User:Imzadi1979/Wikisource

Thank you for your interest in helping to validate the AASHO/AASHTO minutes we have on Wikisource. Hopefully this tutorial helps, but if you have questions, let me know on my talk page.

Quick Wikisource organization primer
Wikisource has multiple namespaces just like Wikipedia.
 * Main space on Wikisource holds transcribed documents. If the original document had 10 pages, this transcription will be composed of 10 separate subpage transcriptions that are transcluded together here.
 * space holds portals, which are like an index to the documents on Wikisource by topic. This includes Portal:American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, which has links to our transcribed minutes.
 * space holds pages that describe the scanned documents.
 * namespace is used to hold a transcription of a single page of a work alongside the "original" scanned page of the works. Contents of this namespace are not intended to be viewed directly by the end reader—instead it is transcluded into the Main namespace.
 * space holds files, either locally uploaded to Wikisource, or uploaded to Commons, just like on Wikipedia.

When we start from scratch to work with a new document, we'd:
 * 1) Upload it to Commons;
 * 2) Create an  page for that scanned file;
 * 3) Start creating the individual subpages in  space;
 * 4) Set up the final document in Main space so that it transcludes all of the subpages together.

Along the way, we'll mark the status of each document subpage in the  space. These status are color coded, and there's a full explanation at wikisource:Help:Page status. Our goal is to have one editor Proofread the pages (yellow) and a second to Validate (green). Once all of the pages are validated, then we can update AASHTO minutes to link to our transcribed copy instead of the PDF on Commons. Currently, all of the pages have been at least proofread; as the transcriptionist, I can mark my final work as proofread myself after I finish the transcription. I cannot mark them as validated if I marked them as proofread. This is why we need other editors to be involved.

Validation
To validate a document:
 * 1) Go to wikisource:Portal:American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. This lists all of the documents we have at the moment.
 * 2) Click on a document. This will load the the full transcription in Main space. There is a status bar at the top color coded by page status. There are also links at the top to jump to the previous and next document in the series.
 * 3) Click on the Source tab. This will load the  page with a preview of the first page of the PDF and a list of subpages. This page is named after the PDF's file name. Clicking the PDF preview will take you to the PDF in the   space.
 * 4) Click a yellow page number at the bottom. (These correspond to the page numbering within the original document.) This will load the  subpage for that individual document's page. This page is named after the PDF's file name followed by a   and a number; that number corresponds to the PDF page number within the file.
 * 5) In  space, you'll see a preview of the transcription on the left and a preview of the PDF source page on the right. The page status will appear at the top.
 * 6) Carefully compare the transcription to the source.
 * 7) Wikisource doesn't duplicate the exact formatting, so lines of text may break differently. We rejoin words split by hyphenation at the end of a line. We're using tables to mimic the original page layout AASHO/AASHTO used when they typed these out on a typewriter.
 * 8) Look for any transcription errors.
 * 9) If there are any, click edit and change the wiki code to correct the error(s).
 * 10) We would preserve any typos from the original in our transcription. We can mark them using Wikisource's  template.
 * 11) If there are no corrections, you'll need to hit the Edit tab anyway.
 * 12) Below the edit window in Source editing mode, there are the usual options including an edit summary that Wikipedia's edit window uses. There's also a set of colored options to set the page status. If you're comfortable that the transcription accurately matches the original text, click the green option to Validate the subpage before saving.
 * 13) The  will save, and now its status bar at the top will turn green. You've successfully validated the page.
 * 14) To move on to the next page in the document, click the " " tab at the top. (The " " tab will move to the previous page in the document.)
 * 15) Continue the validation process on each  page, and then click the " " tab to navigate back to the   for the document.
 * 16) Click Edit and then change the "Progress" to "Done". Save.
 * 17) Click the title of the document, and once it loads the document in Main space, the status bar is all green.
 * 18) Post on WT:USRD or User talk:Imzadi1979 so that I can update AASHTO minutes to link to the validated transcription.

It seems like a lot of steps, once you're in the  space and validating, it goes by quickly.