Design Principles

Overview of page types and structures

Content Page Types

Structural Pages and Project Organisation Pages

free form depending on content and purpose; e.g. start page, introduction page, editorial principles page, etc.

• URL: short (e.g. “About”, “DesignPrinciples”)
• Begin page with:
  • Category: none OR as needed (e.g. Category:Editorial Pages)
  • Page Title: can be changed from URL to be more readable with {{DISPLAYTITLE:title}}
  • Hide TOC if needed with __NOTOC__

Overview Pages

overview of large amounts of data/pages via DataTables JavaScript library (DT) and DynamicPageList3 MediaWiki extension (DPL3)

• URL: short, currently uses no blank spaces (e.g. “ArticleOverview”, “ReferencesOverview”)
• Begin page with:
  • Category: Category:Overview Pages
  • Page Title: change from URL to be more readable with {{DISPLAYTITLE:title}} (e.g. “Overview of Newspaper Articles” for the Page “ArticleOverview”)
• Main content:
  • use Template:OverviewPageNote to display a header section; use the variables:
    • summary for introductory text (wikitext format)
    • explanation for explanations regarding the table formatting, abbreviations, etc. (wikitext format; usually a list with bullet points)
  • Overview/table section can be one of the following:
    • Static table with DT functionality; either html or wikitext table (example: Overview of Mark Twain's Writing and Speeches):
      • set <table class=“wikitable datatable hover”>
      • set separate CSS id if needed
      • other styling and DT parameters as needed (e.g. “data-page-length”, “data-order”, etc.)
    • Dynamic table using DPL3 with additional DT functionality (example: Overview of Newspaper Articles)
      • use DPL3 “table” parameter
      • set <table class=“wikitable datatable hover”>
      • if needed, initialise DT Custom Search Builder with the following DT styling parameters: data-layout=‘{“top1Start”:“searchBuilder”}’ data-language=‘<nowiki>{“searchPlaceholder”:” Quick Search”, “search”:““,”searchBuilder”:{“add”:“Add Search Condition”}}’</nowiki>
      • use DPL3 “tablerow” parameter to style individual columns (width, font, etc.) as needed
    • Dynamic list using DPL3 with styling as needed; either table or custom formatting; without DT functionality (example: Overview of Topics); refer to DPL3 manual

Newspaper Article Pages

table design w/ 2 or 3 columns to display screenshot, transcript, and translation/original; links to Topic Pages

• URL: item ID (e.g. "MD-250")
• Begin page with:
  • Template:ArticleInfo with variables corresponding to article metadata; the template automatically sets Category:Article Pages and generates a header section with metadata
• Main content:
  • Template:ArticleImage to include screenshot with variable file corresponding to image file name without file extension (i.e. for image page "File:IA-012.png", the parameter file would be "IA-012")
  • optional: Template:ArticleNote OR Template:ArticleNoteTop with the variables:
    • content for contextual information on the text (optional variable; not displayed by default)
    • note to include or hide the “Changes in Translation” color coding information (displayed by default)
      • undeclared note variable includes the standard section
      • declared variable with wikitext as parameter sets wikitext as content for the section
      • declared variable with empty parameter hides the “Changes in Translation” section
  • table with transcription and translation
    • surround with <div></div> tags
      • set <div class="large-8 columns"> for 3-column layout
      • set <div class="row"> for 2-column layout
    • set <table class=“wikitable translationTable”> for styling
    • include annotation links to Topic Pages in the translation column (NOT in the transcription column)

3-column design

{{{Template:ArticleNoteTop}}} (optional)
{{{Template:ArticleImage|file=}}}
<div class="large-8 columns">
<table class="wikitable translationTable">
<tr>
<th>Transcription</th>
<th>English Translation</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>text</td>
<td>text</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>

2-column design

{{{Template:ArticleImage|file=}}}
{{{Template:ArticleNote}}} (optional)
<div class="row">
<table class="wikitable translationTable">
<tr>
<th>Transcription</th>
<th>English Translation</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>text</td>
<td>text</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>

Topic Pages

context and explanations for relevant key words on Article Pages

subtopics are included as chapters on their specific main Topic Page as well as on separate subpages; which one of these options is appropriate depends on whether the subtopic should have its own list of linked Article Pages using the Template:TopicLinkList as the templates list aggregation currently only works for seperate pages and not for individual chapters

