Editing Guide

Thank you for contributing your efforts to bring this archive to life!

How to edit a Talk's information:

• If you are logged in as a community Member, simply navigate to the talk you wish to edit and click the big "Edit" button.
• There you will see many fields to add to, and you can find information by either listening to the talk or by examining the photographs of the tape.

What if I don't see an Edit button?

• To edit a talk, you must be logged-in, and the talk must allow editing by your account type.
  • If you look at the top of the screen, you'll see a "My Account" menu when you are logged-in.  
• Some talks are locked and only editable by Curators or Managers. 
  • ​On the My Account page, you'll see a list of "My Communities" showing your membership level in each community you have joined or subscribed to.  
• Some talks are shared from other communities, and editing is only allowed by memeber of the talk's owner community. 

What are Keywords?

• Keywords can be any descriptive word or term that people are likely to use when searching. 
• Keep keywords unique and succinct, usually one or two words, not phrases. 
• Whenever possible, choose one of the existing keywords from autocomplete suggestions, to help draw connections between talks.  

What are Descriptions?

• This can be a short summary or abstract of the talk, an outline of the major themes and topics covered, or just a basic classification such as "Sunday lecture" or "koan class," etc. 
• This is also the place to add context to a talk, if you are familiar with when and where it was given, and link to other talks that are related. 

What are Notes?

• Any other technical or historical information about the talk - the source of the transcript, the sound quality, special restoration work done during digitization, etc.
• Any markings or information that is visible in a photo that has not been captured in the above categories can go in the Notes field, 
  • You're welcome to just transcribe these photos verbatim, or to elaborate/clarify/correct these notes if possible.  
• Notes are a good place to mention if a talk has been published in a book or newsletter, and add a link to that, if possible. 
• Notes are also a good place to suggest which talks could be published next  

What if we don't know the exact date?

Partial dates are supported! So if you know the Year and maybe the Month, but not the Day, you can include these pieces without having to enter the whole date.  

How to write transcripts:

Work in two stages: First, type the lecture. Second, listen and read.

You are likely to find many places where you will need to make corrections.

Put your comments in brackets [like this].

Comments include questions on content, or words you aren’t sure of followed by a question mark.

eg: Every day when [Baizhang?] spoke in the hall …

Also put in brackets: tape changes and sections you can’t hear, any other background information, such as laughter or something in the environment that becomes part of what is talked about (such as music, something dropping, animal sounds, etc.). Use an ellipsis (...) for a sentence that isn’t finished or starts late.

Leave out repeated phrases where the speaker is finding his words, ums, uhs, you knows, etc. except as they add to the flavor of their expression.

Include laughter indicating it is the person speaking [laughs] or the group [laughter]

For questions, if there are multiple questioners, identify them by letter.

eg:

Student A: Why is there karma?

Student B: He doesn’t answer why questions.

Student C: Why not?

Use one space between sentences, not two. Use one space after colons also.

Do not use the tab function to indent new paragraphs, please leave them flush left. When in doubt, start a new paragraph.

When you spell check, watch out for incorrect auto-suggestions, especially on foreign language words.

Can I upload a complete trancript that I already have done?

• Yes! full transcripts are very helpful and welcome. 
• If it's from MS Word or another app, you might need to convert it to plain text or Rich Text format first.  Then you can copy/past it into the Transcript field. 

Still have questions?

Many answers can be found on the main Help & FAQ page.  

If you are stuck and need help, you're welcome to email us at help@engagewisdom.com and please include a link to the page you're having trouble with.  

We do not have a full-time support staff, so we appreciate your patience as it may take a few days for a response.  

Note: If something isn't loading, or you're having trouble accessing a page, it can sometimes solve the problem if you try a different web browser.