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--- adding_water_access_page [2026/06/11 16:57] – converting to apply to dokuwiki bob
+++ adding_water_access_page [2026/06/12 14:36] (current) – bob
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 ======== Adding a Wiki Water Access Page ========
-**IMPORTANT - This page is for the old groups.io Wiki and the new DocuWiki is DIFFERENT. This page will be updated to reflect DokuWiki.**   This is only a place-holder now.
+This information is for a Coot that is familiar with a water access point, like a boat launch ramp, and wants to add this to the Coots' Wiki data base.  What you are doing is adding a page to the Wiki.  As soon as you finish the page, it is available to be read by anyone.  And any Coot, signed up for this groups.io group, can make changes.  The process of adding and editing a page is available to anyone registered with coots.org.  All that registration does is to check that the email is valid.  Hints for registration are [[http://www.coots.org/cootswateraccess/doku.php?id=start|on the main page]].
-Starting update - Work In Progress
-This information is for a Coot that is familiar with a water access point, like a boat launch ramp, and wants to add this to the Coots' Wiki data base.  What you are doing is adding a page to the Wiki.  As soon as you finish the page, it is available to be read by anyone.  And any Coot, signed up for this groups.io group, can make changes.  The process of adding and editing a page is available to anyone registered with coots.org.  All that registration does is to check that the email is valid.
 **Create a new page**
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 {{:addpage2.png?900|}}
-We should immediately be presented with an edit window.  If somehow, you do not get to the edit window, that will be shown below, on any page, go to the top and click on "site map," as shown here:
+We should immediately be presented with an edit window. If that is the case, skip the rest of this paragraph.  If somehow, you do not get to the edit window, that will be shown below, on any page, go to the top and click on "Sitemap," as shown below, and and then clicking on toledo_yaquina_ramp.  You will see either an empty page, or a page with anything that has been added to our new page.  Next, look for a gray pencil in the upper-right edge of the wiki page.  Clicking that opens the wiki editor.  One last hint is that if you do not see the gray pencil, you probably are not registered.
 {{:addpage3.png?900|}}
-So, we now are shown the edit window, with the empty Toledo Ramp wiki page [[https://www.dokuwiki.org/wiki:syntax|written in a mark-up language]].  That referenced guide is helpful to look at, but many of your editing tasks can be carried out with copy-and-paste from existing material.  Straight text is easy; you just type it in.  A new paragraph does not require any special character; it only needs two "Enter"'s.
+So, we now are shown the edit window, with the empty Toledo Ramp wiki page [[https://www.dokuwiki.org/wiki:syntax|written in the dokuwiki mark-up language]].  That referenced guide is **very helpful** to look at, but many of your editing tasks can be carried out with copy-and-paste from existing material.  Straight text is easy; you just type it in.  A new paragraph does not require any special character; it only needs two "Enter"'s.
-{{:addpage3.png?900|}}
-To get started with a new page, I opened a [[http://www.coots.org/cootswateraccess/doku.php?id=water_access_site_template|new browser tab with the Coots' water access template]].  Copying that entire page and pasting it into the new edit window gives a good start.
-The blank page that comes up will accept your typing as new material.  All the usual features, such as copy-and-paste or insert an image are available, many of these through the small icons above the edit window.  Here is an example with a few entries:
-At this point we encounter one of the tricky issues.  You must give this page a title and save it, or no matter how much you have added, it is all lost.  Adding the title is done in the text line at the top, and we will use the name of the access point, say, "Daisyville Launch Ramp."  To make it easier to follow at the initial save, I suggest you add a line of text. So, in the example, we add a title line, "Daisyville Launch Ramp" at the top.   To save the page, go to the bottom left and click on "Save Edit."  There will be a verify dialog box and you must click on the green "Yes."  If all is correct you will now see your new Wiki Page, but in the standard view presentation (not editable).
-To continue editing, go back to the same ellipsis that started the new page, but this time, click on "Edit Page."  The edit box should appear as you left it before the save.  See "Saving a Page," below for more help.
- To see some features, and to add emphasis to our page, we increase the type size from the default 16 pt to 24 pt.  This is done by the ellipsis at the top left of the edit window, with the second option being the type size.  For more emphasis, we make the type bold by using the mouse to highlight the title and click on the letter 'B'.
