Index | About h2g2 | Registering | Exploring | Preferences | Personal Space | Conversations | Guide Entries | Journal | Contributing | Moderation | Editorial Process | Review Forums | Technical | GuideML | Cool Things | Legal | Miscellaneous
Welcome to the 'Guide Entries' section of the h2g2 FAQ. This is where you can find information about Guide Entries and how to create them.
If you want to see a complete list of questions answered by the h2g2 FAQ, you can go to the h2g2 FAQ Index at any time.
Contents of this Section
What are Guide Entries?
The h2g2 Guide is made up of Guide Entries, written by our Researchers (which includes you, if you have registered). You can write your own Guide Entries and they will appear in the results displayed by the h2g2 search, so the second you create a Guide Entry you are adding to the Guide. (Please note, though, that it can take up to 24 hours for new Guide Entries and Postings to show up in search results, as we only index the Guide once a day, to prevent the servers from being tied up for too long.)
The introduction that appears in your Personal Space is, technically speaking, a Guide Entry and will appear in the results displayed by the h2g2 search in the normal way.
Guide Entries can also be incorporated into the Edited Guide, which represents the best entries in the Guide (see here for more information).
[Back to top of section]
[Back to the main h2g2 FAQ Index]
How do I create, edit and delete Guide Entries?
Guide Entries are created, edited and deleted from the Guide Entry Editor page.
Create a new Guide Entry by clicking on the 'Add Guide Entry' button in the Guide Entries section of your Personal Space, or by clicking on the 'Read' button on any page and then following the link to add a Guide Entry. Either of these actions will take you to a blank Guide Entry Editor page.
Once you're in the Guide Entry Editor, there are a number of sections:
The text box is where you can type your entry. This is automatically word-wrapped to the text box, so you do not have to press the Enter key at the end of each line. If you do press Enter and you are writing in plain text mode, then the lines will break where you specify, but unless you have a good reason for doing this (ie spaces between paragraphs) then it's better to type paragraphs as continuous lines.
The entry type can be one of two options - plain text or GuideML - of which the default is plain text. Unless you know GuideML, we recommend you leave the setting as plain text... but we do recommend you try to learn GuideML.
The preview area will show you what your entry will look like when it's displayed on the page. You can update the preview at any time by clicking on the 'Preview' button, and you can choose which skin to preview your entry in from the drop-down menu (you can find more about skins here). It's a good thing to check your entry in all the available skins, just to make sure it looks good.
If you do not want others to be able to put your entry into a Review Forum, then make sure you tick the 'Not for Review' box. You can find out more in the section on Review Forums.
If you are editing an existing entry, then you can add other Researchers to the credits list. Simply enter their Researcher numbers (without the preceding 'U') separated by commas, and click on 'Set Researchers' to add them. The current list of Researchers will be displayed above the text box.
If you have already created the entry (ie if you're editing it) then you can delete it by clicking the 'Delete' button. Entries aren't actually deleted, though, they're just hidden, and you can 'undelete' them by going to your Personal Space, clicking on the 'See more Guide Entries' link, and going to the 'Cancelled Entries' section. Clicking on the relevant 'uncancel' link will reinstate your entry.
In Brunel only, GuideML entries come with a handy JavaScript-powered set of buttons for entering common GuideML tags. These work differently depending on which browser you use. Internet Explorer 5 and onwards are the most sophisticated, and will insert the relevant tags either round the selection, or at the caret; other browsers simply insert the tags at the end of the text area; and browsers that don't support JavaScript, or which have it turned off, will not support these buttons.
Once you are happy with what you have typed, you can create the entry by clicking on the 'Create Entry' button.
After you've pressed the 'Create Entry' button, you may spot a typo you'd like to change, realise you've got a few more facts to add, or discover that you'd like to hone your prose just a little bit more. You can make alterations by clicking on the 'Edit Entry' button, which appears in the 'Entry Data' box on the right of the entry - you'll then be taken straight to the Entry Editor. Once you've made your changes, click on 'Update Entry' and, hey presto, you've made your changes.
Alternatively, you can go to the Guide Entry Editor page for an existing Guide Entry by clicking on the 'Edit' link next to its name in the Guide Entries section of your Personal Space. Again, make your changes and click on 'Update Entry'.
Please note that it can take up to 24 hours for new Guide Entries and Postings to show up in search results, as we only index the Guide once a day, to prevent the servers from being tied up for too long.
[Back to top of section]
[Back to the main h2g2 FAQ Index]
Do I need to know HTML to write pages?
No, but it will be a useful start if you want to learn GuideML, the markup language of the Guide. If you don't know any markup languages then simply make sure you create all your entries as plain text.
[Back to top of section]
[Back to the main h2g2 FAQ Index]
Can I use HTML?
No. You can, however, use GuideML, as described in the next question.
[Back to top of section]
[Back to the main h2g2 FAQ Index]
What's GuideML? Why would I want to use it?
GuideML is the name given to the XML system in which the Guide is stored on our servers (XML is an extensible mark-up language that is similar to HTML but has some different rules and a proprietary set of tags).
If you know anything about HTML then GuideML is not difficult to learn, and will enable you to use some really cool effects on your pages. If you'd like to see the current specification of GuideML then check out the GuideML Clinic, or the GuideML FAQ.
[Back to top of section]
[Back to the main h2g2 FAQ Index]
I edited an entry but it's not displaying the way I want it to. What do I do?
The chances are that your Guide Entry is in the wrong type (plain text or GuideML). To sort this out go to the Guide Entry Editor and ensure that the button below the text box is set to the correct type.
Common problems include all your paragraphs running into one huge block of text (you've probably typed your entry in plain text but set the type to GuideML) or your GuideML tags are being displayed in your entry rather than producing the required effects (you've probably typed your entry in GuideML but set the type to plain text).
If you have any specific GuideML problems then you should check out the GuideML Clinic, or the GuideML FAQ.
[Back to top of section]
[Back to the main h2g2 FAQ Index]
Can I include images and other objects in my entries?
You can in GuideML entries - you can find the details here. If you'd like to use any of the images that h2g2's very own Art Team have produced, you can find them in the h2g2 Picture Library.
You cannot include any other objects in your entries.
[Back to top of section]
[Back to the main h2g2 FAQ Index]
What are Edited Guide Entries?
Whenever you create a Guide Entry it immediately becomes a part of the Guide and will show up in search results (the 24 hour delay mentioned above notwithstanding). However certain entries are so good that they get edited by the Editorial Team and put in the Edited Guide. You can read all about what makes a good Edited Entry here and there's more information about the editorial process here.
[Back to top of section]
[Back to the main h2g2 FAQ Index]
Can I link to other h2g2 Entries?
When linking from an entry to other h2g2 entries, there are a couple of points to bear in mind:
If your entry is intended for the Edited Guide, the entries linked to should also be in the Edited Guide.
They should be direct and relevant. For example, the word 'poetry' should link to Poetry, rather than Poetry Events and Gigs in Glasgow, which, though a laudable entry, does not define the word 'poetry'.
[Back to top of section]
[Back to the main h2g2 FAQ Index]
Home
