pad

manual

How to Use EtherReport, Editors’ Guide

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
   1. Key Functionalities
   2. Key Terms
   3. Background
2. Preparations
   1. Logging In
   2. Preparing a Reporting Pad
   3. Preparing the Structure of Your Publication
3. Report production
   1. Reporting
   2. Editing
   3. Publishing
   4. Labelling
4. Design

1. Introduction

Etherport is a tool for cultural organisations to make more experimental, multi-voiced, and non-linear event reports. At the same time, EtherPluck helps to standardize your event reporting workflow, reducing production workload and clarifying the role division between author(s) and editor. This editors’ manual will take you through all the steps required to get you and your organisation started with EtherDish.

1.1. Key Functionalities

First of all, it’s important to know if EtherDish is interesting and useful to you. The key functionalities of the tool are the following:

• Workflow integration: All steps in the creation of an event report, from (real-time collaborative) writing to editing and publishing, are integrated in EtherDish.
• Hybrid publishing: Publisihing an event reports on EtherDish generates two versions simultaneously: a web version, and a printable .pdf.
• One-click design: Both the web version and .pdf of your publication are automatically designed using a template. (It is possible to create your own template, to match the visual identity of your organisation, in CSS.)
• Content labeling: EtherDish uses a labeling system that allows readers to engage with the event report in a non-linear way based on theme or type of content. This same feature creates links between reports of different events, which makes it easier to nagivate and activate the event report archive.
• Content templates: To accomodate custom serialization, it is possible to create pad templates for different types of reports/publications.
• Multi-media content: EtherDish supports text, images, videos, and timestamps.
• Shared infrastructure: Multiple organisations can use the same instance of EtherDish. This shared infrastructure can grow into a shared archive of event reports, in which relations between events from different organisations become visible and navigable.

1.2: Key Terms

To understand this logic, it is important to explain a few key terms before diving into the manual:

• Pad: A pad is an online text editing document (like a GoogleDoc). Event reports on EtherDish are created in a pad. Each pad is one event report.
• Template: When creating a new pad in EtherDish, it is possible to select a template. This means that the newly opened pad will not be blank, but it will include pre-structured base content. (It is possible to create your own template files, or customize existing templates.)
• Folder: The pads in EtherDish are organised in folders (like the files on your computer). EtherDish is programmed to recognize each folder as a separate publication. The content of this publication is the collected content of all pads in the folder.
• Base folder: This is the root of the folder system, where all publication folders and master template files are collected. The base folder is also the landing page on the back-end of EhterDish, from where you can navigate to any publication.
• Static version or generated version: This is the ‘front end’ or ‘read mode’ version of the digital tool, which is automatically generated and designed. To refresh the static version and preview changes, it is required to regenerate it.
• Label: Labels are used to categorize bits of content (typically sentences or paragraphs) as a specific type of content (e.g. quote, opinion). These labels create additional, non-linear pathways throughout a report and between reports on EtherPluck.

1.3: Background

This tool was developed by the Hybrid Publishing Research Group in the context of the two-year research program Going Hybrid. Members of the Hybrid Publishing Research Group include: researcher Anna Maria Michael, Ray Dolitsay (Institute of Network Cultures), Ashley Maum (Framer Framed), researcher Ania Molenda, Gijs de Heij (Willem de Kooning Academy / Open Source Publishing), Sepp Eckenhaussen (Institute of Network Cultures), Ebissé Wakjira (Framer Framed), artist and programmer Maria van der Togt, Victor Chaix (Institute of Network Cultures), Carolina Pinto (Institute of Network Cultures). Read more about the research here: https://networkcultures.org/goinghybrid/

EtherPluck is based on the open-source tool patchwork Ethertoff. Ethertoff is a simple collaborative web platform, much resembling a wiki but featuring real-time editing thanks to Etherpad. Its output is constructed with equal love for print and web. Ethertoff is developed and maintained by the Brussels-based collective Open Source Publishing (OSP). Read more about Ethertoff here: http://osp.kitchen/tools/ethertoff/.

2. Preparations

2.1 Logging In

EtherReport is a browser-based tool. You do not to install any software. The tool works best in Firefox.

To log in, go to https://going-hybrid.gutenberg.club

Click ‘log in’, enter login details that you have received

Please read both 2.2 and 2.3 before proceeding.

2.2 Preparing a Reporting Pad

Before the reporting starts, the editor will have to prepare event reporting pads. These are the documents in which the reporter will write. For each report of (a part of) an event, a new pad needs to be created.

