Using Media

Adding images, videos, and documents to a page can make all the difference when someone reads it. A page with these elements will be more interesting to read than one that contains only text. Images and videos are also invaluable in illustrating how to perform a specific task in a difficult guide. Documents help further illustrate your procedure and supply additional information. Use images, videos, and documents to make a plain page more interesting, or a confusing page clearer.

The Media Manager is the tool used to upload images, videos, or documents to any page that supports them. Anytime you want to upload an image, video, or document, you will use the Media Manager.

If you are finished working with the images in your shelf, you can use the "Clear all media" button in the bottom-right corner to clear all of them from your manager.

• Image Requirements:
  • Formats: JPEG, JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TIF
  • 800px by 600px
  • Maximum file size of 40MB

• Video Requirements:
  • Formats: MOV, AVI, MP4, MPEG, WMV, OGG, FLV
  • 592px by 444 px
  • By default, up to 30 seconds in length
  • Videos can be allowed to be longer than 30 seconds upon request. The absolute maximum supported is 5 minutes.

Click the "Edit" tab located at the upper right-hand side of the page, and go to the step you want to add the image to. Click on the image placeholder (the large gray square with a camera icon in it) and the Media Manager will appear.

Either drag the image or video you would like to add into the Media Manager, or click "Add Media." Upload media from your desktop, device, or use a URL to embed an image or video from another website. Once the image or video has uploaded, a thumbnail of it appears in the Media Manager. Click on the thumbnail of the image or video, and it will be added to your guide.

Note: If the image or video uploads but it does not meet the requirements, an orange bar will appear at the top of the Media Manager. The bar tells you what you need to fix before the image can be uploaded.

Each guide step can hold up to three images or one video. Drag the thumbnails around in the bar to adjust the order of the images when viewing the page. Whichever image is the furthest left will be the main image. After making all desired changes, be sure to click "Save" before leaving the page.

Once you upload images, you are given the opportunity to edit them before you attach them to a page. To see the different editing options, click on the gear icon in the lower-right corner of an image's thumbnail in your Media Manager.

For an in depth description of the editing options, check out Image Editing.

Markers are a wide variety of colored circles and rectangles used to draw attention to specific areas of your images. Markers are extremely useful for highlighting specific parts of an image and linking instructions to those parts.

In the example below, a few small components of this iPad Cradle have been marked with red, green, and yellow circles, making them quick and easy to find. Since you have the power to adjust your step-by-step text with coordinating colored bullets, you can see that the red circle highlights the EZ Roller top, the green circles highlight the Cradle Conversion Bumpers, and the yellow circles highlight the Bottom Corners.

After an image has been uploaded using the Media Manager, it appears as a thumbnail while editing a step. Click on the gear icon that appears in the lower-right corner of the thumbnail, and five options appear.

Click on "Markers... ." This will bring you to a screen that looks like this:

Now it is time to add your marker:

1. Select a color. Choose red as the first markup color. If you mark up a different item in the photo use orange for that one. For the next item, use yellow, etc. Knowing that the first markup in a step will always be red, the second will be orange, and so on, keeps markups from getting confusing.
2. Select a shape. The general rule for shapes is to choose the shape that best matches what you are marking up. If you are marking up a screw, choose a circle. If you are marking up a microchip, choose a rectangle. Use the arrow marker to convey direction, such as whether to screw a bolt in left or right. Gap markers can be used for anything from showing the gap between two objects to indicating where to measure. Line markers can be used for anything—even creating shapes!
3. Select a size. You can do this either before or after you place the marker on the photo. To resize a marker, click the small box in the lower right corner of the marker and drag it to the size that you want. Marker sizes should be large enough that you can see the entire highlighted part—but no larger.
4. Place the marker. Click the marker and drag it to the desired spot on the photo. You can change the position by clicking the marker again and dragging it to a new spot. You can also change a marker's size after it is placed by clicking and dragging the small box in the bottom right corner of the marker.

Markers come in a variety of shapes and sizes. You can resize your markers to best fit the object you want to highlight. The examples below show the possible size ranges and shapes for markers.

