Getting Started



On this page you'll get an introduction to how a universe is arranged, and how to get started writing information and creating web pages. There's an example that walks you through the process of creating web pages, so click here if you want to jump to it now.


When you create a universe, you automatically create one web page: the main page of the universe. This page acts as the root, or parent, for all other web pages you will create. Whenever you create a new web page in your universe, you must also choose a "parent" page. You'll see how that's done later.

Writing Content

First, let's look at what you can do on a page. On the left of any of your web pages, you will see an Editing menu, with these options: Submit Information, Create a Table, and Create Info Heading. Those are the only options you need to start writing and showing images. Here's a breakdown of what each one does:

: Submit Information (or any other link you see with that icon) will open the editor. In the editor you can write text, show images (hosted on another site like Photobucket.com), use links to other web pages, and perform other formatting. You will probably use this feature more than any others. This is how you post stuff on your web pages.

: Create a Table is an alternate way of creating a table. You can use the editor to create tables more easily, so it's recommended that you use Submit Information to create tables. This alternate way allows each row of the table to be created separately, so that multiple users can add rows to a single table. This can be useful if you want to collaborate with others to build a table.

: Create Info Heading will allow you to make a new heading (a.k.a., category) on the current page in which you can post information. The Codex forces you to categorize everything, as you'll quickly notice. When you click on a link, you'll find that you need to choose a category for whatever you're going to write. These categories will appear as headings on your web pages. Some standard headings are provided, but you can create your own. If a category has no information posted in it, it will not appear on the page.

Why categorize everything?

In the future, the Codex may act as a resource that pulls in information from many of its universes. We want people to group their content into categories so that we can later aggregate that content in useful ways. For example, if many people have categories like "Maps" and "Geography", then we can later create a single page that showcases everyone's maps and geography information. Role-playing gamers would like to see a single page with this kind of information, for inspiration or to add to their own games. The better you categorize your content, the better the Codex can become in the future.

Creating New Web Pages

You probably don't want to post all your information on the universe's main page. It's best if you use several pages that link to each other. How do you do that?

Web pages at the Codex are organized in a tree structure. This hierarchy starts with the universe main page, the root of all the universe's pages. In the Editing menu on the left side of your universe page, you'll see a section for creating new pages. You'll see two types of links: the new category link, and several new page links.

Skip to the example walk-through.

: Create Page Category will create a category (a.k.a., page type) for web pages. All web pages you create (except the universe main page) need to belong to a category. The category has little impact on how the page works, but can help us aggregate information from all universes in the future. For example, if many universes have page categories like "Monsters" and "Creatures", then we could someday group all those web pages into a single resource for visitors to browse. Page Categories will appear as headings on the page. The page category only applies to the current page. It will not appear everywhere in your universe. We'll show how this works in an example later.

: New Page will let you create a new web page with the current page as its parent in the universe's hierarchy. All options with this icon essentially do the same thing: they create a new web page. The "New Product" link will create a new web page with a release date associated with it (like a Novel or Movie). Web pages with a release date are called Products. Web pages without a release date are called Articles. See the Malazan universe to see how products and articles are displayed.

: New Character will let you create a web page that represents a character in the universe. This will be a page that acts as the character's profile. It cannot be the parent of any new web pages. Characters can be associated with Products. See the Malazan universe as an example of extensive use of character-to-product associations. The Codex will automatically keep track of and list these associations on all relevant pages.

Creating Pages: An Example


Here's an example of creating some web pages in a new universe. We'll create a universe called "Mog's Saga", a role-playing campaign setting that I'm making up right now. Check out the universe here.

1.

First, I create the universe and now have my universe main page:


2.

I don't want to put everything on this one page because I have a lot of information to publish. Maps, monsters, characters, storylines, etc. For now, I want to publish information about two adventures I just finished playing with my friends. I want to provide the story, the maps, and some stats for monsters that I created just for these adventures.

I will start by creating a new page category called "Adventure" by clicking on the Create Page Category link. (Note that the Codex will automatically pluralize category names for you when necessary. So, use the singular form of the word.) I don't want to record a release date for Adventures, so I leave that check box unchecked. I also don't want to use numbers to identify each Adventure, so I leave that check box unchecked. Here's what my Page Category form looks like:


I could have used a release date to record the time when we played the adventure, but I decide not to.

3.

I am returned to the universe's main page, and see a new option in the editing menu: New Adventure. That is the button I can use to create a new web page for the adventure I want to document.


I click New Adventure, and fill in the form to give the new web page a name:

 

A new web page is created. A link is automatically created on the universe's main page. I've got another adventure I want to document, so I create it too. I click the New Adventure link again and create the adventure "Mountains of Madness". Now I see two links on the universe's main page:

 

What does my universe look like now? How is the hierarchy arranged?

 

As the diagram shows, the universe's main page ("Mog's Saga") has two web pages that it links to: "Mog's Estate" and "Mountains of Madness". The Codex will automatically create a heading for them and link to them.

4.

Next, I want to create a page for each map that I used in the adventures. These maps should be linked to from the appropriate Adventures. I'll start by adding the maps for the Mog's Estate adventure.

First, I go to the Mog's Estate page. On that page, I don't see the New Page link that was on the universe main page. I need to create a category first, so I click the Create Page Category link. I fill in the form to create my Maps category:

 

In the form, I can see that the parent category for Maps will be Adventure, which is what I want. These are maps that are associated with my role-playing campaign's adventures.

5.

After creating the Maps category, I now see the link that let's me create a new web page on the Mog's Estate page:
 

Good times. I click the New Map link to create some maps. I create Map pages named "Above Ground", "Main Floor", and "Second Floor".

6.

While I'm on the Mog's Estate page, I use the Submit Information link to write a synopsis of the adventure. Here's what the Mog's Estate page looks like now:
 

Not bad so far. Note that you can see the parent pages of Mog's Estate at the top, and you can click the links to go up the tree: Mog's Saga > Mog's Estate.

What does the universe hierarchy look like now that Mog's Estate is the parent of 3 pages?


On the Main Floor page, I will see all of its parent pages at the top like this:
Mog's Saga > Mog's Estate > Main Floor.

If I go to the Mountains of Madness page, I see that the New Map link is there for me to use right away. This is because it belongs to the same category as Mog's Estate. So, I can start creating Maps for Mountains of Madness exactly as before.

7.

Now all that's left to do is to use the Submit Information link to start posting text and images on all those pages. I'll upload my maps to Photobucket and use them on my Map pages. Later, I'll create a "Monster" page category exactly the same way that I created the "Map" category. Then I can create a page for each monster I invented for the adventures, including their stats, drawings of what they look like, treasure they have, and so on.

If you want to post links to pages of your universe, simply copy the address (URL) from your browser's address bar. Each page's address is permanent and will not change.


Need More Information?

I hope this example helps you understand how to create web pages in your universe. If you have questions, please join us in the forum or send me an e-mail using the contact form.

I look forward to seeing how you organize your universe, so feel free to ask for any help or advice!

In the future, I may create a standard hierarchy for everyone to start with. The example given here might be a good one for others to use, so let me know if you think it is suitable for RPG universes.