• URL: short but unique topic name, e.g. “Vienna” or “Anti-Imperialist League” or "Clara Langdon Clemens"
  • URL for subpages:
    • use "maintopic/subtopic" in URL (e.g. "Vienna/Hotel Krantz")
    • set displaytitle to include only the subtopic with {{DISPLAYTITLE:subtopic}} at the bottom of the page (placement at the bottom is necessary for the correct transclusion on Topic Pages)
    • e.g.: "Vienna/Visit to Parliament" with displaytitle "Visit to Parliament"
• Main content:
  • explanatory text including citations and pictures
  • citations (for a more detailed explanation see Citations):
    • MLA formatting
    • short in-text citation with direct link to zotero bibliography
    • newspaper articles (not part of the project collection): complete bibliographical data
    • newspaper articles (part of project collection): link to Article Page directly
  • pictures:
    • use frameless as display option to enable caption display on hover
    • align image either right or left to enable correct text flow with floating
    • specify size in px if needed
    • include content from the Image Page as caption by including {{File:''image-title''}}
    • e.g. on page Visit to Parliament: [[File:Austrian_parliament_harpers_1897.jpg|frameless|right|350px|{{File:Austrian_parliament_harpers_1897.jpg}}]]
  • include Template:TopicLinkList to display a list of Article Pages which link to the Topic Page (example Visit to Parliament)
  • if the Topic Page has subpages:
    • include Template:SubTopicList to display each subpage with heading, beginning of the text, and "continue reading" link (example Vienna)
• set Category:Topic Pages AND chose additional category if needed (currently Category:Topic Place or Category:Topic Person) at the bottom of the page
  • exception for Topic Person: because page names are first-name_last-name, normal category sorting would sort by first-name; to allow for alphabetical sorting according to last-name, pages in this category need a category sort key; this is specified within the category tag and should be last-name, first-name

topic page layout

text content

{{SubTopicList}} optional
{{TopicLinkList}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:subtopic-name}} optional
[[Category:Topic Pages]] 
[[Category:Topic Person|last-name, first-name]] [[Category:Topic Place]] optional

Image Page Types

Article Screenshots

• URL: generated during upload as File:item-ID.png
• currently no page content
• .png format is necessary for Template:ArticleImage to work

Images for Topic Pages

• URL: descriptive
• Main content:
  • short description
  • source with full citation
  • set Category:Topic Image with <noinclude>[[Category:Topic Image]]</noinclude>
  • optional longer explanations, transcriptions, context, etc.; place any parts that should not be visible in captions on Topic Pages within the <noinclude></noinclude> tags (example: File:Hotel_schrieder_adv_murray_1878.png)

Template Pages

pre-formatted elements which can be easily re-used on many pages. For a current list of templates refer to Special:AllPages > Templates.

• URL: short, recognizable for the Template's main purpose or content
• Begin page with:
  • __NOTOC__ so no table of contents will be genrated
• Main content:
  • Use of this Template: information on what the template is for, where it is used, etc.:
    • current example page
    • short description of purpose and content
    • list of required variables
    • CSS-class used in the structure of the template
    • snippet to copy and paste the template invocation in <nowiki></nowiki> tags
  • Content of this Template: section with the same template contents in un-rendered and rendered format
    • as wikitext: in <pre><nowiki> tags
    • as rendered on this page: in <onlyinclude></onlyinclude> tags

full layout

__NOTOC__
=== Use of this Template ===
* Current example page: [[title]]
* Include where to do what.
* Variables:
** variable1:
* CSS-class:
* Copy: <nowiki>{{templatename}}</nowiki>


=== Content of this Template ===
==== As Wikitext ====
copy of template content (in <pre> tags)

==== As Rendered On This Page ====
<onlyinclude>
copy of template content
</onlyinclude>

Citations

all citations use MLA formatting

• newspaper articles that are not part of the project collection:
  • include complete bibliographical data
  • direct link to online repository (if available)
  • example: "“Mark Twain Settles It,” Worcester Daily Press (Worcester, Mass.), 27 July 1876".
• newspaper articles that are part of the project collection:
  • link to item Article Page by referencing the title
  • inclusion of bibliographical data is not necessary, but might be useful depending on context
  • example: "The following text partially reproduces one such article entitled “Im Freundeskreise” published by the Illinois Staats-Zeitung on 14 March 1892".
• all other sources (books, articles, letters, etc.):
  • short in-text citation
  • link to zotero bibliographic entry (avoid direct links to digital versions of the source, because these links will likely break over time; it’s easier to include and keep them updated in zotero),
  • example: "The original letters can be found in Mark Twain on Potholes and Politics (Scharnhorst, 48-62)".