Help:Index pages

Index pages and the workspace
An "index page" (or "index file") is a page within the Index namespace. The Index namespace is the focus of the "workspace" in which proofreading and transcription take place. Each index page represents one work to be transcribed. Index pages have page lists, giving a numbered link for each page in the work. These links link to pages in the Page namespace (the other part of the workspace). The page titles of the Index and Page namespace pages will be the same.

Usually an index page is based on a file, either DjVu or PDF, but it can also be created manually from image files such as JPEG, PNG etc. When based on a single file, the page title of the index page must match the title of the file.

In addition to the page list, index pages also hold metadata for the work, such as title, author, year of publication etc. This information is useful for reference and it can be used by the final work in the main namespace.

Creating Index pages


Prior to creating an index page, you must upload a scan. This scan can be in DjVu or PDF format. In most situations, the scan should be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons rather than Wikisource. However, Wikimedia Commons' policy has extra requirements beyond the purely legal; it may not always accept scans for some works, even though they are legally free (either public domain or licensed) and acceptable for Wikisource. In these situations only, the scan can be uploaded directly to Wikisource.

For creating an index page using individual images, please see below.

A new index page must be created for every new transcription. Index pages are created in the same way as any other page. Some ways to create an index page are:
 * 1) From the file page (making sure that you are on Wikisource and not Wikimedia Commons), change the "File:" prefix in the url to "Index:", go to that page and select "Create".
 * 2) Enter the name of the index page in the search box then, on the search results, click the red link with this title.

When creating an index page from a scan file, the name of the page must exactly match the name of the file except for the namespace prefix. For example, if the name of a scan, following upload, is "File:My book.djvu" then the index page must be "Index:My book.djvu". Note that only the prefix has changed (from "File" to "Index"). Any other changes will prevent the index page from working correctly.

The new index page will not look like a normal wiki page. It will have a series of text fields instead of a single edit box (see image). Each text field is a parameter that are described below; most will be blank but a few are pre-filled automatically. Some of these parameters alter or support the process of transcription and proofreading; other parameters contain metadata and navigation links.

This is based on the index template. If you create or edit the page with JavaScript disabled, you will see a normal wiki edit box containing the index template. This can be completed and used in the same way as any other template.

The index page can be saved at this point. Any and all fields can be filled before saving and at any time in the future.

Parameters
Index pages have specific, preset parameters as part of the index template. The following instructions explain how to use each parameter.


 * The type of the original work. This will default to Book, which is the most common type of work on Wikisource.
 * Collection is used for a collection of media that are related. This is discouraged on the English Wikisource and the individual items should be loaded separately.
 * Journal or magazine is used for complete numbers or issues of a journal. Often these are made up of multiple articles or papers that will be transcluded separately. Uploading single articles from a journal is discouraged. However, do be aware that some journals and magazines will have different copyright terms on the various articles within them.
 * Thesis, report is generally used for works that have not been formally published. Care needs to be taken with these to ensure that they meet the Wikisource inclusion criteria. See What Wikisource includes for more details.
 * Dictionary is used for books that will be transcluded in very small sections.
 * Dictionary is used for books that will be transcluded in very small sections.


 * The title of this work. If there is a subtitle it should be included here as well. The title should be wikilinked to the main namespace. The subtitle should not be part of the link. If there is more than one work with the same name then you will need to disambiguate.
 * The title of this work. If there is a subtitle it should be included here as well. The title should be wikilinked to the main namespace. The subtitle should not be part of the link. If there is more than one work with the same name then you will need to disambiguate.


 * The primary language of the work using the standard codes with two or three letters. Here on the English Wikisource, this will be en, enm (Middle English), ang (Old English) or sco (Scots).
 * The primary language of the work using the standard codes with two or three letters. Here on the English Wikisource, this will be en, enm (Middle English), ang (Old English) or sco (Scots).


