Saturday, December 10, 2011

HASA How-tos - December 2011

How do I...

... find my way in Resources?

This month we continue November's theme of Resources, taking a quick look at a few things in there.

How do I contribute a Research Article?

After you have written your article or essay, be sure you are logged in to the site before you begin.

  1. Double check your story - Is it spell checked? Are all the chapters set to "Published" status and do they all have chapter numbers set to something besides "0"? Is the story set to General or Reviewed status?
  2. Mouse over the Resources button in the main navigation bar and select from the drop-down menu.
  3. On the main Articles & Essays page, look in the side bar for the box . At the bottom of that box you should see a link
  4. Click and go to the add page.
  5. There will be a form with a drop-down list of your stories that have been categorized as either Research Articles or Critical Essays, and with a multi-select box of research topics.
  6. Choose your story and select topics which apply to the work.
  7. Click .

If you have already added stories to Articles & Essays, you will also see them on that page. If you want to change topics for any of them, click the button.

How do I add a link to the URL Library?

  1. Be sure you are logged in - only members can contribute links.
  2. Go to the URL Library in Resources.
  3. Find the "URL Categories" box in the navigation column.
  4. In the box below the form will be a link to add a URL.
  5. In the URL form, fill in:
    • the URL address (be sure to add the http:// part!)
    • the web page name
    • the URL category for the site
    • a brief summary
  6. The summary must be under 250 characters long (this includes blank spaces), and any Adult content should be indicated.
  7. Click on the "Add URL" button.

Your URL will be added in draft status and the Resource Manager will be notified there is a URL waiting for review.

I see an entry that is not accurate


Accuracy is crucial as authors will use the information here in their stories. Entries are spot checked, but errors can creep in, so please help us correct anything inaccurate that you see. To point out a place for correction, email the Resources managers or post in the Resources forum.

Where can I ask about specific subjects in Forums?

Some particular discussions for specific subjects:

  • English Grammar Discussion - the place to check the correct way to say what you want.
  • Geography and Maps – ask those place related questions here.
  • HoME Reference Requests – Members who own the History of Middle-earth series will take requests to find mentions of a character, place, thing or event.
  • Languages in Arda – some of our members who are familiar with Sindarin, Quenya, Adunaic or Old English keep an eye on this one and will respond to requests.
  • Research Questions - the grand-daddy question thread. Any question is fair game, from cooking to legal issues.
  • Writer's aids – anything to do with writing.

These are some of the larger topics, but there are other threads and subjects as well.

There is no discussion for the subject I'm interested in. Should I start one?

Certainly, and starting one is extremely easy to do.

  1. Go to the appropriate discussion.
  2. If you don't see your subject, click 'Post New Topic' to start a topic.
  3. If there is no appropriate discussion, go back up to the Resource Folder, and click 'Add Discussion.'
  4. After the Discussion is created, click 'Post New Topic'.

That's all there is to it.

I want to contribute information to Resources

Great! There are a variety of ways to contribute to the Resources section:

  1. Enter data - Timeline events, Character Bios, Places and Things can always use entries. If you would like to enter data directly, send an email to the Resource Managers and you will be given Researcher access to enter data.
  2. Email data - If you prefer not to enter data directly you may send it in an email to the Resource manager. This will be slower, as the manager will enter it as time permits. Anyone who is interested in contributing a large amount of information should request Researcher access; your contributions will be very welcome.
  3. Write and link a research article or critical essay – see details in the How Tos.
  4. Add a URL link – see details in the How Tos.

If there is any topic you'd like to see in the how-to, please let us know!

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