Process of a Fanlore Entry

[elf]

I decided I wanted to add a page for Filthy Pierre's Microfilk. What is, you might ask, FPMicrofilk? It's a zine. Of sorts. A collection of filksongs, distributed in the East Coast area (and more, but mostly easty-coasty regions; I've never seen one). It's 63 pages long, on legal-sized paper, in teeny-tiny type, crammed as many words as can possibly fit on the page (extra verses added sideways, handwritten notes in spots), sometimes a dozen songs on a page, with a 13-page index (legal-sized) by tune, title, subject, and author. Also tiny. And complicated.

Makes sense? No? 6mb scanned version available at http://www.floatingfilk.com/mp3/microfilk.pdf. Go boggle. And then come back for the 2000-word Fanlore entry walkthrough.

What I know about the Microfilk collection:

1. It has approximately eight zillion filksongs (okay, actually? Just over 550 songs), and was very popular as the "everything filk" collection in some fannish communities. (Not that anyone thought it was literally everything, but it was the "here, you need this; there's enough to get you started and keep you going for a good long time" intro-to-filk thing.)
2. Many/most were folded into the later NESFA Hymnal, which is a ~300 page filkbook. (Which I have, and want to write up later; not getting up to check the page count now.)
3. It was distributed with a magnifying glass because OMG tiny tiny type.
4. Erwin "Filthy Pierre" Strauss, the author, or collector, or whatever you call him, is an east-coast BNF and filker who has also written some nifty other stuff.
5. Digital version was released, w/author (editor?)'s permission, in late 2009.

Note: I could be horrifically wrong about some of these details. Maybe I've misunderstood the Microfilk entirely and it was first issued in Australia. Maybe it came later than the NESFA Hymnal. (I, um, seriously doubt this.) Maybe "Filthy Pierre" was only known to 12 people for many years and those only in filking circles, and I've heard of him because I know those circles. That doesn't matter; Fanlore's a wiki, so someone else could come in and correct the problems later.

Five things. If that's enough for a fanfic, it's enough for a Fanlore stub, especially since I can give a link to the digital copy & a partial index. (Even less than that is enough for a Fanlore stub; if I could just say, "there's this thing; here's a link," Fanlore wants that.) People who've actually seen & filked from the original could then come in and add more details; people who've never heard of it would then know it exists. Existed. Whatever.

STEP 1 Open Fanlore Page
I decide to call the page "Filthy Pierre's Microfilk," rather than "Microfilk," because I've always seen it referenced that way. I open http://fanlore.org/wiki/Filthy_Pierre's_Microfilk and get the note:
"There is currently no text in this page. You can search for this page title in other pages, search the related logs, or edit this page." I click "edit this page." (If I weren't logged in, I'd get an error message at this point. I'm logged in.)

EEEEEP BLANK PAGE TERROR.

Must throw words in there.

I'll start with words I don't have to write: templates, infoboxes, tags.

STEP 2 Metadata
This is, in no particular order:
* A stub entry
* A fanwork
* Filk-related
* A zine (I think; I'm still a bit fuzzy on filkbooks being called "zines," but that seems to be the standard)
* Pre-internet-fandom
* Convention-related, but not specific convention-related
* Multifandom
* Available digitally
* Text-based, rather than picture-based

Not all of those will be relevant to tagging the entry, but it's not a bad idea to brainstorm a list of "traits associated with this fannish thing" before starting. It can help while wading through fanlore's many category options.

STUB. I know tagging things as "stub" is easy, but I haven't done it in a while, so I go looking for how.

I head over to the Templates page to figure out how to tag these things.

Gah. It's got subcategories, and I have no idea what they are, so I open them all. (My average Fanlore entry involves about 15 open tabs in Firefox.)

I find Stub under Notices. I also note that this is where one tags things for extra attention of some sort, but I don't expect to remember that.

Oh, right… stubs are made by putting {{Stub}} at the top of the page. That was simple. Why can't I remember it?

FANWORK TYPE: Next for the Infobox, that thing that shows up on the side and tells you what kind of thingie this is. A lot of these templates are WIPs, and could change; pick whatever seems most appropriate. If you're not sure, make a post at fanlore and ask. Generally, a listing gets 1 infobox.

