Finding items in the knowledge-base

To see the current list of items:

• (from any page)
  • click on the Knowledge-base link in the menu-bar
• (from the items-search page)
  • click on the 'List all items' button, or
  • make sure all fields in the 'Search items by...' dialog are blank, then click the 'Search' button

To see a subset of items

• click on the 'KB search' link at the top left of any Knowledge-base page
• enter filter-values in one of the 'Search items by...' dialogs
• click the respective 'Search' button

Click on any link in the items list to view the item details.

• note that some items and/or details may be visible only to verified members, so you may need to log on first.
• some items may be visible only to members who have completed the Grad.Cert (1st year) course

Click on the 'my items' to list all items for which you are the 'owner'.

If you are a moderator, click on the 'mod-items' link to list all items which currently need moderator review.

Creating and editing items

Note: you can only create and edit items if you have an existing user-profile - see the help-page for further details.

Note also that although any member may create items for the knowledge-base, items will only be displayed after approval by the knowledge-base moderators. In accordance with academic guidelines, moderators are always anonymous. To create a new item:

• click on the 'new item' link to open the edit-page for a new item
• enter details as appropriate, including any sources (references or files)
• create note-records as appropriate for the moderators

The knowledge-base moderators will see your new item on the moderators' list, and will contact you if necessary before releasing the item for view on the website.

To edit

• click on the 'edit item' link at the top of the page to edit the item-summary
• click on the 'add source' link to add a new source-record
• click on the 'edit' or 'delete' link beside a source to edit or delete it
• click on the 'add note' link to add a new moderator-note record
• click on the 'edit' or 'delete' link beside a note to edit or delete it

These links will only be visible for items that you 'own', or if you are acting as a moderator.

Whilst editing, you cancel any changes by clicking on the 'item #' link (e.g. 'item 21') at the top of the page, to return to the main item-summary.

Item-summary dialog

• use the 'Show to' pull-down to select whether the summary will be visible to everyone, to any verified member including ('new students'), or only to members with Grad.Cert or above
• enter appropriate details for the other fields and pull-downs
  • blank fields will not be shown on the item-summary: for example, for a URL summary you would probably only enter a title and, optionally, content for the 'Keywords' and 'Summary' fields
• click the 'Store' button to save the changes

Source dialog
When you click on 'add source' to create a new source (reference or file) for an item, the page shows several small dialogs, one for each source-type. Enter details as appropriate for one of these dialogs, and click on the respective 'Store' button to save the details. Later, if you need to edit the source (for example, to change an uploaded file), only that one dialog will be shown.

• use the 'Visible to' pull-down to select whether the summary will be visible to everyone, to any verified member including ('new students'), or only to members with Grad.Cert or above
  • note: for each item, you can create separate source-records for different audiences - for example, create a File source that's visible to full members, and an Email source for the same file that's visible to everyone
• fill in the other details as appropriate:
  • URL
    • URL: full URL
    • Comments: optional comments about the URL (e.g. date, website name, etc)
  • Downloadable file
    • File: use the 'Browse' button to search for the respective file to upload to the website
    • Info: optional comments about the file
  • Request by email
    • Email: AFI website user-ID (e.g. SeraDS) or full email address
      • note: the email address will not be displayed on the website
    • Document: document-name or other subject-line for the email
  • Journal / magazine
    • Journal: journal-name or equivalent
    • Reference: reference details, preferably in standard citation format
  • Library / other
    • Source: any other type or source or reference not covered by the other source-types (e.g. library shelf-code for a book or journal)
    • Details: optional additional details about the source
• click the respective 'Store' button to save the details

Saving a 'Downloadable file' source also uploads the respective file (if any) to the website. Note that the filename on the website may be different from the original filename : this is ensure that all file URLs are valid, and to prevent accidental name-clashes and overwrites. In the knowledge-base, the required links to downloadable files are generated automatically, but you may want to check filenames in case you need to reference the file elsewhere on the website.

Notes dialog
Notes are used only to communicate with moderators.

To create or edit a note

• click on the respective link on the item-summary page
• enter appropriate content for the 'Comments' and/or 'Reference' fields
• click the 'Store' button to save the changes