To contribute to the site you need to be a registered user with contributor status. When you have registered as a user, to be given contributor status you should email pbragg@aol.com - make sure you put MSG website in the subject box.
Once you have contributor status
Please read the copyright information below before you contribute to the site.
To contribute click on the appropriate item in the Create Content menu on the left hand side of the page and follow the instructions. Your contribution is only saved when you click on the Submit button - go to the bottom of the page, click on Preview to see how your entry will appear, then at the bottom of the page click on Submit. To make changes after you have submitted your content go to your entry and click on Edit at the top of the page; when you finish editing remember to click Submit.
Clicking on Contributor help page on the left-hand menu will bring you back to this page.
Copyright notice
If you add your own photographs there is no problem. If you add photos taken by anyone else please ensure you have their permission.
If you add a pdf file of a publication to the Literature database you must ensure that you are not breaking the copyright rules. Copyright extends for 70 years after the death of the author. If the author is still alive or died after 1937 you need permission from the author or their estate.
To add photographs
Click Image. The process is reasonably straight forward. However, it is best to add just one image at a time - at least until you get used to the system. To add a single image there are only two satges to go through. Stage one drag it from your computer and drop it in the indicated spot (a pool of water). If you don't get a pool of water into which you can drop the image then you probably need to install Java on your computer. You can do this for free at java.com
You can miss out stage two.
In stage three, Annotate images, there are three bits that you should complete: Title, Image galleries, and Notes - the other bits are optional.
Most images should be put in both a geographic gallery and a taxonomic gallery. To select the galleries in which the image will appear use the scroll-down menu: click on your first choice then control>click the second gallery you want.
If you cannot find your image on the site it is most likely to be because you forgot to select an image gallery for it. To find the image and rectify the problem go to Recent posts on your personal menu, select the image from the list, click on edit at the top of the page and choose a gallery from the list. Remember to click on the Submit button to save the change.
To add to the Literature database
This is fairly straightforward. If possible please include an abstract with the entry, even if it is only very brief.
To attach a pdf file of the paper to the database entry you should select File attachments (near the bottom of the page). Then click on the Browse button, this allows you to browse your computer to find the file. Having selected the correct file, click on the Attach button. After the pdf file has finished uploading remember to click on the Submit button at the bottom of the page to save the entry.
If cutting and pasting text into the abstract box it is often best to click on disable rich-text (just below the abstract entry box) before pasting the text into the box. This avoids problems with text formatting.