-Basic Outline of Contents - Each water access site is different and so the descriptions will vary.  But, to make finding information easier, we should try to follow a common outline to the extent that is reasonable.  The following section headings, shown in bold face, are a guide to follow.  For clarity here, there is an asterisk ahead of each item, but the asterisks should be removed for the wiki page.
-* Introduction - A brief description along with any special comments about the location.  This is a good place to indicate the ownership of the facility and
-* Location - This needs enough detail so that a first-time visitor can easily find the access point.  If the local roads are complicated a map can be useful.  For most locations the big picture can be described in words, otherwise another map can be added.  If it might be useful, including the latitude and longitude of the ramp is fine.  Include information on parking, parking fees and if appropriate, parking security.
+To get started with our new page, I opened a [[http://www.coots.org/cootswateraccess/doku.php?id=water_access_site_template|new browser tab with the Coots' water access template]].  Copying that entire page and pasting it into the new edit window gives a good start. The blank page that comes up will accept your typing as new material.  All the usual features, such as copy-and-paste or insert an image are available, many of these through the small icons above the edit window.  Here is an example where I have already edited the first few entries:
-* Ramp - If there is a boat ramp we really need a picture of it.  Often, a single picture can show the ramp, associated sidewalks and dock(s).  If multiple pictures show it better, use them.  Any information about the depths of water at the ramp is a great addition.  Tell them about hazards such as fast or shallow water.  Very valuable is a measured slope of the ramp.  See the section below for doing that measurement.  Any restrictions on boat size and type should be included.
+{{:addpage4.png?900|}}
-* Launch Area - If there is not a trailer ramp, but there is a place that (usually) small boats can be put in the water, here is the spot.  Pictures are important.  Also, what type of boats can use this?
+Before editing the page material, we need to learn how to save the page. Go to the bottom line and there is a pink box  for "Edit Summary."  This is a short indicator of changes that goes into a wiki log.  At this point, a short phrase, "Initial edit" will tell the story. Next click on the left hand "Save" button.  The actual wiki page will appear.  If the changes are simple, like a typo correction, it is expedient to just click the "Minor Changes" box and leave no message.
-* Local Water - It is good to give a short description of water within.  It is easy to get dragged into writing a travelog and that is a different wiki!  Try to just link other web material here rather than duplicating items.
+To continue editing, go click the gray pencil in the upper right. The edit box should appear as you left it before the save.
+**Adding a Sidebar Entry**
-Measuring Boat Ramp Slope - We'll try here to describe an almost non-mathematical way to find ramp slope.  ** TBD soon... **
+The new wiki page is not quite complete, as nobody will find it.  We need to add it to the list in the sidebar, on the left.  First, look at the side bar and see what geographical category your new page fits into.  Then go to the upper left and click on "sitemap."  This brings up a list of pages, and so go down to "sidebar" and click on it.  This brings up the sidebar as a wiki page.  To edit this, click on the gray pencil.  Hunt for the geographical category you need (they are alphabetical).  You then need to add your site as a line, such as "<nowiki>* [[toledo_yaquina_ramp|Toledo Ramp (Yaquina R.)]]</nowiki>".  Keep the length of the sidebar name "Toledo Ramp (Yaquina R.)" short enough to not cause a line break in the sidebar.  This is somewhere around 35 characters.  Your new site should now appear in the sidebar as a clickable link.
-Adding a picture - This is an area that can cause problems.  There must be many ways to add pictures (images), but I will try to describe just one that seems to be reliable.
+If you do not find an appropriate geographical category...  (TBD)
-- Place your entry cursor where you want the picture to go and then go to the top bar and click the "Insert Image" icon.
+**Measuring Boat Ramp Slope**
- - If your picture is not shown in the "Image Library" and has thus not been uploaded, click on the "Add New" button.
+We'll try here to describe an almost non-mathematical way to find ramp slope.  ** TBD soon... **
-- Upload by  dropping a file icon from a file browser into the "drop" area.