The smallest and largest possible sizes for circular markers

The smallest and largest possible sizes for rectangular markers

The smallest and largest possible sizes for gap markers

The smallest and largest possible sizes for arrow markers

The smallest and largest possible sizes for line markers

• Right Arrow Key: Move the marker slightly to the right
• Left Arrow Key: Move the marker slightly to the left
• Up Arrow Key: Move the marker slightly upwards
• Down Arrow Key: Move the marker slightly downwards
• Shift + Arrow Key: Move the marker that direction
• -/+ Key: Directionally decrease or increase the size of the marker from the center

Begin by simply clicking on the link that says "Crop...". You can then drag the corners of the image to the desired size. If a page requires that an image be in a specific aspect ratio (almost always 4:3), then it will automatically keep the aspect ratio as such whilst you drag in the corners. Once the image is cropped to the desired size, click "Crop Image" on the right side to commit the change.

Attaching documents to a step-by-step guide is a great way to supplement those guides with additional relevant information. Unlike images and videos, users must open the document in a new tab or window for viewing.

Clicking on the Documents tab in your Media Manage brings up a panel of your currently uploaded documents and the option to upload more.

All documents must be saved as .pdf files to be uploaded.

Add documents to your step-by-step guide on the Guide Details tab of the Guide Edit interface.

Once on the "Guide Details" tab, find the "Attached documents" section at the bottom of the page, and click "Add".

When your Media Manager opens up, upload the desired document by clicking "Upload Media +". Once the file has uploaded, click on the thumbnail of the file. The document will attach itself to your guide.

Once the document has been added to your guide, you can remove it by pressing the blue circle with a dash in the middle of it.

• Image Requirements:
  • Main Image: 800px by 600px
  • All other Images: 592px by 444px
  • Maximum file size of 40MB
• Video Requirement:
  • Embedded Videos: No Required or Restricted Length

Note: Information on image size requirements is always displayed in the Media Manager, so you'll never have to guess.

Once you upload images, you are given the opportunity to edit them before you attach them to a page. To see the different editing options, click the "gear" symbol in the upper-left corner of an image's thumbnail in your Media Manager.

For an in depth description of the editing options, check out Image Editing.

To add a Main Photo, the photo that will display as a thumbnail to represent the Wiki, click on the grey image placeholder in the top right corner of the screen. The Media Manager pop-up will appear. Click on "Add Media" and choose a file from your computer to upload.

Once the image has uploaded, click on the thumbnail of the image in the Media Manager, and it will be placed on the page.

Right above the Additional Information box, click on the photo icon.

The Media Manager pop-up will appear. Click on "Add Media" and choose a file from your computer to upload.

When the image is attached to the page, you see a bit of code that looks like this:

[image|123381|size=standard]

That means you've successfully attached the image. If the image isn't where you want it, just cut and paste the code into the correct part of the text box. Be sure to click "Save" before leaving the page.

For information on how to modify an image that is attached to a wiki article, check out the Images section of our Wiki Syntax.

To add a video to a Category, Item, or Wiki page, you will have to use Wiki Syntax. Click in the image editing box, and type the following wiki syntax where you would like your video to display:

[video|<link to video>|size=small,large|align=left,right,center]

See the video section of our wiki syntax page for more information.

Attaching documents to a Category, Item, or Wiki page is a great way to supplement the page with additional relevant information. Unlike images and videos, users must open the document in a new tab or window for viewing.

Clicking on the Documents tab in your Media Manager brings up a panel of your currently uploaded documents and the option to upload more.

All documents must be saved as .pdf files to be uploaded.

To add a document to your Category, Item, or Wiki page, begin by clicking on the "Edit" tab at the top right.

Right above the Additional Information box, click on the black photo icon.

The Media Manager pop-up will appear. Click on "Add Media" and choose a PDF document from your computer to upload.

When the document is attached to the page, you see a bit of code that looks like this:

[document|10]

That means you've successfully attached the PDF. If the document isn't where you want it, just cut and paste the code into the correct part of the text box. Be sure to click "Save" before leaving the page.

Unlike images, there is not much editing you can do to a document once you upload it. Clicking the "gear" symbol in the top left corner of the document thumbnail, you will have the option to delete it.

For example, in the picture below, the uploaded document is called "Dozuki". After clicking on the "gear" symbol, a pop-up that says "Delete" with a trash can icon appears. Clicking the "Delete" button will remove the document from your shelf.

Once the document has been added to your guide, you can remove it by pressing the blue circle with a dash in the middle of it.

To remove a document from a Category, Item, or Wiki page, simply erase the wiki syntax that appeared when you added the document.

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