I'm going to call this a Zine, so I copy-paste that into my huge empty text box, and fill in the details I know. Anything I don't know can be left blank.

OTHER SEARCH TAGS: I don't recall what the official label for these is, at the moment. (I'm about to find out.) These are the things at the bottom of the Fanlore page that connect it to similar/related works. Categories? I think these are categories. I go looking for "categories" coding tags.

I can't find the categories list. The side menu doesn't have a "categories" link. I shrug, and click on the Site Map. I find Category:Zines, but that gets me a list; it doesn't tell me how to add that category to my page. Hmmm. Serious bit of user-friendliness either missing or hiding.

I give up. Fall back on the age-old method of Wiki editing: find a page with the stuff I want, click "edit," steal that bit, and close the "edit" page without making changes.

I pick Crystal Memories because it's almost devoid of actual content so I won't have much to skip over to find the categories. I note that it's not tagged as a Stub; since I'm opening it, I add that to it. I add {{Stub}} at the top, fill in "add Stub" in the little text box down below, and click save.

Huh. When I open to edit, it says

[[Category:Filk Music]]
[[Category:Multimedia Gen and Het Zines]]

But the page itself says "Categories: Fanworks | Zines | Filk Music | Multimedia Gen and Het Zines" so apparently some categories fold into others. Yay? I decide that those all seem appropriate and can't think of anything else crucially important, so I add those at the end of the Microfilk entry.

Yay metadata is done! Now I just need *actual content!*

DETAILS AND OTHER INFO: To add content, I open the Editing Cheatsheet before I do anything else. I know I'll be checking this a lot, especially for bits of how to do wiki links. Since I'm already tired from scrounging up background info, and I don't feel I know much about this, I'm mostly trying to get my "five points" above into coherent paragraph formats, with enough wiki crosslinks that people will know how this relates to other topics on the archive. Someone else, who's maybe actually used Microfilk in a filksing, can add other details later.

I start with a "what is this" statement: "Microfilk is a collection of over 550 filksongs, printed on legal-sized paper in very small text, and distributed with a magnifying glass." If I were feeling rushed, or just wanted to create the entry, that would be enough for an entry. (Really. If all you know of something is three tiny factoids: like, it was a convention, it happened in mid-70's, and it related to Star Trek, that's enough for a Fanlore entry. We want it ALL.)

I want "filksongs" to link to the main Filk entry, but I want it to say "filksongs." The coding for that is [[Name of page|Text to display]], so I change that word to [[Filk|filksongs]].

I mention that it was released online, and I want a link to that, but not in the main text, so I add to the bottom (just above the categories):

==References==
<references/>

That'll let me put reference numbers that link down to the bottom, and allow jumps back up on the page. (If that's too complicated, just throw in text links. Someone else will later fix them into references. Really. ANY INFO IS BETTER THAN NONE.)

I think the description of "how to read the chords" is fascinating, so I want to mention it, and include the text. Hmm. The text part of that is almost 500 words. Maybe just include the scan of the instructions, and possibly the text in the image page.

I'm about done with the info I feel comfortable mentioning, but I want to add a couple of images: one of just the music instructions, and one sample page of songs. Since the whole thing is available for download, I don't have to worry about resolution/permission issues, and since it was scanned bitonal (black-and-white only), the filesize is small; I just need to enter the two images.

PICTURE UPLOADING: morgandawn has done some great work here, including something like tutorials that I'm too lazy to track down right now. I'm going to see if I can find my way through the pages using Fanlore's links.

Images are files; so I go to the Upload file page, which is linked on the main sidebar.

I get a thing with "source filename," where I navigate to the file on my computer, "destination filename," which by default is the same, and a "summary" box. (Hm. No "preview" button. Weird.)

I put a link in & way too much text in the summary, because I want people to be able to read the actual instructions, and the original is a low-res scan of a many-times-photocopied original.

For the second image, the sample page, I remember to change the destination filename. This one's big; bitonal scans are tiny files (as images go); so 500mb gets the whole legal-sized page at 200dpi. Which is bigger than Fanlore normally carries but since it's part of a "free to share online" PDF, it works; I just have to remember to use the Thumbnail setting when linking to it.