 * If this Index file is a part of a multi-volume work, enter the volume number into this field. If different volumes use different subpages it may help to wikilink this parameter to the volume's subpage in the Main namespace. For example,, if it is the first volume of the work "My book".
 * If this Index file is a part of a multi-volume work, enter the volume number into this field. If different volumes use different subpages it may help to wikilink this parameter to the volume's subpage in the Main namespace. For example,, if it is the first volume of the work "My book".


 * The name of the author should go here. It is common practice to wikilink this name to the author's page in the Author namespace.
 * The name of the author should go here. It is common practice to wikilink this name to the author's page in the Author namespace.


 * If the work was originally published in another language, enter the name of the translator(s). This should be wikilinked to the Author: namespace.
 * If the work was originally published in another language, enter the name of the translator(s). This should be wikilinked to the Author: namespace.


 * If this is a multi-author work, such as an encyclopedia or a journal, enter the name of the editor(s). This should be wikilinked to the Author: namespace.
 * If this is a multi-author work, such as an encyclopedia or a journal, enter the name of the editor(s). This should be wikilinked to the Author: namespace.


 * Enter the name(s) of any illustrators that are credited in the work. This should be wikilinked to the Author: namespace.
 * Enter the name(s) of any illustrators that are credited in the work. This should be wikilinked to the Author: namespace.


 * This applies mainly to Theses and Reports. The institution under whose auspices the work was produced is entered here. This should be linked to the Portal: namespace. An alternate use would be if the work was a collaborative production from among a group of unnamed followers of a particular author. This would mostly apply to artworks and hence rarely used here.
 * This applies mainly to Theses and Reports. The institution under whose auspices the work was produced is entered here. This should be linked to the Portal: namespace. An alternate use would be if the work was a collaborative production from among a group of unnamed followers of a particular author. This would mostly apply to artworks and hence rarely used here.


 * The name of the publisher should go here. If a portal exists for this author, the publisher's name may optionally be wikilinked to the appropriate page in the Portal namespace.
 * The name of the publisher should go here. If a portal exists for this author, the publisher's name may optionally be wikilinked to the appropriate page in the Portal namespace.


 * The location of the publisher should go here.
 * The location of the publisher should go here.


 * The year the work was published should go here.
 * The year the work was published should go here.


 * If the name of the Index page begins with an article (the, a, an) or a similar word, this parameter can be used to sort it correctly in Category pages. It acts as the  for the Index page.  See w:wp:Categorization for details.
 * If the name of the Index page begins with an article (the, a, an) or a similar word, this parameter can be used to sort it correctly in Category pages. It acts as the  for the Index page.  See w:wp:Categorization for details.


 * , OCLC, LCCN, ARK from BNF, National Archives Number
 * A unique identifier for the work assigned by one of these organisations. Only one of these is needed and for some early works there will be no identifier available.


 * Select the appropriate file type from the drop-down list. It will create a wikilink to the scan's page in the File namespace. If this field is left as "other" the wikilink will not be created. Based on currently supported file types this will be djvu or pdf. This can be overridden if, for example, an index page is being created manually from individual page images (see below).
 * Select the appropriate file type from the drop-down list. It will create a wikilink to the scan's page in the File namespace. If this field is left as "other" the wikilink will not be created. Based on currently supported file types this will be djvu or pdf. This can be overridden if, for example, an index page is being created manually from individual page images (see below).


 * The title page of the work. The number in the text field represents the page of the scan to be shown, the default is the first page. This can be overridden.
 * The title page of the work. The number in the text field represents the page of the scan to be shown, the default is the first page. This can be overridden.


 * This controls the Index page's categorization.  It will normally appear as a drop-down menu, but text can be entered instead.  In most cases the initial status of a newly added work will be "To be proofread". The template behind the index page records the setting with a short alphabetic code.
 * This controls the Index page's categorization.  It will normally appear as a drop-down menu, but text can be entered instead.  In most cases the initial status of a newly added work will be "To be proofread". The template behind the index page records the setting with a short alphabetic code.


