Editing Existing Manuals

A simple guide to getting started with the manual repository.

Registration

To edit an existing manuals you must first register with Floss Manuals.

The process is quick and painless. The information you submit is mainly used so Floss Manuals can credit you for your contributions. When you create a new chapter, for example, the copyright notice is automatically created in the name you give at registration time.

Everytime you visit FLOSS Manuals you must login before you can contribute to the manual chapters.

Editing

If you have already registered then you may simply click on the Edit text on the top right of every manual page. This will open the editor for that page. which will look something like this:

The editor is a "What You See Is What You Get Editor" (WYSIWYG). This means that you do not have to know any html or wiki code to write or edit a manual page. You may simply click on the page once the editor has loaded and start typing. The editor works with most browsers but has known issues with Safari.

The editor layout will be familiar to you if you have used a word processor like Open Office, Abiword, or even Microsoft Word. The functionality is very similar also, for starters here are a few tips:

Creating Headings

Headings for text can be created by first typing the text you wish to be a heading. For example we may wish to create a section title My Manual. So we would first type this like so:

My Manual

Then we highlight the text by clicking on the text and dragging the mouse until the complete heading is highlighted:

Now we need to choose the heading level. The largest heading (and highest in the hierarchy of headings) is Heading 1 and the lowest in the hierarchy is Heading 6. These headings are very important for the final design and organisation of the manuals so it is good to have a clear idea of which headings you would like to use where. In this example we will choose Heading 1 and so we use one of the drop down menus at the top left of the WYSIWYG editor.

Now when you select the chosen heading the text will be transformed:

My Manual

Fonts

Similarly if you highlight text and choose a font from the top font menu you can the fonts for any given text. However, please don't use fonts, our magic publishing system looks after all this so just leave all body text )excluding headings-bold etc' as 'normal'.

Size is also easy to change using the size menu next to the --font-- menu.

Bold, Italic, Underscore, Strikethrough

More typographical options exist and cab be applied by highlighting the appropriate text and clicking on the Bold, Italic, Underscore or ~~Strikethrough~~ icons:

Adding Links

Links can be added very easily by first highlighting the text you wish to be made into a hyperlink and then clicking on the link icon:

A pop up will then appear that asks you for the URL of the link:


LOGIN REGISTER Search GUIDES HOW TO EDIT GOOD MANUAL WRITING SYNTAX GUIDELINES	Editing Existing Manuals A simple guide to getting started with the manual repository. Registration To edit an existing manuals you must first register with Floss Manuals. The process is quick and painless. The information you submit is mainly used so Floss Manuals can credit you for your contributions. When you create a new chapter, for example, the copyright notice is automatically created in the name you give at registration time. Everytime you visit FLOSS Manuals you must login before you can contribute to the manual chapters. Editing If you have already registered then you may simply click on the Edit text on the top right of every manual page. This will open the editor for that page. which will look something like this: The editor is a "What You See Is What You Get Editor" (WYSIWYG). This means that you do not have to know any html or wiki code to write or edit a manual page. You may simply click on the page once the editor has loaded and start typing. The editor works with most browsers but has known issues with Safari. The editor layout will be familiar to you if you have used a word processor like Open Office, Abiword, or even Microsoft Word. The functionality is very similar also, for starters here are a few tips: Creating Headings Headings for text can be created by first typing the text you wish to be a heading. For example we may wish to create a section title My Manual. So we would first type this like so: My Manual Then we highlight the text by clicking on the text and dragging the mouse until the complete heading is highlighted: Now we need to choose the heading level. The largest heading (and highest in the hierarchy of headings) is Heading 1 and the lowest in the hierarchy is Heading 6. These headings are very important for the final design and organisation of the manuals so it is good to have a clear idea of which headings you would like to use where. In this example we will choose Heading 1 and so we use one of the drop down menus at the top left of the WYSIWYG editor. Now when you select the chosen heading the text will be transformed: My Manual Fonts Similarly if you highlight text and choose a font from the top font menu you can the fonts for any given text. However, please don't use fonts, our magic publishing system looks after all this so just leave all body text )excluding headings-bold etc' as 'normal'. Size is also easy to change using the size menu next to the --font-- menu. Bold, Italic, Underscore, Strikethrough More typographical options exist and cab be applied by highlighting the appropriate text and clicking on the Bold, Italic, Underscore or ~~Strikethrough~~ icons: Adding Links Links can be added very easily by first highlighting the text you wish to be made into a hyperlink and then clicking on the link icon: A pop up will then appear that asks you for the URL of the link:

GUIDES

Editing Existing Manuals

Registration

Editing

Creating Headings

My Manual

Fonts

Bold, Italic, Underscore, Strikethrough

Adding Links