After I've uploaded the files, I check the Cheatsheet for "how to add images." It's [[Image:Example.jpg|thumb|Caption text]]>

I'm being minimalistic here, so I'm just throwing in the two images; someone else might add text or whatever, or format them nicer on the page. I add

[[Image:Microfilk_Preface.PNG|thumb|Preface with chord instructions]]

[[Image:Sample_page_of_Microfilk.png|thumb|Page 5 from Microfilk]]

…just above the reference section. I'm done now. I write "page creation" in the Summary box, and click "Show preview," just to make sure I haven't scrambled anything.

Hmmmm. The thumbnail pictures are huge and ridiculous and squeeze the "References" section into a tiny column.

AND I DO NOT CARE.

A last quick look at the Cheatsheet does not tell me how to make them right-justified, or go below the infobox, or not squeeze the other info, so someone else can cope with that later. I will be polite and tag the page for a Gardener to look at.

I put

{{AttentionGardeners
|because=images layout is clunky
}}

just below the infobox, and hit "save."

RECAP & OVERVIEW

1. Figure out what you want an entry for. Make some quick notes about details.
2. Open Fanlore blank page.
3. Add {{Stub}} to top (unless you're being comprehensive)
4. Add an Infobox and fill in whatever details you know.
5. Add some Categories. These are formatted like this: [[Category:Zines]] [[Category:Filk Music]] and can be any of the terms on the Categories pages. (But you might start with the ones on the Site Map; that's less intimidating.)
6. Add text! Describe your thingie! Tell people how awesome it is, and how their fannish lives have been impoverished by lack of knowledge of it! Or, if that's too much, just say what it is and maybe add a link for how they can learn more. Use the Cheatsheet as much as you want to.
7. Add extra bits if you so desire: extra notice tags, upload images, whatever.
8. Click "Show Preview" (trust me; it's embarrassing to re-edit four times because you kept missing a return somewhere)
9. Click "Save page," and you're done!
10. Bask in the self-satisfied glory of having Improved All Of Fandom Forever.

ETA: Image formatting has been fixed; "stub" tag has been removed. Original page is archived, if anyone wants to check that out.

Comments

[msilverstar]

This is excellent! Very reassuring to newbies, especially ones with tricky zine-type things.

[frogspace.livejournal.com]

Heh. *g* I already edited the page and fixed the image formatting before I saw this. ^^

If that's enough for a fanfic, it's enough for a Fanlore stub

For what it's worth, if you have that much info, it's not a stub. It may be a short page, but it's already longer than most pages will ever be. It has an infobox, references, images, a comprehensive explanation what this page is about and it can very well stand on its own.

[elf]

I was thinking "stub" because I know there's much more info about it--it was distributed for more than two decades, and there's probably info about how it turned into the NESFA Hymnal, and I have no idea who else was involved in rounding up the songs or how it's been used at filksings. And I didn't go into any of the individual songs, which may have won awards or been written by BNFs or whatever.

But yeah. It does stand as "here is enough info to know what this thing is" already.

I figure almost any initial entry is a stub, and someone (not me) can sort out whether that's "enough" info for a complete entry. I'm never sure what "complete" means.

[morgandawn]

The Fanlore page link in your post is cut off: http://fanlore.org/wiki/Filthy_Pierre's_Microfilk

You did the smart thing BTW by looking for an existing page and copy and pasted it into my new page. That's how I learned how to code. Will add that to my mini-tutorial.

The templates and other directions still need a lot of work. Just yesterday I was uploading a batch of images and wanted to add the "naughty gangling bits being used for sex' warning and could not find the code even after following 4 links. I gave up, but someone was able to come by later and add the warnings. I am also not spending much time on categories as the new category system is confusing and I found I was getting it wrong every time. The good news is that the basic templates come with the overall top level categories, so we're covered there. And as Sandy said during the panel: don't worry too much about the niceties - there are fans who actually *like* to do code cleanup.

PS

[frogspace.livejournal.com]

If you want the images to be smaller (default gallery format), just remove the heights and widths info from the formatting. :)

[frogspace.livejournal.com]

Just yesterday I was uploading a batch of images and wanted to add the "naughty gangling bits being used for sex' warning and could not find the code even after following 4 links.

It's under Templates (http://fanlore.org/wiki/Category:Fanlore_Templates).

there are fans who actually *like* to do code cleanup.

