SEDSWiki:Education Directory
From SEDSWiki
Topics: Engineering - Science - Multidisciplinary - Other
Add to the directory: blank form - discussion page - help page
- 7 Oct: Release ED "how to" page to SGTALK email list. Who: Kirk.
- 8 Oct: Inform OOSA about directory, ask for advice. Who: Kirk.
Go to tasks page
Welcome to the Education Directory project page. From this page, you can help us develop the Education Directory on SEDSWiki. If you have any comments and questions, please post on the discussion page.
Contents |
Important Project Links
Goals
It is our duty to serve students that want to pursue careers in space exploration and development by:
- Maintaining a comprehensive listing of accredited universities that offer degrees in a space-related field;
- Updating the UNOOSA Education Directory.
How to Help: Simple
You can add to the directory by copying and pasting a simple form; see Education Directory Help for details.
How to Help: Complex
Join the EDWG
- Would you like to change the structure of the Education Directory, not just add information? See the developers' page.
- Would you like to add information to the directory, but also understand how it works? See the guide below.
In either case, if you would like to help, join the Education Directory Working Group. To join the team, go to the staff page.
Template Structure
In MediaWiki, the software used in SEDSWiki, templates are used to display common content on multiple pages. The template for the Education Directory, Template:Education Directory, is used -- with variables -- to coordinate the information and style on all ED pages.
The content of the template page is called by placing the template name within double brackets where you want the information to be displayed. For example, using information from the University of Illinois in the ED template...
{{ Education Directory
|institution=University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Aerospace Engineering
|web=http://www.ae.uiuc.edu
|location=104 S. Wright St., Urbana, Illinois
|country=United States of America
|contact_info=aerospace@uiuc.edu, +1-217-333-2651 (phone), +1-217-244-0720 (fax)
|description=UIUC offers B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. programs in aerospace engineering.
|tag=engineering
}}
...will produce:
Web site: http://www.ae.uiuc.edu
Location: 104 S. Wright St., Urbana, Illinois, United States of America
Contact info: aerospace@uiuc.edu, +1-217-333-2651 (phone), +1-217-244-0720 (fax)
Description: UIUC offers B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. programs in aerospace engineering.
The Education Directory template itself calls another template: Template:Education Directory Tag. The 'tag' contains the two links at the bottom: field and country. The purpose of the tag is to crosslink between the Regions and Topics sections of the ED so that users can navigate the directory vertically (i.e., by region) and horizontally (i.e., by topic) in each entry.
The tag reads information from two variables in the Education Directory template to create the links: country and tag. For example, using 'Japan' for variable country and 'engineering' for variable tag will produce:
A note on style: Mediawiki distinguishes between uppercase and lowercase letters for links. If you include 'engineering' instead of 'Engineering' for variable tag, it will create a different link, Education Directory engineering instead of Education Directory Engineering. As an example to prevent this, a redirect has been placed on Education Directory engineering that will automatically transfer the user to Education Directory Engineering.
(To create the Regions crosslinks for the Education Directory Tag template requires another series of templates that is used in the various SIA directories. If you are interested, I can describe that somewhere else, just leave a message on my personal discussion page. Kirk)
Standard Links
At the top of each ED page are two standard link boxes that crosslink the Education Directory and the Space Information Archive: Template:Education Directory Linkbar and Template:SIA Region.
Template:Education Directory Linkbar -- without any variables -- will produce:
Topics: Engineering - Science - Multidisciplinary - Other
Add to the directory: blank form - discussion page - help page
Template:SIA Region requires the input of the variable region. Including 'Europe' in the SIA Region template...
{{SIA Region|region=Europe}}
...will produce:
Space Information Archive
Style Guidelines
- Keep the department description brief. Use links to more detailed information.
Blog
When you update the directory, also post a short note on the SEDSWiki Blog.
Why?
- Search Engine Optimization. seds.org has very good placement in Google. By interlinking between the blog and wiki, the placement of the Education Directory is raised in search results.
- Activity. Shows positive proof that directory is being updated so that users will return.
How?
- Information on how to register an account: How to Use SEDS Blogs
- Email Kirk at kittell@seds.org. Give him your username and tell him that you want to join the SEDSWiki blog, then he will send you an invitation.
Maintenance Plan
Maintaining the directory is more important than simply creating it.
- End of month: Check regional lists vs. subject lists. Be sure that each relevant department is listed in both.
- End of month: Meet and search web for 'new' universities to add.
- Beginning of month: Deliver to UNOOSA.
- Undefined period: Survey to determine how useful this resource is.
Wants and Needs
- Anyone with MySQL experience? I think -- but can't prove -- it may be possible to integrate the templates into a MySQL database so that the directory is more easily searched. --Kirk 02:33, 7 October 2007 (MDT)
