Editing Ship Cover Pages
If this is the first time the page is created, copy and paste in the template from Ship Cover Page Template and then make modifications as needed.
A Ship Cover Page contains examples of covers from the given ship. Typically there is one entry per cover listing its primary date(s), any postmarks, and images of the cover (front, back, and closeup of the cachet). Only the cover front image and primary date are required. The cover back image is only needed if it has something significant. If you opt to provide an image of the cachet, it should be three times normal size in order to get a closeup that shows good detail. Entries should be listed by their earliest primary date (ie, earliest postmark date or best guess).
How to add a new entry to a Ship Cover page
There are four main steps you need to do to add a new entry to the page. The first is to copy the template lines and paste them the right place. Second is to modify the template lines with information relevant for your new entry. Third, preview and then save the page if it looks ok. Finally, you upload the image(s) related to your new entry. Each of these steps are described below.
Step 1: First thing you need to do is copy the text that is inside this box (the box just below with the border made out of blue dashes).
<!-- ============ --> <!-- CACHET ENTRY --> <!-- ============ --> <br/> <br/> <table width="95%" border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"> <tr><td valign="center" align="center" width="120" rowspan="2"> [[Image:CACHET_CLOSEUP_IMAGE_NAME|thumb|center|100px]] </td><td valign="center" align="center" width="220" rowspan="2"> [[Image:FRONT_IMAGE_NAME|thumb|center|200px]] </td><td valign="center" align="center" width="120" rowspan="2"> [[Image:BACK_IMAGE_NAME|thumb|center|100px]] </td><td valign="center"> YYYY-MM-DD </td></tr><tr><td valign="center"> Category </td></tr></table> Note: <!-- === End of Cachet Entry === -->
Now, go back to the Ship Cover page that you want to add a new entry to and click the "edit" tab at the top of that page. This will take you into edit mode for that page and you will see the page's code in a special edit window that is inside the main window. Scroll down within the edit window until you find the following lines:
<!-- =================================== -->
<!-- Do not add anything above this line -->
<!-- =================================== -->
You will add your new entry somewhere below those lines. Since we want to keep entries in chronological order, you need to look for the right place to add your new entry. Each entry starts with
<!-- ============ -->
<!-- CACHET ENTRY -->
<!-- ============ -->
and ends with:
<!-- === End of Cachet Entry === -->
Notice that five lines above the "End of Cachet Entry" line is the primary date for the entry. It is in the format YYYY-MM-DD. Keep scrolling down until you find the existing entry that your new entry should follow in order to maintain chronological order.
Once you find the right spot, add a blank line after that entry's "End of Cover Entry" line and paste the text that you copied from the box above into that blank line. This is the end of step 1.
Step 2: Now, you need to change some of the values in the template text you just pasted.
First you need to find the following text in the template you just pasted:
FRONT_IMAGE_NAME
You need to replace this with a name that uniquely identifies the image. For example, if your Museum userid is Xyzzy and the cover is postmarked on the battleship Pennsylvania BB-38 on Oct 12, 1934, then FRONT_IMAGE_NAME should look something like this:
Xyzzy_Pennsylvania_BB38_19341012_1_Front.jpg
When you put it all together, the entire line will end up looking something like:
[[Image:Xyzzy_Pennsylvania_BB38_19341012_1_Front.jpg|thumb|center|200px]]
Next, change the line with "YYYY-MM-DD" to the date on the cover (ie, using the example above, the date would be 1934-10-12.
That's the minimum you need to do for step 2. However, there are four other values that you can set if you want to.
a) Cover back image: This is an image of the back of the cover. This image is optional and should only be included if there is something significant to see on the back of the cover (typically the cachet maker's rubberstamp or some other identification markings). If you want to include an image of the back of the cover, then you need to update the line with
BACK_IMAGE_NAME
to make it a valid image link. Continuing the example from above, the image link for the cover back image might look like this:
[[Image:Xyzzy_Pennsylvania_BB38_19341012_1_Back.jpg|thumb|center|100px]]
Notice that the image name has "_Back" instead of "_Front" just before the ".jpg". This helps identify the image as being the back of the cover.
b) Cachet closeup image: This is an image of just the cachet and should be three times normal size (ie, scale to 300%). This image is optional. If you want to include an image of the cachet, then you need to update the line with
CACHET_CLOSEUP_IMAGE_NAME
to make it a valid image link. Continuing the example from above, the image link for the cover back image might look like this:
[[Image:Xyzzy_Pennsylvania_BB38_19341012_1_Cachet.jpg|thumb|center|100px]]
Notice that the image name has "_Cachet" instead of "_Front" just before the ".jpg". This helps identify the image as being only the cachet.
c) Cachet category: This is the category that best describes the cachet. There are many pre-defined categories and they list all the covers that belong to them. If you know the category, go ahead and identify it here. If you are an advanced user, you can set it up as a link to that cachet category's main page. If you are really gung-ho, you can also add an entry for the cover to the cachet category's page.
d) Notes: Finally, if you have anything special you want to say about the cover, replace the "NOTES" line with your comments.
This is the end of step 2. Here is an example of an entry with the front image link, the postmarks, and the primary date filled in.
<!-- ============ --> <!-- CACHET ENTRY --> <!-- ============ --> <br/> <br/> <table width="95%" border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"> <tr><td valign="center" align="center" width="120" rowspan="2"> [[Image:Xyzzy_Pennsylvania_BB38_19341012_1_Cachet.jpg|thumb|center|100px]] </td><td valign="center" align="center" width="220" rowspan="2"> [[Image:Xyzzy_Pennsylvania_BB38_19341012_1_Front.jpg|thumb|center|200px]] </td><td valign="center" align="center" width="120" rowspan="2"> [[Image:Xyzzy_Pennsylvania_BB38_19341012_1_Back.jpg|thumb|center|100px]] </td><td valign="center"> 1934-10-12 </td></tr><tr><td valign="center"> Category </td></tr></table> NOTES <!-- === End of Cachet Entry === -->
Step 3: Preview and then save the page if it looks ok.
Go to the bottom of the outer page (the one that contains the edit window) and click on the "Show preview" button. You should see your entry on the page but it will only have red links instead of thumbnail images. This is how it is supposed to look at this stage.
If you need to make some corrections, hit the browser Back button (or back arrow) to go back to the page with the edit window.
Once everything looks ok, go to the very bottom of the page again and add some descriptive text in the text box next to "Summary". Something like "added 1 cover" would be ok. Finally, click the "Save page" button. The page is now saved.
Step 4: The last thing to do is upload the image(s).
Click on the red link where your image is supposed to be. You will be taken to the Upload Image page. The destination filename field will already be filled in. Click the Browse button and find the image you want to upload. Add a description in the Summary text box and then click the "Upload file" button.
Once the file upload is complete, use the browser back button to back up to the Ship Cover page that had the red link and click the reload button. Your image should now appear.
A note about images
Front and back images should be around 50 - 75K in size. Please, nothing larger than 150K or the Museum will start running out of storage space too soon. Image scale should be 100% and resolution should be 75 to 100 pixels per inch. These scan parameters seem to produce images of the right size and dimensions.
For cachet closeup images, use scale of 300% (ie, triple size). You need to blow it up large enough to see the fine print.
Finally...
If you have questions or run into trouble, contact the Curator for help. You can always Cancel an editing session using the "Cancel" link just to the right of the "Show changes" button at the bottom of the editor screen. For general editing help, see the article on How To Edit Pages.
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