Recommendations for Adding and Maintaining Material On SummitPost

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This article is an updated version of the recommended guidelines originally composed for SPV1 several years back. Recent discussions concerning submission guidelines and recommended minimum requirements for contributions to SP have prompted the posting of this article. Hope this helps those who have a need for it!

Before You Begin

Before you add any object to SummitPost, you should read all of the information at the following links: Welcome to SummitPost Terms of Service Includes SP's copyright, copyright violations, license, editorial control, responsibility and liability, and appropriate conduct policies. Frequently Asked Questions This is a huge document but take time to read it to save yourself trouble and confusion later.

Preparation

Look at some mountain pages submitted by established members. Get some ideas going about how you want to present your contribution. You'll need to fill out prescribed sections first, which include OVERVIEW, GETTING THERE, RED TAPE, & CAMPING. MOUNTAIN CONDITIONS and WHEN TO CLIMB sections are recommended as well. Write up the text of your mountain page FIRST in a text program on your computer. Doing so while on SP makes you feel pressured and could result in lost material. Composing offline allows you to relax and take your time writing good text and fixing booboos. Bad grammar and typos are not received well. Members will let you know if your page isn't up to standards, and for good reason. The point is your page will be read by people around the world. Grammar, spelling, etc need to be as good as it can get. Also, you need to write up a ROUTE for the mountain, preferably one you know and have done firsthand. Look at some ROUTES before proceeding, as these have prescribed sections as well. A MOUNTAIN/ROCK PAGE must be submitted before a ROUTE (unless you’re submitting a route to an already established page). So you've written up your text and it's ready to go. Any special sections you may devise (i.e.: local attractions) can be added after or during the initial submission. Also, it's recommended you have at least eight to ten photos, half of which should be ROUTE PHOTOS. These photos illustrate important parts of the route you climbed. They do not have to be fabulous photos but should be good pictures with good lighting illustrating the route in detail. The mix should also include pictures of the mountain/rock from various angles and some shots from the mountain, too. Maps and links to other information on the internet should also be previously gathered and prepped before you begin the submission process.

Submitting Your Contribution

Go to SP, login, and click CREATE A PAGE (top of the screen). On the next screen, select the object type of the object you are submitting. Click CONTINUE. A note on object type: SP is built and organized akin to a taxonomical tree. In other words, everything is related. AREA/RANGE pages are the foundation objects from which all other objects branch. Consider where your submission belongs and where it will receive ample and appropriate visibility. Examples:

• You want to submit a picture of the Eiger north face. Go to the Eiger page and submit the picture there by clicking on "ADD IMAGE."
• You want to post a photo of climbers on the Eiger's west face route. Go to that page and post the image there.
• You want to post a trip report about your climb of the Eiger. Go to the Eiger mountain page and click ADD TRIP REPORT.