+**Adding a picture**
-- Click on the "Add" button (not  "Insert," at the bottom of the dialog).  You will see a wiki page without a title.  Do not try to edit that page.  Instead, hit the web browser "go back" arrow at the top left.  This should bring back an edit-open wiki page, right where you used to be, but without your new picture!
+Adding a picture is two steps, first loading the image file to the wiki media storage and then inserting it into the wiki page.  Loading the file is not enough.
- - Once again, click the "Insert Image" icon button.  Your new picture should be at the bottom of the "Image Library," so click on it.  Next, click on the "Insert" button and   after a download delay it will appear at the cursor location.
+ - Click on the image icon near the top of the page.{{:imageicon.gif?50|}}  This opens a new window.
- - For safety, do a "Save Edit."
+a - To upload the image, click the "Select Files" button and browse for the desired file (most standard formats are supported). Click "Open".
-This add picture process works with my Firefox web browser.  If it does not operate correctly with your browser, please report here the differences needed to make this work.
+b - Next click the "Upload" button and then the "Done" button.  Finally, you have uploaded your image file, so close the extra window.
-Anytime, while editing,  your picture is already in the "Image Library," just highlight it with a click and then place your edit entry cursor where you want it.  Next click on the "Insert" button.
+- Place your entry cursor where you want the picture to go and then go to the top bar and click the image icon icon, again.  In the separate window, select the image file from step 1. Next, highlight it with a click and then place your edit entry cursor where you want it.  Next click on the "Insert" button.
-Moving a picture
+** Editing Hints**
-Before moving a picture, create a blank line at the position you want to move to.  Then go back to the picture, highlight it and drag the small image to the blank line you created.   Then, make sure nothing is highlighted and save the page.
+Moving a picture is simple. With the edit window open, find your image with a format, such as,
+<nowiki> {{:myPix.jpg?640|}} </nowiki> and cut and paste the text where you want it.  Changing the picture size is done by the width parameter, 640.  To make it smaller, you could use, <nowiki> {{:myPix.jpg?480|}} </nowiki>.
-Saving a page
+Keep the uploaded picture size close to what you want to display.   Phone pictures can have huge size, and scaling them back in the wiki just adds to wiki backup size.  If the picture being entered is too large, dokuWiki will give you an error.
-Save your work often.  This greatly reduces the bad feelings when something gets lost!
+Remember that everything that will be seen on the wiki page is described by the mark-up language.  This is all simple text and visible.  Once you get used to this, it usually becomes more convenient than WYSIWYG editing.  Copy-and-paste is very powerful in this type of editing.
-Go to the bottom of the edit window and click on"Save Edit."
+If you do not see the results that you expect from editing, the [[https://www.dokuwiki.org/wiki:syntax|dokuwiki mark-up language syntax guide]] probably will provide the hints that you need.
-Be aware that saving your wiki page results in the wiki edit being closed.  Also, there is a confirmation box.  Be sure to confirm, but do not (usually) Notify Members.  After you save a page you will see the page as it is presented in the wiki.  To continue editing, go up to the three dot ellipsis button at the top and select "Edit Page."
+**Saving a page**
-A hint is, before saving a page, to make a habit of clicking somewhere in text to create a text cursor and, importantly, to remove any highlighting.   This helps  greatly with accidental loss of material.
+Save your work often.  This greatly reduces the bad feelings when something gets lost! Go to the bottom of the edit window, add a short Edit Summary and click on "Save." Be aware that saving your wiki page results in the wiki edit being closed. After you save a page you will see the page as it is presented in the wiki.  To continue editing, you will need to once again open the editor by clicking on the gray pencil.
-Not loosing work
+**Editing an Existing Wiki Page**
-Tests of this Wiki editor have included loosing pictures and text.  It seems like one problem is having either a picture or text highlighted when doing a global operation such as saving a page.  But, this is not consistently a problem.  Mysteries in this area continue.
+In case it is not clear, the Wiki idea is that you can edit other people's pages!  Along with that goes a responsibility to be nice.  True as it is, that is not what this page address. We want to see how to do such an edit.  So, if you are registered and signed in, you can edit any existing page by simply clicking on the gray pencil.  After that, everything above is available to alter and save pages.  That increases the knowledge source size and makes the pages more correct and complete.