Spaces and Pages
Primers
Primers
A primer is what a Nexus, a space or a folder says about itself: what it is for, how to contribute to it, and what rules hold inside it. It is written by the people who run the container and read by everybody else. The instance as a whole can carry one too; see The instance.
Every container can have one. None starts with one.
Open a primer
Beside the container’s name, next to the label button, there is a Primer button. On a container that has none it reads Add primer instead.
The panel opens read-only, for everybody, including the person who wrote it. To change anything, click Edit primer. Done goes back to reading without closing the panel.
The button to edit appears only if you can manage the container. Reading a primer needs only the access that lets you see the container itself, so a member who can read every word of a space’s primer cannot change it.
The brief
Brief is one line, at most 280 characters: what this is, for somebody scanning a list.
It is the line that shows under the container’s name, on its card in a directory, and in search results. Type it and click away; it saves on its own.
Templates
A template decides which questions the primer asks. Pick one from the row of chips.
| Template | What it asks |
|---|---|
| General | Purpose, how to contribute, house rules. The default. |
| Engineering | Adds what is load-bearing during an incident, and what belongs in the repository instead. |
| Business | Leads with audience and confidentiality. |
| Clinical | Asks who approved a page, when it was last reviewed, and what to check before acting on it. |
| Family | Who this is for, and how the household uses it. |
| Blank | Purpose alone. |
Every template starts with Purpose.
Switching template keeps what you have written. A section the new template does not ask for stays on the page, marked From a template you are no longer using, so nothing is lost by changing your mind. Clear it to remove it.
If a section holds unsaved text that the new template does not ask for, you are asked before the switch discards it.
Status
Status is a claim the owner makes about the container. It shows as a small pill at the top of the primer.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Working | A work in progress. |
| Authoritative | The owner stands behind what is in here. |
| Archived | Superseded. Kept for the record rather than for use. |
Nothing shows until somebody sets one, and “nobody has said” stays reachable: click the chosen status again to clear it.
Writing a section
Each section has its own editor and its own Save button. Sections save one at a time, so you can write one and leave the rest for later.
A section takes the same content a page does, apart from diagrams and equations: headings, lists, task lists, quotes, code blocks, tables, callouts, links and images.
To add an image, click the image button in the section’s toolbar and pick a file. Pasting an image or dragging one onto the section works too. Drag the corner handle to resize it, and use the alignment buttons to move it left, centre or right.
A section holding nothing but an image is a written section: it is kept, shown and carried across a template switch like any other.
Where a primer is read
- The brief shows under the container’s name, on its card, and in search results.
- The rest is behind the Primer button.
- A space’s How to contribute and House rules sections appear in the dialog for creating a page in that space, under Before you add a page here, so the conventions reach somebody at the moment they are about to add something.
Folders
A folder carries a primer the same way a space does, written on the front of it. Use it to say what the folder collects and what belongs in it.
The instance
The home screen that lists your Nexuses carries a primer for the whole instance: what this instance is for, which Nexus somebody new wants, and who to ask for access. Its Primer button sits beside the Your Nexus title, and its brief replaces the sentence under that title.
Everyone on the instance can read it, apart from accounts that are only guests: the same people who are in #general. An account that is a guest in every Nexus it belongs to sees the plain sentence under the title and no Primer button. Only an instance administrator can write it; administering a Nexus is not enough.
Because nearly everybody is shown it, an image in the instance primer has to be one you can open yourself. Upload the picture into the primer rather than pointing at one somebody else stored.
Removing a primer
Clear the brief and every section. A primer with nothing in it is removed, and the button goes back to reading Add primer.
Agents
An assistant connected to your instance can read a primer and, with permission to manage the container, write one. Reading needs access to the container; writing needs the same permission a person needs. An assistant reads the instance primer when it lists the Nexuses, unless its account is only a guest, and a connection limited to one Nexus cannot change it.