ACI-LA Media Database
User Guide for daily use
Document v. 1.1, December 2010
Initial version by Larry Wolf,
Table of contents1. Upload the audio 2
2. Log into the ACI-LA Media Database 2
3. Entering new audio entries 3
a. General instructions 3
b. Data entry on the "Publish Form" tab 4
c. Data entry on the "Categories" tab 6
d. What is the "Dates" tab used for? 7
e. Adding USTREAM links to the description 7
f. An actual example 8
4. Editing an existing entry 10
5. Deleting an entry 10
6. Adding new categories 10
7. Changing the Download Teaching landing page "blurb" 13
8. Adding or changing the main topic descriptions on the website 14
9. Adding new teachers 15
10. SuperAdmin documentation- creating users 16
1. Upload the audio
Upload the audio file(s) in the usual way- using FTP, for instance. Make a note of the filenames, starting with "/ALLAUDIO". For instance "/ALLAUDIO/folder1/audiofile.mp3".
2. Log into the ACI-LA Media Database
Go to the logon page, http://aci-la.org/medialib/media_sys/index.php. Enter your username and password. Contact the ACI-LA webmaster if you do not have an account set up.
This is the webpage that you see, after logging on:
3. Entering new audio entries
a. General instructions
1. First, click on the 'Publish'/'AV Media' menu item.
2. This brings up the publishing form- here you will enter all of the information related to the new audio entry. The data entry is done on the "Publish Form" and "Categories" tabs. (Detailed instructions are provided, below.) Note: clicking on the "Show All" tab will put all of the data entry on a single page.
3. Save your entry! The "Quick Save" button will save all of the data you have entered, and allow you to continue to edit the entry. The "Submit" button will save the entry and exit the screen. The "Preview" button does not appear to be very useful- it simply shows the data you have entered at the top of the screen.
b. Data entry on the "Publish Form" tab
Ø The "Title" is the name of the audio entry. For instance, 'The Three Yogas of the Bhagavad Gita, Mahasukha Center, Los Angeles'. This is a required field.
Ø "URL Title" is filled in automatically by the system. You do not normally need to enter anything here. This particular field is not displayed to the user, but is needed by the system to function properly. The actual value is not important.
Ø "Description" is used to describe the audio teaching. This field is available for searching. This field is often used to store USTREAM information. You can add additional descriptive text if you like! This is an optional field.
Ø "Date From" holds the date that the audio teaching started. You must enter the hour in the field, but the web only displays the date. Here is an example of the date format: '2010-10-01 11:42 AM' . This is an optional field.
Ø "Date To" contains the date that the audio teaching ended. Entry format is the same as "Date From". This is an optional field.
Ø The "Teacher" selection box allows you to select one or more teachers who taught the class. The audio entry will display on the website under each teacher that you select here. If you select more than one teacher for a single audio entry, then that audio entry can be accessed from either teacher in the menu.
If you do not select any teacher, than the audio entry will not be displayed on the site! This is a required field.
Ø "Session Information" holds all of the audio and other file links for the entry. Here is an example of an audio entry as it displays to visitors, and the same information, as it is entered into the "Publish Form" tab (don't worry about the red arrows in the picture, they are explained further on below).
i. "Session Name" : enter the descriptive text that displays to the left of the media files, under the 'Description' column. For instance, "Class 1". This is an optional field.
ii. "Support File Label": type in the name that you want to displays to the users for each support file. Support files display in the 'Written Materials' column. For instance, "PDF". This is an optional field.
iii. "Support File URL": enter the pathname to the support file. This may be left blank if you only want the text in the "Support File Label" field to display, without any link. It must be prefixed with a leading slash! E.g., "/ALLAUDIO/…", not "ALLAUDIO/…". This is an optional field.
iv. "Media File Label": type in the name that you want to displays to the users for each audio file. Audio files display 'Audio' column. For instance, "MP3". This is an optional field.
v. "Media File URL": enter the pathname to the audio file. This may be left blank if you only want the text in the "Media File Label" field to display, without any link. Again, it must be prefixed with a leading slash. E.g., "/ALLAUDIO/…", not "ALLAUDIO/…". This is an optional field.
Each row in "Session Information" can be manipulated in various ways- you can reorder them by clicking and dragging the grey, double-arrow icon to the left of each row. You can delete a row by clicking the red circle with the slash through in on the far right. And finally, you can add a brand new Session Information row by clicking the green plus-sign called 'Add Row'.
Enter as many entries as needed. If there are more than one media or support files per session, then you may leave the additional 'session name' fields blank. For example:
c. Data entry on the "Categories" tab
Use this tab to select the audio entry's category. The category determines where the audio entry will be filed on the website. The links on the left-hand navigation menu show the categories, and clicking on the links displays the associated teachings. The example below shows a teaching filed under Christian Teachings:
There
There are top-level categories like "The Spiritual Teacher". There may be one or more child categories to further categorize the teaching, such as "Living Your Yoga", which is a sub-category of "Yoga Philosophy".
Top-level categories display as a gold link under Venerable Marut. All sub-categories for a given top-level category will display in a dropdown.
