Learning Scalar: How to build non-linear, born-digital content on York's Scalar platform

Exercise: Tags and Paths

Exercise

  1. Let's turn the page you created in the previous exercise into a tag that groups your forest media together.
     
    1. In the Scalar dashboard window (click to open), select the "My Sandbox" book you created in the Create a Book exercise.
    2. Select the wrench icon in the upper right corner to access the options screen. Then select the Content tab.
    3. Select the"Forest media" page you created in the Getting Content into Scalar exercise by clicking on its title.
    4. Click the pencil icon in the upper right corner to open the page editor. The page editor will appear, displaying the page title and contents.
    5. Underneath the page content area, select the Relationships tab. From the drop-down menu that appears, select Tag.
    6. We want to turn this page into a tag so click the link labeled "choose the items that it tags." The content selection window will appear.
    7. By default, this window will show you a list of pages in your book. Select the drop-down menu on the upper left side and choose Media. A list of the media that you have imported into the book will appear.
    8. Use the checkboxes on the left side of the window to select all of your forest-related media items. Then click the Add Selected button in the lower right hand corner of the window. You will be returned to the page editor, and in the Relationships area you'll see "This page is a tag of:" followed by a list of your media items.
    9. In the lower right hand corner of the window, click Save and view. Your updated page will appear; note that the content area now shows that the page is a tag, and will list the items that you have tagged.
       
  2. Now let's create a new page, and make it a path containing your video media.
     
    1. From the menu bar in the upper right corner of the window, select the + icon to add a new page.
    2. Set the title of your new page to Forest videos.
    3. Underneath the page content area, select the Relationships tab. From the drop-down menu that appears, select Path.
    4. Click the link labeled "choose the items that it contains." The content selection window will appear.
    5. Select the drop-down menu on the upper left side and choose Media. A list of the media that you have imported into the book will appear.
    6. Use the checkboxes on the left to select your two videos: Sounds in the Whakarewarewa Redwood Forest and Rainforest 101. Then click the Add Selected button in the lower right hand corner of the window.
    7. In the Relationships area, you'll see that this page is now listed as a path. You can drag the names of the items to reorder them, if you'd like. Then, in the lower right hand corner of the window, click Save and view. You'll see that the content area of the page now lists Contents, with your media items listed in the order you placed them

You now have the beginnings of a full Scalar project, containing pages, media, and structure in the form of paths and tags.

 

This page has paths: