Help: FAQs: Site Features

 

The Forums are an integral part of MHP's community. Mennonite Heritage Portrait forums are public bulletin boards that offer a great place to ask questions, discuss topics of interest, and meet new like-minded people.You can access the list of forums by clicking the Forums tab.

For more information about using the forums, please read the section on Forums.

 

That's easy, you can create your own! If you can't find a forum discussing your topic of interest, there may be other MHP members looking for the same topic. The best way to find each other is to create a forum. To create a forum, first you must create a group. When you create a group, a forum is automatically created for the group and is ready for you to start discussions right away. Anyone can create a forum (and a group) in MHP; if you can't find what you're looking for in MHP forums, go ahead and create it!

What does “Flag for Moderation” mean?

If you come across content in the forums that you believe is inappropriate for MHP or if you find a forum thread that is getting heated leading to potentially abusive online behaviour, you can click the Flag for Moderation link associated with that content or thread to alert the administrator. The administrator will then investigate the cause of your concern and determine whether the content or forum needs to be removed from MHP.

 

Mennonite Heritage Portrait groups are a great way to connect people in MHP based on similiar interests. When you join a group, you instantly have at least one thing in common with everyone in the group – the passion or interest for that specific topic. Groups gather like-minded people together and provide one place to share related content and discuss items of interest. You can access the list of groups by clicking the Groups tab.

For more information about using the groups, please read the section on Groups.

 

Just like your personal phone book is an easy access list of all your friends and family, your contacts list is the online version where you can keep a list of and view all of your family and friends on MHP. Adding family and friends to your contact list makes it easy to find them when you want to send them a private message, take a look at the items they have been contributing to MHP or share something with them that they may find interesting.

For more information about using your contacts list, please read the section on Contacts.

 

When you are moving around MHP, you are bound to come across something or someone interesting that you will want to revisit later. Adding content, groups, specific forum threads or posts, or searches to your bookmarks makes it easy to find them in the future when you want to refer back to them or share them with someone else.

For more information about using bookmarks, please read the section on Bookmarks.

 

If you are looking for something or someone in particular or just looking for something new, you can conduct a keyword search or a map search to help you find content, members, and groups in MHP. A keyword search allows you to use simple words and word phrases that clearly describe the subject matter and can help produce relevant search results. A map search allows you to highlight a specific area on the map to search for content, members or groups related to the geographic area or physically located in the area.

For more information about using the search function, please read the section on Searching.

 

If you are interested in heritage sites and information for a specific area, you can search for content located in that area using the map search. The map search allows you to highlight a specific geographic area on the map to search for content, MHP members and groups related to and physically located in the specified area.

For detailed instructions about using the map search, please read the section on Searching.

Why can't I find my content on the map?

To ensure your content item appears during a content map search, you must link your content item to a location. If the location has already been added to MHP, you can wiki link your content item to the location or add a link to the location on the Related Content tab for your content item. If the location associated with your content item is not already in MHP, you must add the location and then link your content item to the location. Find your content item and verify that it has been linked to a location.

If the content is Mennonite-related and you linked the content item to a location, your content may not be labeled as Mennonite content in the Main Content tab. Find your content item and click the Switch to Edit Mode link at the top of the page. Verify the Mennonite Related Content checkbox is checked, if the content is related to the Mennonite community. If the checkbox is checked, the content will appear in Mennonite Heritage Portrait and Your Heritage Waterloo Region. If the checkbox is not checked, the content will not appear in Mennonite Heritage Portrait; it will only appear in Your Heritage Waterloo Region.

 

Why can't I find my location on the map?

To ensure a location appears during a map search, you must create a map point by clicking the Use this Address as my Map Point button in the Main Content tab when adding the location. When you click the Use this Address as my Map Point button, MHP automatically generates the longitude and latitude for the location based on the address in the Address text box. During a map search, MHP uses the longitude and latitude to add the location as a point on the map, not the text address. If a map point was not created for the location, the location will not appear on the map.

If the location is Mennonite-related and you created a map point, your location may not be labeled as Mennonite content in the Main Content tab. Find your location and click the Switch to Edit Mode link at the top of the page. Verify the Mennonite Related Content check box is checked, if the location is related to the Mennonite community. If the check box is checked, the location will appear in Mennonite Heritage Portrait and Your Heritage Waterloo Region. If the check box is not checked, the location will not appear in Mennonite Heritage Portrait; it will only appear in Your Heritage Waterloo Region.

 

The content is the most integral part of Mennonite Heritage Portrait. The content in MHP is submitted by you and people in your community – it is the story of your family and community. The content in MHP is comprised of a variety of information, including articles, personal stories, narratives, photographs, audio recordings, images of historical records, descriptions of sites, locations and buildings. If you have content related to the Mennonite community, you can add it to MHP and contribute to the ongoing archive of Mennonite life in Ontario.

