Preparation of documents to publish on the web is a very time-consuming process so here are some guidelines that make it a little easier:
Unless specific clearance has been arranged with the Coordinators first (and they are sent a copy for their records), please submit all documents to them first. This is to save confusion - I don't want to update the site only to find that the document was either wrong or has to be heavily revised. Remember that this site is Pro-ENBIS' shop window.
Although HTML is itself quite a comprehensive text preparation tool, and some may prefer to use LaTeX or save in Rich Text Format (.rtf) I appreciate that many of you will prepare documents on Word or Excel format. Both of these can in principle be saved as HTML but a lot of tidying is needed.
Please avoid image files which contain text - it might look good on the screen but it is better to let the browser do the formatting and it makes it impossible to extract information by the usual cut-and-paste approach.
When a Word document is received, it is converted into HTML and all the Word-specific tags are removed either using automatic tools or by hand editing. The standard template is then applied to the resulting text and finally the document is reformatted to look as close possible to the original. This can be a very time-consuming process.
In a Word document, please also avoid the use of tables. These are very messy and saving as HTML introduces all sorts of tags that are not necessary and have to be removed. It is much better to use an Excel spreadsheet which can be processed as below.
Please avoid fancy fonts. All documents that are converted into HTML will display using a standard font which will replace the font you give it so don't bother. The only exceptions are where you want to use bold, italic or underline which will all be retained.
Where a new version of a Word document is submitted, remember that it may take just as long as the original preparation. In fact it can take considerably longer as the old and new documents need to be compared manually to make sure that the layouts etc are consistent. Therefore at least use tracking changes so I can see what alterations have been made. If that won't work, use a distinctive colour so I can see what to change. Ideally of course if a document is in preparation, it is better to wait until it is completely finished before sending it. That way we avoid unnecessary work. While it is in principle possible for me to use Word document comparison, this doesn't always work - particularly with tables.
Where it is impossible to send a compared or highlighted document, it is much easier to process if the changes are sent as text instructions in an email - eg "Add a row to the table containing the following after line starting 3.1: {row contents separated by a separator}" or "Please change row {i} col {j} to {text}" or "Please add the following paragraph after Para {x}:". This means that time is not wasted checking all the other rows or re-processing the whole file.
Remember that HTML does not like spaces at all in file names so documents that are submitted that contain names, while these can be in principle uploaded within a Unix directory, will need to be changed if links are made (or the rather ugly %20 will have to be inserted instead).
Remember that some people like to print out documents so don't make them so wide that they overrun a printer - try it first on your own printer. As a guide, we like to keep the documents no wider than 640 pixels which allows the document to display properly at 800x600 with the navigation bar on the left and also to print clearly on an A4 printer.
When an Excel spreadsheet is received, it is first saved as a .CSV file worksheet by worksheet. Semi-automatic editing then turns it into a table and the template wrapper added. Finally some reformatting is carried out so that, once again, the document looks as close as possible to the Excel spreadsheet. Sometimes particularly wide spreadsheets are turned into linear documents using a customised Perl program and this makes the information much easier to navigate and assimilate.
Where there are any links that you suggest - external or internal - it would be helpful if these are not be added automatically. Sometimes Word and Excel will automatically make something that looks like a hyperlink into a hyperlink but this may not be the best approach. If possible, add them in a separate column.