Create a new pad by clicking the button Create pad

• Name: [name-of-publication]::[name-of-report]

• Template: Templates::event-report.md The tool will take you to the created pad, with the selected template as its initial content. To finalize preparations for the reporter, note that the pad will need to customize the pad by filling out the text between [square brackets]:

• The title of the event

• The name of the reporter
• Optional: subtitle of the specific part of the program that this pad is for
• A link to the program’s web page
• A heading for each segment of the program to be reported on, in chronological order To make the pad accessible for the author, you will need to make the pad public. To do so go to the publication folder and click the button ‘make public’.

The pad is now ready for reporting! To share the pad with the author, you can copy the URL from the address bar and send it to the author, or, in the folder list right click on the pad and select ‘copy link’.

2.3 Preparing the Structure of Your Publication

Each pad is located within a folder, which represents a publication. In other words, all pads within one folder together are the content of one publication. This is useful for multi-part programs, such as symposia, conferences, or the side-program of an exhibition.

Publication wizard (button ‘create new publication’ or ‘work on existing publication’) speculation

To start a new publication you’ll have to create a new folder in the base folder. To do this:

• Click the button ‘Create pad’
• Name: ‘[name-of-publication]::index.md’
• Template: Templates::publication-index You’ll be taken to a new pad where you can enter the name of your publication on the first line, and can insert a blurb of the publication from the third line onwards.

Now, you can create pads for the individual event reports, following the steps from chapter 2.2.

3. Report Production

3.1 Reporting

During the event, reporters can make their notes in the pre-structured and customized pad. This pad includes a step-by-step user guide for reporters who appreciate precise guidance.

Please note the following features:

• Multiple reporters can simultaneously work on one document. tip
• Images and videos can be embedded in the report pad using the Django plug-in, accessed through the file widget in the top bar.

3.2 Editing

Once the reporter(s) is/are finished with their initial report, the editor can commence with the editorial process.

For the usual editorial work (style, argumentation, grammar), the EtherReport tool features a comment and suggestion plug-in. To use this plug-in, select a part of the text and click the comment widget in the top bar. Optionally, include a suggestion by checking ‘include suggested change’.

Once the content is good, check if the labels are used correctly (as described in the ‘Label cheatsheet’ on the top right in EtherReport). This is important, because the labels will create non-linear pathways through the publication.

After the editorial process, proceed to publishing!

3.3 Publishing

The publication can be published by generating a static version. In the generation process the content of the reports is read, processed and reordered based on content types and the labels. Once the generation process is finished speculationselect your publication in the view static version dropdown menu to see the result. Click the speculationprinted version link in the publication to get a preview of the printed publication. Press ctrl+p or cmd+p to either print this version, or to store it as a PDF.

The individual event reports are marked as draft by default, set them to published by changing the meta data of the pad, by setting status: draft to status: published.

3.4 Labelling

Labels added to the end of a paragraph will display in the margin of a text.

<a href="https://etherport.org/publications/inc/Manual/labels/label.html"     id="l536810647155171"     data-reference     data-link-id="l536810647155171"     data-link-target-type="label"     data-label="label"     data-direct-link="true" ><span class="reference--target">label</span></a>

If you select text, and then add a label, it will become linked text to that particular label. A pipe symbol | separates the label from the linked text:

<a href="https://etherport.org/publications/inc/Manual/labels/label.html"     id="l920810426395484"     data-reference     data-link-id="l920810426395484"     data-link-target-type="label"     data-label="label"     ><span class="reference--target">label</span><span class="reference--label--inline">linked text</span></a>

4. Design

The layout of the publication can be influenced through CSS. The tool comes with a set of default styles defined in two pads: generated.css and print.css. The styles of the web version of the report are defined in the pad generated.css while the styles for the print publication are set in print.css. You can adjust the styles of your publication by creaing style pads pad in the publication folder: [publication-name]::generated.css and [publication-name]::print.css. When the tools finds these publication based styles, it will ignore the general styles. It might be a good idea to start with a copy of the original styles. To adjust the styles of all publications (without their own stylesheet) adjust the styles in the base folder.

Define the structure of your publication speculation

Add content through articles.

Set the cover of your publication speculation

Cover.md ?

Styling images speculation

• Float on the top of the page speculation

• Float at the bottom of the page speculation

• Float full screen speculation

• Float left speculation

• Float right speculation