Firstly, thank you for making a long-term difference. It may seem like no-one reads the documentation, but that is normally because there is no documentation to read.

Secondly, in general:

Published content, as long as it is accurate, always – always – beats unpublished or unwritten content.

– Another way of putting the “never let perfect be the enemy of good” maxim.

Thirdly, creating documentation is a skill that is in high demand so add your name and year to the bottom of the pages. Typically very few graduating-student resumes’ cite any evidence of creating and maintaining documentation and this opportunity should not be missed. Add your name and year at the bottom of any page that you created or contributed to significantly (i.e. more than correcting spelling mistakes, page formatting, etc.).

Support and Ownership

The site is owned by Purdue and internally by staff with the admin team. Please consult them if you have difficulties or questions.

Terms for all Contributions

To contribute to this website you agree all contributions will come under Purdue policy I.A.1 Intellectual Property, regardless of any (or no) relationship(s) with Purdue.

To contribute to this website you agree that all contributions are yours, licensed freely, or pass the four-factor analysis for “Fair Use” for copyright works to the best of your knowledge.

If you wish you may add your name and the year to the bottom of any page you contribute substantially to, either as creator or a major edit. Note, correcting spelling and formatting does not count (unless in extreme cases – consult with staff for approval).

Getting Editor Access – Technical

Note: by seeking editor access you agree to the terms mentioned above, and any and all other applicable Purdue policies.

1. Login to the site here https://www.purdue.edu/bidc/wp-admin/ using your Purdue login ID, typically the first part of your Purdue email address, and Purdue password.
2. Contact the Director to be upgraded to “Editor” permissions.
3. Editing or updating the site requires being on campus and connected to a Purdue network, e.g. Purdue AirLink (PAL), or using the Purdue Virtual Private Network (VPN) service. If you see the error in the following image you must activate the VPN or all your edits will be lost.

Guidelines for Content

In no particular order here are the guidelines for your contribution:

1. If you get stuck, it does not look right, etc. just carry on creating and seek the help of the Admin team, Community Manager, or their delegates for the site.
   • Styling existing content is easily done by an experienced editor and your time is valuable.
2. DO NOT edit the front page, “Getting Started”, the top menu items and overall site arrangement without explicit permission from staff after consultation – changing those requires re-training and updating a large quantity of other resources.
3. DO consult/inform staff if the top items are wrong, or need to be improved.
4. Cite copyright works, and ensure they pass the four factor test for “Fair Use” linked above.
   • If you need a specific piece of content we can always seek the authors permission
   • It is possible to summarize or redraw copyright content – consult with staff in this case
5. Avoid creating pages, or editing them, with Cornerstone – stick to basic WordPress. Cornerstone allows more advanced layouts like the front page of the site, but is considerably harder to use well. Additionally it will be harder to export content for other sites or services in the future.
6. The site is split into two main areas for content:
   • Capabilities – intended to excite and inspire inexperienced members and potential new members. Avoid operational details and technical details. Examples include:
     • A summary description of processes available in the Center. See “What can I do in the Electronics Lab?“. Use plain simple English wherever possible, like this but not as extreme! Avoid terminology where you can, explain it where you cannot.
     • Documented specific examples of student projects that have been achieved in the Center, again explained in simple words – see the other sections of the Electronics lab capabilities page.
     • Link to appropriate Resources pages for the detailed content or operational information.
   • Resources – intended to provide technical and operational information for someone more experienced.
     • Be aware other pages may already exist, do a quick search on the site first.
     • Feel free to provide links to other resources on the Internet – a curated list of informational videos/pages is very powerful.
     • Attempt to create “durable” pages that will not age-out too quickly. Try to avoid exhaustively documenting every fine detail, especially operations. A student member will be guided by the Admin team and area employees who can supply the fine detail. Note, operations have changed quickly and made the site pages actively harmful and wrong.
7. Diagrams should be created in draw.io (https://app.diagrams.net/), where possible. Upload them as “.PNG” images and save an offline copy of the draw.io diagram to Teams > General\Media Assets\Diagrams. [Attempt to use Purdue brand colors, but do not worry too much as the saved copy can be updated and re-uploaded.] The offline copy on Teams will allow:
   • Future editors to update the diagram
   • Colors, fonts, etc. tweaked to match Purdue brand requirements and ADA requirements
   • Convert the diagram to “.SVG” for appearance reasons. (Avoid exporting the diagram as .SVG directly from draw.io as it will not work properly on the internet, and draw.io have stated they will not address or fix the issue. The diagram can be converted by exporting “.PDF” — Inkscape –> “.SVG” but best leave it to the team.

After all those guidelines always remember that published content always beats nothing. Contributions can always be polished after publication, so do not be concerned if you miss something.