Creating, uploading and publishing an item in a Dadooda maxiPAL or miniPAL is very similar to publishing an item on Dadooda’s public website.

Once you’ve set up or joined a PAL you simply log in to the PAL and select SUBMIT NEW ITEM. Then follow the steps below.

Step 1 – Select the type of item you want to publish

On the Choose Item Type page select the type of item you want to publish.

You have 5 choices in a maxiPAL (Article, Images, Video, Audio and Book) and 4 choices in a miniPAL (Article, Images, Video and Audio).

When you have made your choice a new page will open with a purpose designed template.

Step 2 – Complete the template

Each template contains various elements which you must complete to create your item:

Subject (all templates - maxiPAL only)

The subjects in a maxiPAL are created by the maxiPAL Librarian.

Select your Subject Group and Subject from the drop down lists.

Title (all templates)

Enter a title for your item of up to 50 characters (about 8 words).

Introduction (all templates except Article)

Write an Introduction to your item of up to 500 characters (about 80 words).

Main Text (Article and Book templates)

Enter the text of your Article or Book (maxiPAL only). You can type it into the relevant field or copy and paste it from a text editor or word processing application.

An Article can be up to 12,000 characters (about 2,000 words).

A Book can be up to 1 million characters (about 160,000 words).

Images & captions (Article and Images templates)

Add images with captions to your Article or Images item type.

Up to 5 images with captions can be added to your Article, or it can be published as a text-only Article with no images.

Up to 20 images with captions can be included in an Images item type.

The image file formats currently accepted by Dadooda are displayed on the templates.

Captions are optional and can be up to 50 characters (about 8 words). They will appear directly beneath the image. If you do not wish to add a caption just leave the caption field blank.

Video clip (Video template)

Add a video clip to your Video item type.

Your video clip can have a file size of up to 100 megabytes. The video file formats currently accepted by Dadooda are displayed on the template.

Audio clip (Audio template)

Add an audio clip to your Audio item type.

Your audio clip can have a file size of up to 5 megabytes. The audio file formats currently accepted by Dadooda are listed on the template.

Step 3 – Upload your item

When you have completed the template to your satisfaction, click on the Upload button. This will send your item to Dadooda’s servers.

Don’t worry, though. Your item won’t be published yet! You will be able to preview it and edit it before it is published in the PAL – or even delete it altogether!

When the item has finished uploading it becomes a “Pending Item” (which simple means you have uploaded it but not yet published it) and a page called My Pending Items will open.

Step 4 – Review and edit your item if necessary

The My Pending Items page lists all your pending items within the PAL, with the latest item you uploaded at the top of the list.

The list displays certain information about your item. It shows the title you gave it, the subject you selected (maxiPAL only), the date you uploaded it and an icon to remind you what type of item it is.

You can take various actions, depending on the type of PAL:

Preview the item

Simply click on the title of your item to preview it exactly as it will appear in the PAL.

After you have previewed your item you can click on MY ITEMS or your browser’s Back button to return to My Pending Items. Or you can navigate elsewhere and return to your item later.

Edit the item

Select Edit to make changes to any element of your item.

An Edit menu will open showing the choices available to you. Simple select the element you wish to edit, make your changes and click on the Submit button.

You will be returned to the Edit menu from where you can preview the item by clicking on the title, edit another element or return to My Pending Items.

You can preview and edit your item as often as you wish.

Delete the item

Select Delete to remove your item from My Pending Items. To help prevent accidental deletion of your item you will be asked to confirm your action. There is no way to recover the item once it has been deleted.

When you’ve reviewed and if necessary edited your item, you’re ready to publish it.

Step 5 – Publish your item!

To publish your item, just click on Publish. Just to make sure you didn’t select Publish by mistake, you will be asked to confirm your action.

If you are logged in to a miniPAL, the item will be published in the miniPAL immediately and you will receive confirmation by email.

If you are logged in to a maxiPAL, the item will be published in the maxiPAL immediately and you will receive confirmation by email, unless the Librarian of the maxiPAL has enabled the Moderator Functions.

If the Librarian has enabled the Moderator Functions, the item will be approved or declined by the Librarian and you will be notified by email of the Librarian’s action.

Once published in the PAL, your item will move from your My Pending Items to your My Published Items.