Reformatting
Our old system of formatting simply used a dash to indicate a new highlight; we've switched to bullet points. Some of the old synopses are separated and others are just big blocks of text. In both cases, they need to be formatted in the new bullet style. If you take a look through recent federal key votes, you can see how the formatting should look. Each highlight should have it's own line, and each should be separated by a blank line. This takes an extra step in Admin, but I'll walk you through that.
There are a number of other basic formatting you can correct, such as checking the spelling, changing the word of a number to the numeral, ending every sentence with a period, and correcting the citation of sections. Refer to General Formatting Rules for these corrections.
Additionally, some of our earlier summaries may contain partisan language. Keep an eye out for language like “unborn child,†which should be replaced with “fetus.†"Illegal Alien," "Undocumented Alien," etc. is replaced with "Undocumented Immigrant." Some are a bit more subtle, like replacing “reforms†with another introductory verb that doesn't imply an improvement. Use your best judgment when making these decisions, and always ask me if you are unsure.
Remember to select every key vote from the Status List and make sure all are formatted correctly. Also, before you make edits to a particular bill stage, double check that “Use Earlier Highlight†is NO. If you make edits to a stage that is set to use an earlier highlight, your changes won't be saved. This should not be a problem if you're going through the stages in chronological order (bottom to top of the status list). Sometimes, however, 2 vote statuses are on the same day and will be in the wrong order. This usually isn't the case, but double-check so your work doesn't disappear.
The first few times, you will want to check our site to be sure it looks right. I will also be going over your work and providing feedback, but you can do this yourself. Usually the edits are updated on our site within a minute. If it's going too slowly for you, go to skittles.votesmart.org to see the edits that haven't been uploaded yet. Seeing it on the full site can be a big help in catching a highlight you didn't see or a spelling error. You probably won't need to do this as you become more comfortable with your work, and I'll be catching errors myself.
1. Select the first key vote stage from the Status List. Key votes are indicated by an asterisk and all bill stages are listed in reverse chronology. All other votes not starred will not have categories or summaries, so they can be skipped. In this case, the first key vote is the Senate Conference Report Vote.
2. To see the full text of the highlights, you may need to expand the text box. Grab the bottom right-hand corner and drag it out.
3. If the highlights are in one big paragraph, separate them into different lines with a blank line in between. Be sure you have singled out each highlight. They will usually have a dash at the start and a (Sec. X). at the end.
4. Delete the dashes.
5. Select the entire summary and press the “Insert Bulleted List†button. Be sure there is a bulleted, blank line between each highlight.
6. For the blank lines, select the “Decrease Indent†and then delete the line. This should leave a slight space without a bullet. Do this for all blank lines.
7. Be sure to press save at the end. If you don't press save all your hard work will be lost! If you cannot see the save button, re-size the text box of the highlights. If it's too big, sometimes the bottom of the page disappears.
Indented Highlights
Occasionally, there will be an indented list within a highlight.
1. Delete the tab before any indented highlights. Then do the steps above as normal, except do not make a space between the lines of the indented section.
2. After putting bullets and spaces between the other highlights, select all the sub-highlights to be indented and press “Increase Indent.†If you select the entirety of the last sentence, it throws off the formatting. Luckily you only have to choose a section of the last sentence, so as long as you don't highlight until the end of the sentence this won't be a problem.
3. Sometimes there is a secondary indent. Again, select all the sub-highlights to be indented further and press the “Increase Indent†button.
4. Be sure to remember to indent all sub-highlights.
