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Thank you for contributing your efforts to bring this collection to life!

How to edit a Talk's information:

• If you are logged in as a collection Member, simply navigate to the talk you wish to edit and click the big "Edit" button.
• For each field on the Edit page, see helpful tips and explanations by clicking on the "?" icons next to each one.

What if I don't see an Edit button?

• To edit a talk, you must be logged-in, and the talk must allow editing by your account type (only Members of the collecion can edit).
• On the My Account page, you'll see a list of "My Communities" showing your membership role in each collection you have joined.
• Some talks are shared from other collections, and editing is only allowed by memebers of that collection. 

What are Keywords?

• Adding keywords to a talk is one of the most helpful ways you can make the collection more searchable and interconnected.  
• Keywords can be any descriptive word or term that people are likely to search for. 
• Keep keywords unique and succinct, usually one or two words, not phrases. 
• Please capitalize keywords in Title Case for easy readability. 
• Whenever possible, choose one of the existing keywords from autocomplete suggestions, to help draw connections between talks.  

• AI Suggested Keywords are automatically generated to make the talk more searchable, but don't carry as much weight as user-entered Keywords.
• When you're editing the talk, simply click a Suggested Keyword if it's a good fit, and it will pop right up into the main Keywords field.
• More suggested keywords are generated for each talk regularly, as the vocabulary grows and the transcripts and summaries improve.  

What are Summaries?

• This can be a short summary or abstract of the talk, an outline of the major themes and topics covered, or just a basic description such as "Sunday lecture" or "Koan class," etc. 
• This is also the place to add context to a talk, if you are familiar with when and where it was given. 

Can we edit the AI Summary?

• No, but it can be regenerated if it needs improvement!  
• Just give it a rating by clicking one of the buttons below the AI Summary on the Talk page (not the edit page), and a new summary should appear in less than a minute, when you refresh the page.   
• Your votes are really helpful for training the summarizer, so feel free to click these anytime you've listened to all or part of a talk and can give good feedback.  

What are Notes?

• Any other technical or historical information about the talk - the source of the transcript, the sound quality, special restoration work done during digitization, etc.
• Any markings or information that is visible in a photo that has not been captured in the above categories can go in the Notes field
  • You're welcome to just transcribe these photos verbatim, or to elaborate/clarify/correct these notes if possible.  
• Notes are a good place to mention if a talk has been published in a book or newsletter, and add a link to that, if possible. 
• Notes are also a good place to suggest which talks could be published next.

How (and when) to edit the Transcript:

• Our AI transcription engine is always improving, and transcripts are automatically upgraded as its vocabulary and capabilities expand.
• The goal of these transcripts is to closely match the audio so that no sentences are missing, and yet be a bit smoother than the audio, where appropriate, so that they are worded in a readable way that is easy to visually skim and understand.  
• Leave out repeated phrases where the speaker is finding their words, ums, uhs, you knows, etc. except as they add to the flavor of their expression.

• Put any comments in brackets [like this]. Comments include:

• • Questions on content
  • Any sections you can’t hear, please leave a placeholder:
    • Every day when [Inaudible] spoke in the hall …
  • Notes on any spelling you aren’t sure of:

    • you can mark your best guess for others to confirm: Every day when Baizan [sp?] spoke in the hall …

    • or include alternate possibilities to help with searchability: Every day when Baizan [Baizhang?] spoke in the hall …

• Also put in brackets:

  • Laughter or interjections, indicating it s the person speaking [laughs] or the group [laughter]

  • Any other audible information, such as [laughter] or something in the environment that becomes part of what is talked about, such as [music], [something drops and hits the floor], [dog barking], etc.

• Use an ellipsis (...) for a sentence that isn’t finished or starts late.

• For questions, if there are multiple questioners, identify them by letter.

  • [Student A:] Why is there karma?
  • [Student B:] He doesn’t answer why questions.
  • [Student C:] Why not?
• Use one space between sentences, not two. Use one space after colons also.
• When in doubt about length, start a new sentence, avoiding run-ons.
• Do not use tabs or spaces to indent new paragraphs, please leave them flush left.
• If you apply spell-check, watch out for incorrect auto-suggestions, especially on foreign language words.

Can I upload a complete trancript that I already have done?

• Yes! full transcripts are very helpful and welcome. 
• Please comb through it and be sure it aligns with the guidelines above, so that it stays aligned with the audio. 
• If you have a partial transcript, please leave the rest of the existing AI transcript in place, and paste in your text to replace just the part that it covers. 
• If it's from MS Word or another app, we strongly recommend converting it to plain text or Rich Text first, to avoid weird formatting.  

Pro Tip: Use keyboard shortcuts to control the audio player!

• Our audio player supports the following keyboard shortcuts:
  • Play/Pause:  Shift + Spacebar
  • Skip Forward 5 Seconds: Shift + Right Arrow
  • Skip Back 5 Seconds: Shift + Left Arrow
• This works when you're viewing a Talk page as well as on the Edit page, so you can control the player while you're editing the transcript, without touching your mouse. 
• And when you hover your mouse over these buttons and it will show you a quick reminder of each shortcut.
• Clicking anywhere on the waveform while audio is playing will also let you jump to that spot in the talk.

Still have questions?

Many answers to general questions can be found on the main Help & FAQ page.  

Note: If a page isn't loading, or you're having trouble accessing content, it can sometimes solve the problem if you try a different web browser.  

If you are stuck and need help, you're welcome to email us at help@engagewisdom.com and please include the URL of the page you're having trouble with. Detailed bug reports are very much appreciated, and helpful. We do not have a full-time support staff, so we appreciate your patience as it may take a few days for a response.