---
title: "Content creation via online preview site 👷"
date: "2023-08-14T19:31:03+03:00"
author: "anybody"
contributors: ["constantinos-miltiadis.md"] 
draft: false 
keywords:
  - internal 
  - guide
abstract: |
  (Internal) Guide for creating new content via the Sandpoints preview page.
---
# Creating new content via the online Sandpoints preview site {#online}

Sandpoints provides a preview page that allows for both creating new entries and also editing existing entries via a browser, without the requirement of a local clone of the project. 
Any action will open a new tab at the project repository page, and requires the user to be logged in to the project repository. 

To access the preview page append `/_preview/` to the [sitemap](/) URL. 


Notes: 
- **Creating new items via the preview site does not make use of archetypes.** Any new item created with this workflow will result in an empty Markdown file  (Screenshot 3), and will require a YAML header to work.  
- Therefore, when creating new content via the preview site, **it is strongly recommended to copy the contents of the corresponding archetype**. See  archetype templates at [Table 1](#filenames), which include instructions as well as a sample YAML header to copy and fill in.
- At the moment the interface for creating and editing files does not provide a preview of the Markdown documents.
# Filename conventions and instructions for creating new entries {#filenames}

File naming: 
- All **lowercase**
- Use **dash as separator**
- No spaces
- No underscores

Examples and instructions per entry type:  

| Type | Filename convention | Instructions template | 
|-|-|-|
| contributor | name-surname.md | ![New contributor archetype](article:int-archetype-contributor)| 
| editor | name-surname.md |![New editor archetype](article:int-archetype-editor)| 
| issue (x is number) | issue-x.md | ![New issue archetype](article:int-archetype-issue)| 
| article | article-short-title.md | ![New article archetype](article:int-archetype-article) | 
| print | p-issue-x.md | ![New print archetype](article:int-archetype-print) | 
<figcaption>Table 1: Filename conventions and instructions per content type.</figcaption>

# Steps for creating new content 

1. Create a new file, named according to [file naming conventions](#filenames). 
2. Open the new file, and copy the YAML sample and instructions corresponding to the content type of the new file (Table 1) 
3. Fill in the metadata fields: 
	1. add your name in the `author` field
	2. edit header information (title,  keywords, abstract, etc.)
4. Edit content.  
5. Commit changes via Git when necessary. 
6. When editing is done and the new entry is ready for publishing, change `draft: true` to `draft: false`. 
7. Commit changes via Git. 
8. To recompile the site and include these changes include the keyword `!publish!` in your commit message. 
# Preview site interface 

The preview site features a toolbar with five options (Screenshot 1), explained in the table below. 

![Screenshot 1: Sandpoints online preview site; edit options.](/internal/sandpoints-online-interface.png)

|Preview site options||
|-|-|
| EDIT_THIS | edit the current page |
| ADD_JOURNAL / ADD_ISSUE / ADD_ARTICLE | create new entry by type|
| PUBLISH | recompile the website to include any unpublished changes | 
| ? | open the repository website | 
<figcaption>Table 2: Sandpoints online preview site edit options explained.</figcaption>

# Editing & new item creation 
All modifications (edits or new items) are carried out as git commits (Screenshots 2 and 3).  

![Screenshot 2: Sandpoints online preview site; interface for editing entries (EDIT_THIS).](/internal/sandpoints-online-edit.png)

![Screenshot 3: Sandpoints preview site; interface for creating new entries (ADD_ARTICLE)](/internal/sandpoitns-online-create.png)