*cough* Well, it's more relaxing than Spider Solitaire, so there is that. *g*

[elf]

Thanks!

I wanted to be able to say, "oh, it's really pretty simple; you just..." but realized that no, even the "simple" versions have several clicks and bits of unique wiki-coding and side-steps. So I tried to focus on "it doesn't have to be overwhelming, and you don't have to deal with all the possible details. Just get something in there, and someone will cope with whatever parts were too complicated."

Re: PS

[elf]

I figured that once someone had fixed them, I'd be able to open the page and sort out the details to format other stuff better later. If I remember.

They look good as they are; if the page eventually gets more details (I dunno, a list of all the filks in the zine that won awards or were used to open filk conventions or something? A list of legal issues from the Tolkein estate, if any?), the pictures could be reduced, but right now, they're not getting in the way of anything.

Someday I want to make or get someone else to make a page about the hassles of getting musical notation online; I know the filk community's been tackling that one for many years, and there've been some amazing methods for putting notes & chords into text-based interfaces.

[elf]

I thought about a tutorial focused on "how to steal all the pieces you need from other entries, except for actual content," and realized that would involve even more complicated navigation instructions. But I wanted to at least mention that if you've seen something useful somewhere else, opening the edit page & grabbing its formatting is very much how to get it onto another page.

[aethel]

I'll be using this as a guide on how to improve some of the Help pages. Thanks for explaining your process!

A few notes:
apparently some categories fold into others.
Actually, the categories that don't show up in the edit window--Fanworks, Zines--are displaying on the page because they are coded in the template.

There's no link to Special:Categories from the sidebar, but all of the top-level categories (except for Fanlore Admin) are listed under the Browse menu. You can also get to the categories list by clicking on the highlighted "Categories" at the bottom of any page.

[elf]

Thanks! Glad it's useful.

I'm aware that some subcategories/main categories are included in the templates; I don't know of an easy way to sort out which those are, without clicking back and forth between many pages.

It's not clear that the "Browse" menu is (partially) categories, nor that adding the [[Category:whatever]] tag to an entry gets it included in those collections. (I know these things, 'cos I've been poking at Fanlore since it started, but I get lost trying to figure them out sometimes. Which means they have to be utterly baffling to wiki newbies.)

If I knew simple ways to clarify these, I'd suggest them. Since I don't, I just point out where I have problems finding info, and hope that eventually someone will sort out easy ways to find/coordinate that info.

[aethel]

I'm thinking about where to stick [[Category:whatever]]... It's on Help:Categories (and I added a few more links directly to this help page), and it could go in the editing cheatsheet. The problem is that the category pages are filling up with explanations and directions already, so I don't know that it's a good place to put that information.

speaking of filkbooks

[aethel]

I'm still a bit fuzzy on filkbooks being called "zines," but that seems to be the standard.

I wanted to say that we can change the standard if it's not working! I was thinking we might create a subcategory for filkbooks. Some anthology zines also contain filk songs, but I don't think they would count as filkbooks? I'm assuming that "filkbooks" are collections of lyrics/sheet music and not zines "about" filk?

Re: speaking of filkbooks

[elf]

Filkbooks are indeed lyrics & chords and sometimes sheet music collections, not articles about filk. Which may be why they're not often called "zines." (Or at least, not that I've heard.) But they're certainly treated like other zines, both in practice and on the meta-levels: they can be multifandom or single-fandom, one author or many (many's a lot lot more common), a dozen pages stapled & handed around or high-quality printer productions, and so on.

The 'zine category and sorting works for them; it's just skewed in favor of "fic zines are the normal fanwork; filkbooks are the variation." I don't see an easy way around this, unless filkbooks get separated out entirely from zines. (Which might be the thing to do.)

There are definitely enough filkbooks to be worth a subcategory. There's nowhere near as many as fic zines, but there are many conventions that have the official (or at least authorized) filkbook for that con.

Yeah, anthologies with filk are not "filkbooks" any more than anthologies with art are portfolios or galleries.

Re: speaking of filkbooks

[aethel]

Months later, I finally made a draft for this template:

http://fanlore.org/wiki/Template:Songbook

How does it look? I think we still need to figure out the category name - are there fannish songbooks that are not filkbooks, etc.