 * See Page numbers in the Index namespace
 * See Page numbers in the Index namespace

This field is used to host the means to generate a graphical representation of all the positions (or scanned pages) found in a typical .DjVu or .PDF uploaded source file as they are [re]mapped with manually assigned page numbering to offset any differences between the actual source file and this graphical representation. Such assignments, offset or otherwise, automatically link to their corresponding targets in the Page: namespace where any embedded page content extracted from a source file is displayed side-by-side with a thumbnail image of the file position (or scanned page) associated with that content. This is done in order to better facilitate the transcription and proofreading process as explained earlier on.

The means to accomplish the above is done through the  tag with pre-defined commands. The Pages field is automatically populated with the  tag by default and, if left untouched, will always generate a basic position#-to-page# graphical representation of 1-to-1 (i.e. no offsets, customizations, etc.) all the way through & until the end of the uploaded source file is detected for you. The  tag is a powerful yet simple way to depict how the position-sequence to page-numbering found in any given work is to be specifically structured and works across the many various types of structures one might encounter just as easily. You can command it to indicate positions which shouldn't be numbered; for instance,  will cause positions 1 and 2 to be represented as unnumbered pages (-), and page numbering will start by setting the third position of this document as page 1.
 * the Pagelist tag

Since early 2024, sometimes pagelists for recently created file do not work and display. The solution is to purge the file on Wikimedia Commons. That can be done either through going to the address "commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=[filename here]&action=purge" or through using gadgets, such as the purge clock (near the bottom).

You can also use text to label positions. For example,. Note that quotation marks (") are required when there are spaces in the text label.

If a sequence of positions were designated with lower case Roman numerals as page numbers in their original paper-printed form, use  to indicate this. This will set position 5 to i, position 6 to ii, and so on. Note the 11=1. This is used to start the Arabic numeral count following the end of the Roman numeral assignments. The equivalent tag for upper case roman numerals is "highroman".

The  command can be invoked multiple times, which useful in dictionaries (see Index:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 4.djvu) or when the work is made up of several smaller works each with their own range of positions-to-pages (see Index:Tracts for the Times Vol 1.djvu). When using multiple pagelists, the following syntax is used:. This code will show only positions 147–185 for example.


 * If this is a multi-volume work, put links to the Index pages for the other volumes here. See Index:History of England (Froude) Vol 2.djvu for a simple example of this and Index:Popular Science Monthly Volume 5.djvu for a more complex example.
 * If this is a multi-volume work, put links to the Index pages for the other volumes here. See Index:History of England (Froude) Vol 2.djvu for a simple example of this and Index:Popular Science Monthly Volume 5.djvu for a more complex example.


 * A table of contents (ToC) for the text. Usually this will provide links to the chapters in the Main: namespace.
 * The table of contents can be typed in here directly, either using plain wikitext (lists, tables, or simple links), or via the Auxiliary Table of Contents template. However, if the text includes its own table of contents, this can be shown instead by "transcluding" the pages from the text (use the name of each page, wrapped in two curly brackets—or braces—at either side). See Index:Air Service Boys over the Rhine.djvu for an example of this. Hint: don't leave spaces or returns between the separate pages when using this. This will ensure vertical alignment between the separate pages.
 * If a page contains more than just the table of contents, you can transclude just the table of contents by using Labelled Section Transclusion, and adding it to the index with  – see Index:Amazing Stories Volume 16 Number 06.djvu for an example.
 * If the table of contents is long, a scrolling window can be used, by placing  before the table of contents (and a   after it).
 * Sometimes the table of contents in the text is complex or contains a lot of detail, resulting in a very long Index page. In these cases a simplified table of contents with links to the chapters may be created. For example, compare Index:History of england froude.djvu with Index:History of England (Froude) Vol 2.djvu.
 * Sometimes the table of contents in the text is complex or contains a lot of detail, resulting in a very long Index page. In these cases a simplified table of contents with links to the chapters may be created. For example, compare Index:History of england froude.djvu with Index:History of England (Froude) Vol 2.djvu.