For detailed instructions about viewing or adding content, please read the section on Content.

 

If the content is Mennonite-related, your content may not be labeled as Mennonite content in the Main Content tab. Find your content item and click the Switch to Edit Mode link at the top of the page. Verify the Mennonite Related Content check box is checked, if the content is related to the Mennonite community. If the check box is checked, the content will appear in Mennonite Heritage Portrait and Your Heritage Waterloo Region. If the check box is not checked, the content will not appear in Mennonite Heritage Portrait; it will only appear in Your Heritage Waterloo Region.

You can also check your My Content page to verify the content was submitted to MHP. Click Content> My Content to display the list of content you have added to MHP.

If the content was saved as a draft, it will not appear in MHP or in content searches. Click Content> My Draft Content to verify the content is not in your draft content folder. If the content is in your draft folder, you must submit the content to MHP for it to appear in MHP and in content searches.

 

Historical photographs rarely come with the names, dates and locations written on the back for future family members to identify the people and places in the photograph. If you can identify a building, location, object, person, or site in a photo on MHP, you can tag the photo by adding the name of the item, location or person to the photo.

Once a photo is tagged, you can place your mouse over the photo to highlight the boxes containing the photo tags, then move your mouse over each box to display the pop-up containing the name of the person, location or item in the photo.

For detailed instructions about tagging photos or viewing photo tags, please read the section on Tagging Photos.

 

Mennonite Heritage Portrait wants to make sure that you don't miss out on content that you may find interesting. To ensure you don't miss out, MHP tracks and analyzes the content you submit and the content you add to your bookmarks, then compares the subject matter to other items in MHP. Based on this comparison, MHP creates a list of content that you may find interesting and presents it for you to view on your Suggested Content page.

For more information about suggested content, please read the section on Suggested Content.

 

What is wiki linking?

Wiki linking is a markup system which allows you to link to other content in MHP without knowing HTML. You can link your profile to content, forums, or images that are already in MHP. If you want to link your profile to content that is not in MHP, you must add the content to MHP before you can link to it.

You can link to content in one of two ways: highlight your text and click the link button you would like to apply to the text OR place the cursor in the text box, click the link button you would like to apply, then replace the markup text with your text, for example, to add a Content Link, you would click the Content Link button and would replace the markup text ‘Content Type’ with ‘Document’ and replace the markup text 'Content Name' with the document name 'Canning 101'.

 

The MHP Wiki uses the following types of Wiki linking:

Content Link: Use the Content Type to Link drop-down list and the Content Link button when you want to insert a link to another item in MHP. Use the Content Type to Link drop-down list to specify the type of content you are linking to in your text. The following content types are supported: Thread, Photo, Audio, Video, User, Group, Building, Collection, Document, Location, Object, Organization, Person, or Site. Once you have selected the content type, click Content Link. The following markup is inserted into your text:

[Content Type]{Content Name| Link Text}

The [Content Type] value will display the content type you selected in the Content Type to Link drop-down box , for example if you selected Document, the following markup is inserted into your text:

[Document]{Content Name| Link Text}

 

Replace 'Content Name' with the name of the content you are linking to in your text. If you want the link text to be the name of the content, delete everything in the bracket after the 'Content Name'. If you want the link text to be something other than the 'Content Name', replace 'Link Text' with the text you would like to see on your page, for example, if you are linking to a document named 'Sweet Pickles 1940', but you would like the link on your page to read 'Mom's Sweet Pickles Recipe from 1940' your content link would like this:

[Document]{Sweet Pickles 1940| Mom's Sweet Pickles Recipe from 1940}

Note: There should be no space between the 'Content Name' and the vertical line or pipe (|) in the markup. The pipe must immediately follow the content name.

Embedded Image Link: Use the Embedded Image Link to embed a full size, linked image or photo into your text instead of link text. To embed a linked image, click Embedded Image Link. The following markup is inserted into your text:

[Embed: Photo]{Content Name| Caption}

 

Replace 'Content Name' with the name of the image you are linking to in your text. If you want the link text to be the name of the image, delete everything in the bracket after the 'Content Name'. If you want to include a description of the photo, replace 'Caption' with the text you would like to see on your page, for example, if you are linking to a photo named 'Canning 1940', but you would like the caption on your page to read 'Mom in the kitchen preparing pickles, 1940' your image link would like like this:

[Embed: Photo]{Canning 1940| Mom in the kitchen preparing pickles, 1940}

Note: There should be no space between the 'Content Name' and the vertical line or pipe (|) in the markup. The pipe must immediately follow the content name.

 

Thumbnail Image Link: Use the Thumbnail Image Link to insert a linked thumbnail of an image or photo into your text instead of link text. You do not have to create a thumbnail image; MHP will automatically create a thumbnail of your full size image. When the thumbnail is clicked on, the entire photo content item is displayed. To embed a linked thumbnail, click Thumbnail Image Link. The following markup is inserted into your text:

[Thumbnail: Photo]{Content Name| Caption}

 

Replace 'Content Name' with the name of the image you are linking to in your text. If you want the link text to be the name of the image, delete everything in the bracket after the 'Content Name'. If you want to include a description of the photo, replace 'Caption' with the text you would like to see on your page, for example, if you are linking to a photo named 'Canning 1940', but you would like the caption on your page to read 'Mom in the kitchen preparing pickles, 1940' your thumbnail link would like this:

[Thumbnail: Photo]{Canning 1940| Mom in the kitchen preparing pickles, 1940}

Note: There should be no space between the 'Content Name' and the vertical line or pipe (|) in the markup. The pipe must immediately follow the content name.

 

Wiki formatting is a simple, easy to use markup system which allows you to add or edit content in MHP without knowing HTML. It is important to remember the focus of Wiki is allowing you to easily add content to MHP; it is not focused on formatting the content. The MHP Wiki uses a limited number of formatting options, but it does make it easy to apply the formatting to your text.

You can format your text in one of two ways: highlight your text and click the format button you would like to apply to the text OR place the cursor in the text box, click the format button you would like to apply, then replace the markup text with your text, for example, you would replace the markup text 'Bold Text' with your text 'MHP' or replace 'row 1, cell 1' in a table with the information you would like to see in the first cell in the first row of your table.

The MHP Wiki uses the following types of Wiki formatting:

• Bold: Use Bold when you want a part of your text to stand out.
• Italicize: Use Italicize when you want a part of your text to be emphasized.
• Text Format: Use the Text Format drop-down list to apply headings to your content. Headings organize your writing into sections. The MHP Wiki supports Header 2, Header 3 and Header 4. Header 1 is reserved for MHP generated headings.
• Subscript: A subscript is used to distinguish a numeral or letter by placing it immediately below or below and to the right or left of another character. Subscripts are most commonly used when writing chemical formulas or mathematical equations and fractions.
• Superscript: A superscript is used to distinguish a numeral or letter by placing it immediately above or above and to the right or left of another character. Superscripts are most commonly used when writing abbreviations, mathematical equations and fractions, when indicating the presence of a footnote or when indicating trademark or copyright.
• Web Link: Use Web Link to link to another website outside of MHP.
• Horizontal Line: Use Horizontal Line when you want to break up a long page or provide a visual cue to indicate a new section or topic is about to begin.
• Table: Tables are perfect for organizing information that is best presented in a row-and-column format such as mathematical tables, lists of information or charts.
• No Wiki: Use No Wiki to prevent Wiki markup from applying to the highlighted text.
• Preview Wiki Markup: Use the Preview Wiki Markup button to see how your text will appear on the page before you save your changes. When you have finished making your changes, click Preview Wiki Markup to view your text. Your preview appears in a new window. Repeat the edit/preview process until you are happy with the final product.
  Note: If the 'Content Name' in a wiki link does not exist or is misspelled, the preview page displays the link as plain text, not as a link. If the content item is submitted with a missing or misspelled wiki link, MHP inserts a list of links to suggested matches for the missing or misspelled item.

 

I have a suggestion for a new feature, how can I submit it?

We always appreciate hearing your ideas for new features and your ideas for improving the site to make it easier for you to use. We have an Ideas and Improvements forum where you can post your ideas and improvement suggestions for the site and then check back to read updates about your idea. You can also contact us through the site and let us know what ideas or improvements you have in mind.

 

I found a bug, how can I let you know?

We appreciate hearing about any bugs in the system. We have a Bugs forum where you can post bugs and then check back to read updates about the bug you submitted. You can also contact us through the site and let us know the issues you have across in MHP.

 

How do I make the text on my screen larger?

There are two quick and easy methods you can use to make the text and other items on your screen easier to see by making them larger:

• To increase the text size, press and hold the Ctrl button on your keyboard while pressing the + button until you reach a text size that is easier for you to read.
• If your mouse has a scroll wheel, press and hold the Ctrl button on your keyboard while scrolling up to increase the text size and down to decrease it.

You can also decrease the text size using the keyboard, just press and hold Ctrl while pressing -. To reset the text to its original size, press and hold Ctrl while pressing 0 (zero).

 

Can I put a link to Mennonite Heritage Portrait on my website or blog?

Yes you can! We are always excited when Mennonite Heritage Portrait visitors enjoy the website and are inspired to link to us! We want to make it as easy as possible for you to link to Mennonite Heritage Portrait, so we made a variety of static and animated buttons with copy-and-paste code so you can link to us simply and fast. Check out the buttons on our About Us> Link To Us page, copy the code beside the button of your choice, paste the code onto your website and you’re done!