Help:Create an Entry

Adapted from Wikipedia

Before Creating a New Entry:

• To create a new entry or edit an open entry on OutHistory you must first create an account as an OutHistory.org user and log on. Click on the Log In/Create Account function on the left red bar and follow the instructions.
• Try editing existing articles on OutHistory.org to get a feel for the software. See: Edit An Entry in Help.
• Search OutHistory.org first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. If the article does exist and it is unprotected, make any additions or edits you consider necessary or important.
• Gather references to provide proof for your statements and support your arguments. Historical articles that do not meet OutHistory.org's standards by citing reliable (usually) published sources are likely to be deleted.
• Find public domain historical documents, photographs, and audio and video clips to make your entry engaging.

How To Create a New Entry:

To create a new entry you first must create an account as an OutHistory.org user. To do that click on Log In/Create Account function on the top of the left red bar and follow the instructions.

The simplest way to create a new entry is as follows:

carefully type your title into the Search box and search for it.

click on your title, and you will be in Edit mode for that title;

add your content under that title;

save, using the save box at the bottom of the screen.

Parts of a Complete Entry Include:

1 Title

• see Titles for suggestions

2 Protected or Open Entry Tag

Every page on the site needs to have a Protected or Open Entry tag:

PROTECTED ENTRY: This entry by a named creator or site administrator can be changed only by that creator and site administrators, so they are responsible for its accuracy, coverage, evidence, and clarity. Please do use this entry's Comment section at the bottom of the page to suggest improvements. Thanks.

OPEN ENTRY: This entry is open to collaborative creation by anyone with evidence, citations, and analysis to share, so no particular, named creator is responsible for the accuracy and cogency of its content. Please use this entry's Comment section at the bottom of the page to suggest improvements about which you are unsure. Thanks.

These tags alert the user to the difference between pages created by a named author and pages to which any user can contribute.

Protected pages by a named author are created in consultation with OutHistory.org staff. These pages must also be locked in addition to having the "Protected" tag.

3 Headings

For a top-level heading, put it on a separate line surrounded by '=='. For example:

Introduction

Subheadings use '===', '====', and so on.

4 Text

• Try to make your writing as clear as possible
• Adjust your formatting for the web. For example, avoid lengthy paragraphs which are hard to read on a computer screen.
• See Paragraph Spacing

5 References

• Cite all information, arguments and images drawn from other sources in your footnotes
• See Citations

6 Categories

• Browse existing categories and subcategories to see which apply to your article
• Be sure to include decade, century and time period categories if they apply to your article
• If there are people, places, events mentioned in your article which are not already listed as subcategories, feel free to create new subcategories for them
• See Categories

7 Article Timeline

• Be sure to fill in the "Article timeline" at the bottom of the page so that users doing time searches will find your article

8 Synopsis

• A synopsis shows up under the title when users are doing a search
• Your synopsis must no more than 250 characters
• See Synopses

9 Internal Links

• Linking your page to other pages on the OutHistory.org website will improve the website's usability and diret more users to your page.

You can create a link on your new entry page to an existing entry page.

10 Transferring Documents to OutHistory (more details to come)

First, be aware that most documents need at least brief introductions explaining their content, source, date of creation, who created them, in what circumstances they were created, and the present location of the originals, so that others can find the originals if they wish. OutHistory requires all documents and factual claims to be clearly and exactly sourced. Otherwise they are likely to be deleted.

There are two ways to place pre-existing documents on OutHistory.org.

Option 1: If they are in electronic form, copy them and transfer the copy into the entry you are creating.

Option 2: You can also use the Upload File function on the red left bar, near the bottom, to upload visual documents and audio material. Be aware that any document uploaded should be reproduced so as to take up as little space as possible on the OutHistory database and server. So reproduce visual documents at the least possible dots per inch.

Be aware that words in pdf documents are not searchable on OutHistory unless they are first put through an Optical Character Recognition process.

<more to come>