Topics

Contents

What's a Topic? ¶ 

A topic is a way to categorize your content. On iFixit.com they use topics for every unique device: an iPhone 3G, for example.

However, topics can be used to more generally. You can use it as a container for a large grouping of related things like Assembly or Repair instead.

What's a Topic Page? ¶ 

A topic page is the hub of all information about the topic. It automatically displays links to all step-by-step guides, as well as meta information like what tools are required to perform procedures. Topics are sorted into categories and each contains one or more step-by-step guides.

In addition to the auto-generated information, topic pages can have as much additional information as you like. At a minimum, a successful topic should contain the following:

  • A picture which is used throughout the site to represent the topic and its step-by-step guides.
  • A short summary of the topic which will appear in the search results for the topic.
  • Background information on the topic.
  • Links to other online resources about the topic.

Categorization ¶ 

Individual topics are sorted into categories as shown by the following picture. For more information about page categorization, check out the categorization information page.

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Creating a Topic Page ¶ 

If a step-by-step guide does not have an applicable topic page, you'll probably want to create your own. Doing so is easy:

  1. Go to the new page wiki.
  2. Select "Topic".
  3. Follow the walk-through instructions on the screen.

Linking Step-by-Step Guides ¶ 

Step-by-step guides, commonly used tools, and any related questions from Answers are automatically linked to topic pages of the same name. You do not need to manually link them. If your guide is not showing on the topic page, check to make sure that the guide is published and the guide's topic name matches exactly with the topic page.

Editing Parts of a Topic Page ¶ 

Every topic page has multiple sections to fill in. They give information about the device, as well as providing different administrative options. To edit a page, click on the "Edit" tab in the top right.

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Title ¶ 

The title is what will appear at the top of the page. It is also what shows up on the category page next to the topic picture and in the topic search results. Titles should be short, descriptive, and concise. Try to avoid a wordy topic such as "Weapons Used to Take Down Castles and Kings from the 800's through 1500's" when it could be replaced with a simpler, yet just as descriptive title such as "Medieval Weapons."

Summary ¶ 

The summary appears under the image on the right side of the topic page. It also shows up next to the thumbnail when the topic comes up in the search results. Summaries are short, one or two sentence explanations, that identify your topic. It should be just enough information that a viewer knows exactly what the topic is, but no more. Brevity is the soul of wit.

Body ¶ 

The body is the main part of the topic page. It is the area located at the bottom left of the edit screen and should contain everything you want a viewer to know about the topic. This is what shows up on the topic page below the related step-by-step guides, answers, and tools.

Category ¶ 

After you have created a topic page, there will be a section titled "Category". This is where you will input the category in which the topic best fits. If you again imagine it from the musical standpoint, the topic page is the musical album and the category section is where you would input the album artist's name.

Only site administrators can categorize topics.

To add a category to the topic page:

  1. Type the name of the category into the text box. For example: phones
  2. If the category already exists, it will appear in a drop down menu.
  3. Select it from this menu.
  4. Click "save" next to the text box.
  5. Click "save" on the bottom of the edit screen to commit the change and all other recent changes.

Images ¶ 

Images dragged into this section from the image uploader appear on the topic page. These images should be large and simple 4:3 pictures of the topic so visitors know exactly what it is. Basically you just want a picture of the device without any added clutter since this will mostly be viewed as a thumbnail image. Whichever image is dragged into the above large image area (as opposed to the below thumbnail bar) is the one that will appear as the main picture for the topic, as well as the thumbnail in search results. For information on image uploading, check out the Uploading Images information page.

Edit Permissions ¶ 

Under the images is a section titled "Edit Permissions". This section allows you to set how much reputation is required to edit the page without permission. For more information on permissions, check out the permissions manager page.

Tags ¶ 

In this section, type in any tags related to the topic to help it come up in search results. When you begin typing, a drop down list of other tags will appear. Either continue typing your tag, or select one from this list. You may select as many tags as you wish.

Editing a Topic Page ¶ 

Changing Topic Page Name ¶ 

You cannot change the name of a topic page. Once it has been created, in order to change it you just have to make a new one and delete the old one. If you're planning to change the name:

  1. Copy all of the text from the old page.
  2. Create a new topic page with the new name you want.
  3. Paste the old content into the new, correctly named, page.
  4. Delete the old page.

Deleting Topic Page ¶ 

To delete a topic page:

  1. Go to that page's Edit tab.
  2. If there is a category link on the page (under the category link header above the display image):
    1. Delete the tag.
    2. Click the save button next to the text field.
  3. Delete all text in the title, summary, and body sections of the page including all flags.
  4. Save the changes.
  5. You should now see a message that the page does not exist.

Migrating Guides To New Topic Page ¶ 

If you already have some step-by-step guides started, moving them to the new topic page is easy.

  1. Go to the Edit tab for the step-by-step guide.
  2. Change the text in the "Topic" field to the correct topic name.
  3. Click the save button.
  4. The guide should now be correctly associated with the new topic name.

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