FAQ for Developers of the Romantic Chronology

Below are some quick-start instructions for adding a new entry, editing an existing entry, linking entries to each other, and adding a link. Please contact either Alan or Laura if you have any questions or suggestions. You may begin editing at any time once you receive your developer's userid and password.

Accessing the Developer's Gateway

• From the user's view of the Romantic Chronology, click on "Developer's Gateway" at the bottom of the lefthand navigation frame. This will show you a parallel, editable version of the Chronology.

Adding a New Entry in the Chronology:

• Click on "Add New Record." Fill in as many of the fields in the form that appears as seems appropriate. Not all fields require information (you will get an error message if a vital field is left blank), but the more information you enter the more powerful and fine-grained the Chronology becomes. The following are the main fields:
• Developer Info.: Choose your name from the drop-down box as the person adding the material.
• Date of Event and Ending Date: If you do not have a range of dates for your event, but only the year, put the date in the "Year" blank under "Date of Event" (not "Ending Date").
• Event Description: The detailed instructions on the form for "Event Description" are only relevant if you are linking two records together, so don't bother reading them unless you wish to do so (see "linking related entries" below). Simply type in a concise description of the event. Where possible, use the full name of persons so that users searching for "Dorothy," for example, will not miss entries that only include "D. Wordsworth."
• Notes and Citations: This is the place to add any bibliographic information about the source of your information or any other necessary commentary, especially for events whose dates or other features need to be qualified.
• Topics: Some events can usefully be associated with "topics" that the Chronology tracks (e.g., Abolition, Bluestockings, Chartism, India, Radicalism). Before using this field, look at the navigation bar on the left. Under "Chronology," you will see "Topics Catalogue." Click on that to see what topics the Chronology presently tracks. Please try as much as possible to use the exact phrasing of existing topics for your event. This ensures that your event will come up in searches for all events related to a specific topic. In addition, as a developer you can register new topics.
• Persons and Works Mentioned: If you mention any persons or works in your event description, fill out these fields, which also include "type" (e.g., author, historical figure, poem, novel, etc.). This allows users to find persons and works systematically; and it also allows the Chronology to link automatically to resources in its link archive. If you enter the name of a monarch, enter the monarch's name (e.g., "Charles") in the "Last Name" blank.
• Click on "Submit Item."

Editing an Existing Entry:

• From the Developer's Gateway, launch a search or advanced search, or click on the dates in the calendar containing the entry you wish to change.
• On the far left-hand side of the results page that then appears, you will see "Edit" beside each entry found by your search. Click on the "Edit" link for the entry you wish to revise.
• Make any changes you wish.
• If you inadvertently delete data that you wished to keep in the entry, merely click on "Reset this Form."
• Click on "Submit Changes."

Linking Entries to Each Other in the Chronology:

• From the Developer's Gateway, go the events you wish to link and get their record numbers (found under the "Edit" option in the left-hand column).
• Click on "edit."
• Scroll to the bottom of the form and add the record number in the box under "Related Records."
• You can also add a message in the event description (e.g., "See also the 1850 Prelude"): follow the instructions under "Event Description" for making that message into a link to the related record.

Adding a Link in the LinkArchive:

• Go to the LinkArchive of the Developer's Gateway.
• Check to make sure that your link is not already in the database.
• In the navigation bar at the very left of your screen, click on "New Record" under "LinkArchive."
• The instructions next to each blank are very detailed, but, if you are confused about what information belongs where, look at an example of a link added by Alan or Shawn (see, for instance, "Wordsworth, Lyrical Ballads).