Adding contributions to the website

If you've already made some slides for a researcher that you would like to feature on the website, this page will show you how.

Creating a new page in the Featured Physicist Gallery

  1. Open up the website page in the Notion desktop application
  2. Select 'New' in the top right hand corner of the Featured Physicists database (see image below)
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  1. Choose the type of page you wish to add
    1. For a complete set of slides and speaker notes, select NEW PHYSICIST
    2. To simply add a photo of a researcher you plan on featuring in the future, but don't have complete slides ready yet, select Unfinished/Recommended Physicist
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Adding complete slides: NEW PHYSICISTS

You will want to customize the template (the default here includes some Donna Strickland slides) with the slides and information of the researcher you wish to feature. Put the page into full screen for best outcome on web browser. Replace the following:

  • Title: Put the full name of the researcher as the title
  • Photo: Select 'add cover' and put a photo of the researcher here, preferably one where they are smiling or doing research. Use the 'Reposition' button to put the photo in an appropriate place in the window. Once this is done, click out of the template back to the main page and hover over the cover photo to reveal another 'Reposition' button, where you can make sure the cover photo is also in a good place when viewed in the gallery. See images below for reference.
How to reposition cover photo
How to reposition cover photo
How to add a cover from a fresh template
How to add a cover from a fresh template
  • Replace the PDF view with a PDF of the researcher you are featuring, by clicking on the ellipses in the top right of the PDF and selecting 'Replace'. You can then upload and choose a file, which must be PDF to replace the template. Resize the viewer such that the PDF is well sized and fitted to the preview in full screen.
  • Open the toggles on the right to include general speaker notes.
  • Give titles to the topics of each slide on the toggles at the bottom of the page. Insert speaker notes in each toggle relevant to each slide. Note: the introduction slide (which just features a photo of the researcher) does not need specific speaker notes.
  • Include links to download slide files, in the following formats (if possible): PDF, PPTX, and KEY. If converting between the three, check for conversion errors before you upload (certain graphics can get moved around in the process).
  • Start by deleting the template file, and in its place, type the following '/file'. This will open a toggle menu, and select 'File' and upload the file in question.

  • Choose associated properties for the researcher. At the top of the page, you will be able to view 'properties' of the researcher.
    1. This is where you choose the properties associated with a researcher.
      This is where you choose the properties associated with a researcher.
    2. Physics topic: Choose as many topics from the list given, and feel free to add a new one. Creating a new topic will not automatically create a new page in the 'Search by Physics Topic' database, so if you see fit, you can create a new topic. See the documentation for doing so here. However, if that topic already exists in the 'Search by Physics Topic' database the researcher will automatically be included in that topic.
    3. Related mcgill course: This is directly linked to the database of McGill courses in the 'Search by McGill Course' database. To add a course to the researcher, click on the blue '+' button that appears to the left of the course name.
    4. Feel free to add as many courses as you see fit, as long as the physics concepts touched upon in the slides are relevant to the course. This will automatically update the 'Search by McGill Course' database with your researcher. If you want to add a new course, see the documentation for doing so here.

    5. Related course level: Once you have chosen which courses you think are relevant, select the course levels of these courses (can select multiple). This is simply a tool to make sorting easier for the user.

Adding a researcher without slides: Unfinished/Recomended Physicist

Add the researcher's name as the title of the page, and then follow the instructions above to add a photo. Other than this, the template will automatically fill out a message informing the user that this page is in the works.

⚠️ Things you need to update after adding a new researcher ⚠️

All static version of slides (PDF/PPTX/KEY) where that researcher is featured must be updated

  • Static version of all physicists on homepage (this is linked also to the ones listed on the 'Search by McgGill Courses' page, so no need to update them there)
  • Static version of physicists related to a certain topic on that topic's page in the Search by Physics Topic page database. For example, if you add a new physicist who is related to topics 'Condensed Matter' and 'Optics', you must add those slides to the static version of slides included on the Condensed Matter and Optics pages.

Creating a new Physics Topic

If you want to create a new physics topic to include in the 'Search by Physics Topic' database, start by assigning this topic to a particular researcher.

  1. Navigate to a researcher you want to add a new topic to.
  2. Select the associated property 'Physics Topic' and type out the name of the new topic. Select 'Create (new topic)' in the drop-down menu. You can change the colour of the name of this topic by opening the ellipses to the right on the topic name in the list and choosing a new colour.

Now, you want to navigate the the 'Search by Physics Topic' page to add a new topic to the database.

  1. On the top-right of the database, select the blue arrow next to 'New', and then select 'NEW PHYSICS TOPIC'. This will open a template which you will need to customize
  2. Add a title (the name of the physics topic) to this page.
  3. Change the phrase 'INSERT TOPIC NAME' to the name of your title. In the dropdown underneath this, upload PDF/PPTX/KEY documents of all researchers associated with this topic (one document per format containing all these researchers).
  4. Next, sort the 'Featured Physicists' database included in the template to show only researchers from that particular topic. To do so, hover over the top-right corner of the database and select 'Filter'. Here, a filter already exists sorting the database entires to only show Astrophysicists. Change the topic to whichever topic you are creating this page for, and the physicists of concern should only be visible now in the database.
  5. Any future physicist associated with this topic will automatically be included in the filtered database you have created. You will have to update the sets of slides downloadable, however. If you add a new topic, it might be useful to review already existing researchers to see if any of them can be added to this topic as well.

Creating a new McGill class

If you wish to add a new class to the 'McGill Courses Table' database, first navigate to the 'Search by McGill Course' page.

At the bottom of the database, extend the database to see all entries and then select '+New'. Fill out the course name appropriately and the course code.

If you click on the block in the 'featured physicists' column, a toggle will open up with all the the physicists in the 'featured physicists' table, and you can use the blue '+' button to associate them with the course. This link is two ways, meaning that if you were to visit that physicists page in the website, they would show to be associated with that course in the properties section.