 * This overrides the default calculated resolution for the thumbnail image displayed in edit mode for any Page: namespace page. For example a value of 1000 in this field will produce a thumbnail based at 1000 pixels.
 * Currently, some browsers will experience a phenomenon called 'black-nail'—short for an all black thumbnail being displayed in edit mode in error. Experimenting with this value should provide a solution for this by forcing a lower resolution than the automatically calculated default—a value anywhere in the range of 300 to 1600 typically works here.
 * Currently, some browsers will experience a phenomenon called 'black-nail'—short for an all black thumbnail being displayed in edit mode in error. Experimenting with this value should provide a solution for this by forcing a lower resolution than the automatically calculated default—a value anywhere in the range of 300 to 1600 typically works here.


 * (Cascading style sheet)
 * If this field has content it will automatically add css styling to each page in the Page namespace as they are created. On the English Wikisource we don't recommend this and prefer to do css styling in the main namespace.


 * This parameter controls the header on each page in the Page namespace associated with the Index page. The header of each new page in the Page namespace will be pre-filled with whatever text has been entered in this parameter of the index page.
 * The header is mostly used for titles (of the book, chapter, article etc.) and page numbers—anything at the top of the page that should not be transcluded to the main namespace. If a common format is repeated throughout the work, it saves time to include all or part of the formatting and text in this parameter.
 * A commonly used formatting template for this parameter is RunningHeader. This template has three parameters of its own, which create left-, centre-, and right-justified text.  The   magic word is also useful.  This will copy the number or text used for a page link in the pagelist parameter.  This allows for automatically generated page numbers, assuming the pagelist parameter is correct. If the book contains sidenotes, you can include the   template in this field.
 * The header can be edited on individual pages in the Page namespace. Doing so will not affect the header parameter in the Index page nor any other page in the Page namespace. The header will never affect the work in the main namespace.
 * The drawback of using this field is that it doesn't take into account left and right headers and formats them all the same way. One way to cope with this is to put the page number at both sides of the running header template and delete the appropriate one when proofreading the page. An example of this technique can be found at Index:The Rover Boys on the Great Lakes.djvu:  Alternatively, the rvh template may be used, which automatically detects whether the page number is odd or even.
 * The drawback of using this field is that it doesn't take into account left and right headers and formats them all the same way. One way to cope with this is to put the page number at both sides of the running header template and delete the appropriate one when proofreading the page. An example of this technique can be found at Index:The Rover Boys on the Great Lakes.djvu:  Alternatively, the rvh template may be used, which automatically detects whether the page number is odd or even.


 * Like the header, this parameter controls the default text in the footer of each page in the Page namespace associated with the Index page.
 * It is common for page numbers to be shown in the footers of pages. The wikitext    can be used to simplify this process, along with the RunningHeader template. Moreover, the   tag—optionally the   or   template—is used to display footnotes. If the book contains sidenotes, you can include the   template in this field.
 * The footer can be edited on individual pages in the Page namespace. Doing so will not affect the footer parameter in the Index page nor any other page in the Page namespace.  The footer will never affect the work in the main namespace.
 * The footer can be edited on individual pages in the Page namespace. Doing so will not affect the footer parameter in the Index page nor any other page in the Page namespace.  The footer will never affect the work in the main namespace.


 * This parameter is used for project management categories (e.g. Category:WikiProject NLS). Categories under Category:Works (e.g. those in Works by type, Works by genre, Works by subject, Works by country, etc.) or Category:Authors (e.g. those in Authors by type, Authors by nationality, Authors by occupation, etc.) should not be used on Index pages (belonging on mainspace transclusion pages and Author pages, respectively) and should be moved over when seen.
 * This parameter is used for project management categories (e.g. Category:WikiProject NLS). Categories under Category:Works (e.g. those in Works by type, Works by genre, Works by subject, Works by country, etc.) or Category:Authors (e.g. those in Authors by type, Authors by nationality, Authors by occupation, etc.) should not be used on Index pages (belonging on mainspace transclusion pages and Author pages, respectively) and should be moved over when seen.

