How to Create an LPOD Page

How to Create an LPOD Page

Description

From time to time Chuck Wood is away and invites others to add pages to his daily LPOD. These directions explain how to do this.
 
 

Basic Directions

1. Any registered member can create an LPOD.
2. To do so, on the LPOD Index page, click any available date on the current calendar (the links to available dates appear in brown), and you will be invited to create a page for that date. (Note: if someone has already started to work on that page you will receive a message that another member is already editing it. If you see no such message, the page is yours and will remain locked (for your use) until you finish your editing.)
3. When asked to select a template, choose LPOD.
4. Where you see TITLE, replace that with a title of your own invention.
5. Replace the placeholder image with the image you wish to display. The photo should be of a reasonable size to display over a dial-up connection. Something on the order of 500 pixels on a side is fine. The images are usually in JPEG format, but do not have to be so.
6. Where you see [[mailto: |]], insert the e-mail URL in the space before the vertical bar (eliminating the space), and the text to be displayed after it.
7. Swipe over the words that say "Commentary (150-250 words) goes here." and replace them with the text describing your image. The commentary typically consists of a single (sometimes long) paragraph.
8. At the end of the commentary, replace Chuck Wood with your own name.
9. Under Technical Details add the date and time of your image, and any other information relevant to it.
10. Under Related Links, specify the pages in the Rükl Atlas (if known), add links to previous LPOD's and to web pages with additional information about today's topic.
11. Under Comments correct the text that says (update to correct date)here: this is a link for adding comments. To correct it, modify the link itself to specify the current LPOD page name, and then delete the "(update to correct date)", so the text reads simply here. If you're uncomfortable with this, leave this, and the other housekeeping tasks, for one of the organizers to do.
12. Click Preview to see that your LPOD page displays as intended; and when happy with it, be sure to click Save (note: if you exit the page forgetting to click Save, the next time you open the page you will be asked if you want to reload the previous draft -- you want to do this, and it will usually take you back to the state of the page at the last Preview).

Your LPOD submission is now complete, and can be viewed by clicking on that date on the LPOD Index page (the link should no longer be brown). At the appropriate time (around midnight US Eastern Time), one of the organizers will add a thumbnail of your image to the calendar and adjust the "Today's LPOD" link to point to it.

Detailed Directions

Registering

1. First you need to register as a member of the-Moon Wiki. Simply click the Sign in link at the top of any page. This is very easy to do, and requires only that you create a user ID and provide an e-mail address (note: you will not be bombarded with spam as a result of registering, and the address probably doesn't even need to be a valid one. The only messages that will be sent to you are those you request in your member preferences). Please also note that you will have to wait for your request to be manually approved by one of the "organizers".
2. Once registered you are free to create new pages (including LPOD's) and to edit most of the existing ones. You can also use the Wiki's internal mail system (simply click on the envelope icon at the top of every page -- a number next to it means you have messages to read) to send messages to the organizers or others in the event you have questions about the procedures.

The Template

1. Wiki templates are forms containing pre-set text for starting a new page.
2. Each time you begin a new page, including an LPOD, you are invited to select a template from a drop-down list. Among the choices you will find LPOD, which is the one you want to chose.
3. The template is simply a guideline. Any of the text it inserts can be modified, but it is best to stick to the template as closely as possible so that the LPOD pages will have a uniform look.

Replacing the Image

1. In the template there is a placeholder image which displays a question mark. The URL of this placeholder image is: and it is represented in WikiText (viewable in the Text Editor mode) as [[image:NewImage.gif]].
2. You need to replace this image with the one you wish to display and write about.
3. Typically this is an image that has been uploaded to the-Moon Wiki file area, and the name of the uploaded file will be the same as the name the image has on your hard drive. Chuck usually gives the image a name like "LPOD-FEB4-08.jpg", and it is suggested you use that naming convention for the file you are going to upload.
4. To replace the image, you first you need to delete the placeholder. Before doing so, note that the Wiki editor has two modes: Visual and Text.
   1. In the Visual Editor mode, highlight the placeholder image and then press the Delete key on your keyboard.
   2. In the Text Editor mode, swipe over and delete the text that says [[image:NewImage.gif]].
5. The cursor should now be at the point where your new LPOD image is to be inserted.
6. In the floating menu bar at the top of the editor screen, click on the "Insert Images and Files" icon (picture of a green palm tree).
7. Follow the directions to Upload New File by browsing to the image on your hard drive. Your image should appear in the little set of thumbnails, and by double-clicking on it, the WikiText needed to display it should be inserted on the page. If asked, leave the caption and link fields blank.
8. Click Preview to see that your image displays as expected. You may need to do a little hand editing to get it to display in the right position relative to the text.
9. For those comfortable with the Text Editor, an alternative (and in some ways easier) approach is to upload the LPOD photo directly in the Wiki files area, then to paste over the place-holder image text on the LPOD page (as described above) with the image link provided in the upload window.

Adding the Commentary

1. Wiki the pages are written in what is called "WikiText" -- basically normal language with some simple symbols used to indicate formatting preferences).
2. At any point you can click "Preview" to see how the page will look, and at least in the Text Editor mode you can save the current draft.
3. The Visual Editor is good for most purposes, but if you are unhappy with the result, you may find it useful to switch to the Text Editor mode using the button in the floating toolbar. Then read the directions on text formatting via the link at the bottom of the Text Editor page. The Text Editor mode gives you the most direct control over how the page will look.
4. Normally an LPOD commentary consists of a single long paragraph, which you enter as a single continuous line -- the system software will handle the word wrapping for you.

Adding Links

1. If you want your LPOD to include links to other pages within the-Moon Wiki, simply place those names in double-square brackets. For example, the text [[Mare Crisium]] will display as: Mare Crisium and link to that Wiki page.
2. To link to a page outside the-Moon Wiki insert the full URL followed by a vertical line (shift-backslash on most keyboards) before the text you want to display as a link. For, example, [[http://www2.lpod.org/wiki/January_10,_2008|Apples and Oranges]] displays the text: Apples and Oranges as a link to the Jan. 10, 2008 LPOD on the old LPOD website.
3. You can also link your LPOD to brand new pages within the Wiki simply by placing any term in your commentary in double square brackets. The term will initially display as a brown link, and the when you click on it you will be invited to create a new page with that title.

Houskeeping Tasks

There are a number of minor tasks that arise in connection with the final posting of a new LPOD that are best left to an organizer. These include:
 

1. The link for adding comments at the bottom of each LPOD page needs to be manually updated so that clicking on it will actually edit the page on which the link appears.
2. On the LPOD Index page, the current month's calendar has to be updated by replacing the placeholder image for the current date with the automatically generated thumbnail of the newly uploaded LPOD image. This is the most complicated job, so we have a separate page describing the exact procedure for adding the thumbnail to the calendar. To avoid confusion, if the LPOD has been written in advance, the thumbnail should not be added to the calendar until that date becomes current.
3. Although a new LPOD written in advance will be immediately accessible from the LPOD Index page, it will not become the "Today's LPOD" of the Navigation Bar until the page that the latter links to is adjusted to point to it. One of the organizers will see to this on the appropriate day. The page in question is actually an almost blank page that displays the new LPOD in an (invisible) box with the LPOD's date written at the top. Updating it involves changing the date at the top and changing the "include" link to point to the new LPOD.

Problems

If you have any questions, simply send a message to one of the organizers; or better, post your question on the Discussion tab of this page, where everyone is free to answer and read the responses.
 
 Note: the organizers reserve the right to edit any LPOD submissions so as to make them conform in format and content to prior LPOD's.
 

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