How to add your own activities

Getting started
(There is an illustrated guide on setting up a Wikimedia account here)


 * 1) Start by logging in to your Wikimedia account, 'Log in' can be found at the top right of the page. You will now be able to make edits across the site.
 * 2) Return to the MESH site and log in (top right of the page) - you can now make edits.
 * 3) To add an activity/reading you will need to return to the 'Inspiration' page. At the top of the page there are three tabs in a row - 'Read', 'Edit' and 'View History'. As a visitor to the site you automatically see the 'Read' section, but to make edits you need to click on the 'Edit' tab. This will take you to the editable section of the wiki.

You can also make edits to specific areas of the page, by selecting the localised 'Edit' buttons next to 'Activities' or 'Readings' while in 'Read' mode.

Adding a new Activity:
The 'Activities' section is essentially a list of links. The activities themselves live on separate, dedicated pages within the wiki. When you add an activity you therefore need to create:
 * 1) a link on the homepage, leading to your activity.
 * 2) a new page, where you add the text/image content your activity.

You will start by creating the link and then move on to creating the new page and adding your content.

Making the link:

 * 1) In the 'Read' section of the site, select 'Edit' next to 'Activities'. This will take you to an editable section of the site.
 * 2) Decide on a clear name for the activity you want to add. Is it clearly distinct from what is already there?
 * 3) When you’ve decided on a name, add it alphabetically in the section by typing into the editable document.
 * 4) From here, you can now turn this text into a link. When you generate a new link, you create the page that it links to. I find this quite magical. To do this, highlight your text and press the 'link' button at the top of the edit page.



You have now created not only a new link but a new page (where you will paste the content of your resource). Save changes and return to the 'Read' section of the site. You can now add your content to your new page

Adding content:

 * 1) Back in the 'Read' section of the site, click on your new link. The text should be red.
 * 2) This takes you to an editable page, where you should see this text at the top:

"You have followed a link to a page that does not exist yet. To create the page, start typing in the box below (see the help page for more info). If you are here by mistake, click your browser's back button."


 * 1) In the text box below, fill in the text/image content of your activity.
 * 2) At the bottom of your activity you might want to add a link back to the 'Inspiration' page or the 'Main Page'. You can do that by adding the script below:



You can check how this looks using 'Show Preview' at the bottom, and make sure you 'Save Changes' when you're happy with it.

Adding a new reading:
The 'Readings' section is a list of links to readings that you'd like to share with others. You can do this by linking to an external site OR linking to a new page on the wiki where you can add your own readings (if you have permission to share the work, and if it's not published elsewhere online).

When you add a reading, please add both:
 * 1) a link to your reading
 * 2) a short text that offers an insight into what the text is about and why you'd like to share it with others (max 250 words)

Creating a link to an external site:

 * 1) In the 'Read' section of the site, select 'Edit' next to 'Readings'. This will take you to an editable section of the site.
 * 2) Have a look through the texts already on the site, and think of where your reading might fit in. What would you like it to sit next to, or be in conversation with? Make sure it's not already been shared!
 * 3) When you’ve decided where to add it, type the title and author into the editable document.
 * 4) From here, you can now turn this text into a link. Highlight your text and press the 'link' button at the top of the edit page.



Copy and paste the URL to the external site that hosts the reading you want to share. Underneath this you can add other details about the text, like publication date or publisher. Please also add a summary of the text and your reason for sharing it. You can check how this looks using 'Show Preview' at the bottom, and make sure you 'Save Changes' when you're happy with it.

Return to Inspiration