In other words, simply posting any object anywhere means less visibility for the object you've invested time in. It is lost on SP. It belongs to nothing. And it's just messy organization. You will arrive at the submission interface. Asterisks indicate required information. You should provide as much information as possible. Your page will receive votes that will reflect the opinions of your SP peers concerning the content quality of your page. When you get to the submission page, simply copy and paste your text into the appropriate sections (DO NOT cut and paste-save your work in your own computer!). You can add any special sections or you can add them later when you go back to edit and add material (EDIT PAGE in orange bar). You can also determine which order the sections are presented. The same is done for adding a route by simply clicking ADD ROUTE on your new mountain page. Hit the submit button upon completion of your initial contribution, and after any edit you apply. Go back into EDIT mode and you can add any other material, or design the appearance of your page. Knowledge in basic HTML will be helpful. Then add your photos. Click ADD IMAGE (just below Add Route). The interface for photo additions is similar to other objects on SP and is easy to figure out. Most photo formats now work on SP, but jpg files seem to be the most popular. Photos can be sourced from a scanner, your digital camera, or other digital medium. Fields Show Table of Contents: Default is YES. Depending on the design of your page, you may elect not to display this feature. Query Name: This would be the name you want your page to appear as in a search in the SP database. If you submit a page on Mount Hunkachunka and input a query name for North Spire, your page won’t show up in a search for Mount Hunkachunka. This is especially important for routes! Continent, Country, State: It’s important to fill these out! Province & County: Recommended, if applicable. Latitude & Longitude: It’s important to include these. Failure to do so could result in unfavorable reviews from the membership. Have these numbers ready before your submission. SP uses the decimal declination system. In the western hemisphere, be sure to use a negative (-) value for your longitude. Activities: In a specified SP search, your page would show up under the activities you specify. Push the CTRL key on your keyboard and click all applicable activities. Season: Press the CTRL key on your keyboard and select the recommended seasons that best suit a climb of your mountain. Elevation: Enter the known elevation as verified by a map or other reliable source. Failure to do so will result in unfavorable reviews from SP members. Primary Image: In another window, determine the number of the photo (yours or someone else’s) you want to appear at the top of your page. This is probably the best photo of the mountain you have at the time. If you do not enter a number, no photo will appear at the top of your page. Some mountain pages do not have a signature photo, but it is highly recommended. In searches, this photo shows up as a thumbnail. To determine the number of the photo you'd like to make your primary image, you can either hover your cursor over the photo thumbnail or click on the photo. Type the number in the field. Sections: Prescribed sections are provided. Add any special sections you deem necessary. You can also determine the order in which the sections are presented. Photos are initially submitted to the photos page for that object page. If you want photos to appear in your text, you have that option. Place your cursor where you want the image to appear in your text. Hit INSERT IMAGE. It is suggested you know the number so you can simply enter it in the Insert Image interface, plus determine the size and placement of your image in the text. There is a search feature to assist you in selecting the photo. This feature is available for SP objects involving text. As long as you maintain the page, you have editorial power over that page and can move the photos around as you see fit. Experimentation is essential. The NO FORMAT and INSERT LINK buttons are used to preserve original HTML coding, such as for tables. Be proficient in HTML skills before utilizing this feature. Be sure to refer to the SP FAQ (bottom of this page) for additional details and tips. EXTERNAL LINKS to other sites on the internet are encouraged. You should have these prepared before submission. If you are not familiar with HTML, you need to learn it before submitting material in this section. SP’s FAQ page can get you started. Refer to the links at the beginning of this article. Get the basics down first. Look at some pages submitted by established members and check out the links. Be sure to sign your CLIMBER’S LOG! Proofread your text, correct it, and change it as needed. Simply hit the EDIT PAGE link in the orange bar that appears at the top of all of your pages. With any change you make, hit the SUBMIT CHANGES button for your edits to take effect. As an SP member, you'll get a PROFILE PAGE. These pages can be found in the PEOPLE section. All of your submissions will be displayed here, along with messages and comments posted on your contributions. CLIMBER LOGS are important- they're like your own quick reference resume among the members. If you've climbed the mountain, submit a short account of your climb. Members will consider your validity and experience by looking at these log entries. Over on the left is the ADD TRIP REPORT. These are longer reports for more detailed accounts. Read some by your fellow members. If you choose to submit a report, by all means, do so! These are valued at SP, they give insight into the writer as well as the writer's reflections and impressions, which SP folks just love to read.

"I" (Information) Buttons: Click on these features to read a brief instruction on the function of the buttons in the submission interface.