Using individual image files
Index can be made out of JPEGs, PNGs and other image files as well as container formats of scans like PDF and DjVu. This would cover, for example, individual photographs of pages or non-print works such as inscriptions or plaques. Due to the extra complexity and other drawbacks of this process, this is not recommended for anything other than very short works: such as single pages or works of just 2-3 pages in length.

The process is similar to the normal Index page process, with the following exceptions:
 * 1) Creating the page.  Create a new page in the Index namespace as you would in any other namespace.  If this page involves only one image, it is a good idea to use the filename for the pagename.  For example:   leads to  .  If this page involves multiple files, use a pagename that makes sense.  If the filenames of the page images have a common element, it may make sense to use that; using the filetype is optional.  For example:.
 * 2) Parameters.  Some of the parameters will need to be entered manually.
 * 3) * Scans: This parameter is a drop down list of file types. Choose the type of file you are using.  If this is not available in the list, choose "other".
 * 4) * Cover image: No automatic cover image will be generated. Instead of a page number, the image needs to be entered manually with the complete image code. For example:  .  If using multiple pages, use either the first source image or the one that best corresponds to a "cover image" for the work.
 * 5) * Pages: No automatic pagelist will be generated. Instead of the   tag, each page needs to be added manually.  Each page should be a wikilink to a specific page in the Page namespace, using the name of the source files in the File namespace (replacing the "File:" prefix with a "Page:" prefix).  For example:
 * 6) *# One image: If using  (based on  the wikilink should be.
 * 7) *# Multiple images: These should be added in sequence.  If using, for example,   (based on different images), the wikilinks should be along the lines of:   etc.

Please note that individual image files do not contain OCR text layers like PDF and DjVu files (although TIFF files can contain text, they are not usable in this process). The Google OCR tool may be used to request ad hoc OCR of individual page images. Otherwise, it will be necessary to transcribe the entire text from the image.

Examples
When creating an index page in this way, it can help to have other examples for reference. Therefore, the following may be useful.

Single pages:
 * Index:Memorial written by Josephine Griffing asking that women be commissioned to assist with the care and education of the freedmen.jpg
 * Index:Yul-brynner-immigration-xl.jpg
 * Index:Memorial of the Cherokees
 * Index:James Smithson photocopied will 3 of 3.jpg
 * Index:EmancipationProclamation.jpg

Multiple pages:
 * Index:Supplemental Act of July 12, 1862.jpg
 * Index:The Complete Collection of Pictures & Songs by Randolph Caldecott.jpg
 * Index:Haycopy-1.jpg

Index talk pages
As the transcriptions of our works are a team-effort; where there is a style of formatting utilised from the style guide; or certain templates utilised; or other information that the original contributor wishes to convey to assisting transcribers, we encourage such information to be added to the Index: talk page. To assist transcribers to know that such information is available the Index: page will display the text: Note that relevant formatting guidelines may have already been established. Please check this Index's discussion page.

Proofreading and transclusion from the Index page
Index pages are the focus of proofreading. Each page in the pagelist should be proofread and the progress parameter amended accordingly.

For more information, see:
 * Help:Proofread
 * Help:Transclusion

Index page template
The default layout of an index page is controlled by the Proofreadpage index template. Javascript must be enabled in the user's browser for the template to function. If javascript is disabled or not available, the user will just see the template itself in a normal edit window. It may be useful occasionally for a user to deliberately disable javascript in order to edit the template directly but this should be rare.

Tools
On the index pages, there are four tools that can be utilised:
 * Book to scroll (icon [[file:Library-logo-blue-outline.png|20px]]) that enables the file to be viewed in a scrollable format, rather than the typical page at a time
 * BookReader (icon BookReader-favicon.svg) provides a 1-up or 2-up scan viewer
 * Purge file tool (icon OOjs_UI_icon_reload.svg) that enables the djvu or pdf layers of the file to be refreshed at Commons.
 * Transclusion check tool (icon [[file:Crystal man.png|20px]]) that enables the checking the completeness of the transclusion of the work from Page: namespace to main namespace.