Finally, you can associate one category or multiple categories to any audio entry. You may also leave the category blank. Assigning one, none or multiple categories has the following effects:
i. No category: the audio entry is accessed from the navigation menu by clicking on the teacher's name.
ii. One category: the audio entry will be accessed by clicking on the category name under the teacher.
iii. Multiple categories: the audio entry will be accessed in each of the categories. For instance, if the 2008 Thanksgiving Retreat is categorized under 'Retreat Teachings ' and 'The Spiritual Teacher', then it will appear in both places.
If you do not see the desired category in the list, then you can create a new one. See the section in this document entitled "Adding new categories".
d. What is the "Dates" tab used for?
The "Dates" tab contains two fields, "Entry Date" and "Expiration Date". Generally speaking, you do not need to edit these fields. The Entry Date will be filled in automatically with the current date/time the first time you save the audio entry. The Expiration Date should be left blank.
The Media Database will not display any entry if the "Entry Date" is in the future, or if the "Expiration Date" has passed.
e. Adding USTREAM links to the description
These are instructions for adding a USTREAM link to the audio entry. In general, the links look like this:
To get this result, simply add the following text to the "Description" field for the audio entry. (Be sure to edit the USTREAM link, highlighted in blue, as appropriate.)
<img src="/images/wheel_small.jpg" alt="USTREAM" width="45" height="45" align="left">Watch the archived videocast of this course on USTREAM:> http://www.ustream.tv/channel/aci-course-4---proof-of-future-lives
And this is what the entry looks like on the publishing form:
f. An actual example
Here is an example of how an audio entry looks to visitors, and the associated "behind the scenes" data that created it.
First, the screenshot, as it displays for web visitors:
Next, the entry form with all of the data:
(continued on next page)
4. Editing an existing entry
It is easy to edit an existing entry.
i. Click on the "Edit" tab.
ii. Fill in the search term, and adjust the options as needed to find your entry efficiently.
iii. Click on the "Search" button. The results will display in the lower half of the page.
iv. Click the hyperlink of the entry under the "Title" column.
v. The "Publish Form" tab comes up, as explained in the "Entering new audio entries" section of this document. Follow the same guidelines for making updates.
Here is a screenshot detailing the steps that are explained above:
5. Deleting an entry
If you wish to delete entries from the database, you can do so. Beware that once you have deleted entries, they cannot be recovered !
i. Search for the entries, as explained in the "Editing an existing entry" section of this document.
ii. Check the box next to the entry (or entries) you wish to delete.
iii. Choose "Delete Selected" from the dropdown in the lower right-hand side of the page.
iv. Click the "Submit" button
That's it! You'll get a confirmation screen. If you are sure you want to permanently delete the entries, click the button to confirm.
6. Adding new categories
There may be times when you cannot find the exact category that you need for posting an audio entry. You can add new ones by following these steps:
i. Click on the "Edit Categories" link, on the "Categories" tab.
ii. This brings up the list of all categories. You can add a new categories by clicking the "Create a New Category" button at the top of the screen.
iii. Enter the new category name. This is the only field you have to fill in. (Category URL Title will fill in automatically for you.) If this is a sub-category, then you must also select the top-level category from the dropdown entitled "Category Parent". When done, click "Submit".
iv. Cool- you have successfully added a category. Click the "Close Window and Update Categories in PUBLISH Page" button.
v. You are returned to your starting point- you may now complete your posting.
7. Changing the Download Teaching landing page "blurb"
The category screen allows you to change the "blurb" for the main topics that display under "Venerable Marut's downloadable teachings" on the main landing page. For instance, the Dharma Essentials topic has a blurb that is circled in green, below.
This text is set by editing the category itself- the text you enter in the Category Description field displays in the landing page.
8. Adding or changing the main topic descriptions on the website
Certain topics display a text description at the top of each page. For instance, the Dharma Essentials page has a sizeable description that entices visitors to download the teachings.
This text is also set by editing the category itself. The text you enter in the 'Text for Display' field will display on the webpage.
9. Adding new teachers
To add new teachers, you use screens that are similar to the those used for posting audio. Here are the steps you follow:
1. Click on the 'Publish'/'Teacher' menu item.
2. Enter the new teacher's information.
Ø The "Title" is the name of the teacher as it should be displayed on the website. This is a required field.
Ø "URL Title" is filled in automatically by the system. You do not normally need to enter anything here. This particular field is not displayed to the user, but is needed by the system to function properly. The actual value is not important.
Ø Choose the "Teacher Type" for this teacher. This choice determines where the teacher's entries will display in the navigation bar. 'Mahasukha Teachers' and 'Guest Teachers' will display in a dropdown in the left-hand navigation bar. This is a required field.
Ø The "Show on Landing Page" field only applies to Mahasukha teachers. If the value is set to 'Yes', then the teacher's name will display under "ACI-LA Teacher's Audio" on the main Audio landing page. If the field is set to 'No', then the Mahasukha teacher's name will not display on the main Audio landing page. This is an optional field.
Ø "Sort Order" This is the alphabetic sort order for showing teachers on the web pages. Generally speaking, it is last name, first name. This is a required field.
3. Finally, save your work. You can now select your new teacher when you add audio entries to the database.
10. SuperAdmin documentation- creating users