Maintaining a Mountain/Rock, Route or Other Objects

This is not a big deal if your mountain is obscure and climbed twice a year by locals. High-traffic mountains are bound to be high-traffic pages at SP (i.e.: Aconcagua). Events such as falls, avalanches, even weddings....if you know about them, they should be featured on your page, even if only temporarily. Try to stay alert about events and see if your mountain is involved, and report it in "real-time" as needed at SP on your appropriate page. Consider this when considering the mountain you want to submit. A low-profile mountain is effortless to maintain, but a popular mountain can keep you busy. If you don't mind and would love "managing the mountain's events" as they occur on SP, then a popular mountain is a joy to maintain. Popular or not, be sure to visit ALL of your SP submissions on a routine basis. On the page masthead is VOTES. Click on this link to see who thinks what about your page. On the left there are COMMENTS. You need to check for these notices and decide whether to incorporate them into your text and monitor opinions about your page’s condition. Be sure to RESPOND TO THEM as needed-don't ignore them. These added comments will also appear on your profile page in the appropriate section, so you can monitor text additions from your PROFILE PAGE. After a time, you can delete these comments if you choose to do so, particularly if you have incorporated them into your text. Be sure to credit the writer/submitter in your text (same for photo captions). What you do with comments is your prerogative as the maintainer with editing power. Most comments should usually be incorporated into the page, even if only temporarily. As the maintainer, you have the option of attaching other objects to your page. Click ATTACH/DETACH in the orange bar. The subsequent interface is a search window to help you specify the object you wish to attach. In the FOR field, type in your query name. Specify your submissions to narrow and expedite the search. Specify sort parameters and hit FIND OBJECTS. A list of possible results will be presented, which you can then attach to your page. The same process is used to detach an object from your page. Object parameters are PARENTS, CHILDREN, and RELATED. Examples: Mount Rainier is a child of the Cascade Range. A trip report would be a child to Mount Rainer, as would a route. An album would be a related object. Choose the parameter most appropriate for your situation. You can have other members assist you in maintaining your page. Click CHANGE PRIVILEGES to add assistant maintainers. Keep in mind that once you’ve done this, these assistants can make the same degree of changes you can. DELETE THIS PAGE is self-explanatory. It is intended for a botched page that you can’t seem to get control of during your initial submission process. Deleting a well-maintained and established page is not acceptable. Please transfer the page to another predetermined administrator. If you are concerned about copyright issues, remove your material before transferring the page to a new owner. Deletion of a page may “maroon” attached objects from other members and result in a mess for the SP staff to sort out. Unnecessary deletion of a completed page may result in the discontinuation of your SP membership. Be sure to rotate photos to keep the editing date on your page fresh. You can do this by going into the EDIT or ATTACH/DETACH. VIEW HISTORY allows you to view or revert to previous versions of your page. This function comes in handy during the initial submission process or subsequent edits, particularly if you do something you don’t like. Ignored pages may receive falling votes and previous votes can be changed by the voters to reflect their opinion on the current condition of your page. If the rating of a given object falls below a certain quality level, it is no longer visible on SP except on your profile page. So regular maintenance of your contributions is a good idea if you want to keep them visible. If you no longer desire to maintain a page, post it in the appropriate section of the Forum, or contact members whom you think might be interested in taking over the page. You can transfer ownership yourself. In severe cases, neglected pages can be transferred by the SP staff. During or after your submission process, don't hesitate to ask other members for assistance in the PAGE HELP forum, or via your Personal Message Interface or email. The members will be glad to help and would rather do that than tolerate a shoddy page. With some practice, you'll get better at it and learn some tricks along the way. Good luck and have fun with SP!

Other Objects

Albums: Photos you add, whether they are your own or attached photos by other members will be displayed by score. Area/Range Page: These are difficult pages to compose and are not recommended for novice members. Considerable research and format considerations are part of the daunting process. Look at some examples before proceeding. Article: Straightforward. Check grammar and spelling before submission. Keep your paragraphs short! Canyon: Similar to Mountain/Rock submissions. Custom Object: Something that does not fit any other description but is PERTINENT to another object on SP. I.E.: A page on trails and jeep roads that is attached as a related object to an area/range page. Fact Sheet: Be sure to check some examples on SP before proceeding. HTML skills are usually a good idea. FAQ: A related object to a mountain, canyon, or other type of regional object. Could also be about a subject, i.e. climbing gear. List: Prominent Peaks, Narrow Canyons, 4000m routes in the Himalayas, etc. Hut/Campground & Trailhead: Details about a given camping area or trailhead regarding fees, conditions, accommodations, location, etc. Logistical Center: Similar in style and intent to Area/Range pages. Look at some examples before proceeding. Trip Report: A detailed account of your experience. Include photos in your text! Photos can be attached using the attach/detach interface. Keep your paragraphs short!

Outstanding Examples of SummitPost Contributions

AREA/RANGE PAGES: Please note that SP rookie members should not attempt these types of pages until they have submitted a few of the other types of objects first, or at the least, studied some of the examples listed here. Carnic Alps Julian Alps Cmir Triglav Mont Blanc Group As you can see, these pages are very large and detailed. Lots of effort, research, and HTML skills are involved. A different approach that I took was to break the page up into several sub-pages to make loading less of a factor for those with dial-up connections. Had I done the San Juans as one page, it would have been much larger than the pages listed above. Gangolf recommended I suggest this as an alternative example: San Juan Range Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C These pages have attached albums as well. MOUNTAIN PAGES: Aconcagua, Trango Towers, The Eiger, Mount Elbert, Mount Elbrus ROCK PAGES: Mescalito, Washer Woman, Fisher Towers, City of Rocks, Seneca Rocks CANYONS: The Wave, Grand Canyon, Enigma Canyon, Dinosaur Lake ROUTES: Three Penguins/Right Chimney, Gem Canyon/West Fork, Southeast Gulley/The Castle, Ferratta Lipella/Tofana di Rozes, North Ridge/Tower of Babel (Idaho), The Loft/Longs Peak ARTICLES: First Ascent of the Eiger's Mittellegi Ridge, So You Want to Sharpen Your Tools, Eh!, Hermann Buhl TRIP REPORTS: A Dream in White Coming True: The Three Towers, In The Alpine World..., Mama Tembo Climbs Kilimanjaro, Struck By Lightning, Nelson Cheats Death on Mount Toll