlin_26
or
2008_election_politics_56
Note: Some links don't look like these auto-generated ones: they look like:
RndmEntryKSM
or
a030972nixonbarfs
Back to Karen.
The result should look like:
(see [[2008_election_politics_56]]).
#13: Hit "Preview." Read it over, decide if you want to make any changes, make the changes in the text box. Note: paragraphing is discouraged; breaking up text is only possible through bullet points or subheads. Use the buttons above the text box to do these (hover over each one to see what it means) or do it manually following the style guide or syntax tab.
#14: Once you think it looks okay, hit "Save and work on later". (Or if you feel confident, hit "Submit"!)
When you hit "Submit," you're sending your work into the content edit queue. Unless you're a project manager or some such, you WILL NOT HAVE ACCESS to this entry again unless it is returned to you for more editing. If you're not sure that you're ready to have it edited and published, in other words if you're not sure you're finished with it, don't submit it, save it as a draft.
#15: NOW is when the system will ask you for the source info. It will do so in sequence, starting with the first source. (Forgotten which one it is? Look under "OPTION 3. Create a new source." The line in grey underneath will say "You are editing..." and give the particulars you included in the text.)
#16: If "OPTION 1" says there are sources similar to the one you want to include, click on the select arrow to display them. If you find one that looks the same, select it and then hit "Preview this source." This will fill out the "OPTION 3" form for you. Check and if it's the same hit "Use This Source." If not, but it seems like a source that the HC database should have...
#17: Try OPTION 2: Search for sources by title. If there are any, they'll come up in a grey box beside the form. Hit "Preview This Source" to load it into the form. If both options 1 and 2 fail...
#18: Create a new source. It's either OPTION 3 or 4 depending on what you did in previous options. Now you're filling out the form manually. Select source type, and then, using your handy list, enter all required fields plus the URL to make the source into a link and other optional fields, such as author or page numbers, if desired. If there are multiple authors, separate each name with + on the author line.
#19: Want to quote a bit from the source? Click on the "Text" tab and type, or copy and paste, into the box. Note the 10% / 1,000 words rule.
#20: Hit "Next" and repeat #16-19 for the next source. If this is your last source, hit "Submit". This will submit your entry into the system for verification and copy editing. It will show up in the timeline in order of date, watermarked "Draft". The editors will get to editing it when they can.
#21: You can edit or delete the entry by clicking on the pencil or x icons to the right of the headline.
Note: VERY IMPORTANT: Never, ever, ever delete anything. For some reason, the web application doesn't like deletions. If you feel you just absolutely have to delete something, check with an admin first.
#22: Click on "MyEntries" on the right of the homepage to check the status of your entry. It might get sent back for revisions, and there might be a comment from an editor, in which case click "Edit" to make the changes.
Thank you, Karen. This will prove a tremendous help to contributors. Cookies and milk all around! — Michael