Help:Manual

Prelude

VMcomments: While this is a nice introduction by Madhu prabhu, it is more or less a repeat of what the reader will have read in Vanipedia:About. I would suggest that the introduction and content of the manual stays technical and practical. We will leave it for now and see how it develops. Generally the introduction is written when the manual is completed, so that it introduces the actual manual.

Vanipedeia is an on-line encyclopedia of the teachings of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). This is a collaborative platform where many devotees can serve together to compile the teachings of Srila Prabhupada into a comprehensive resource.

Vanipedia is an on-line platform for Srila Prabhupada to preach, teach and train anyone who wants to take advantage of the great storehouse of transcendental knowledge Srila Prabhupada has made available to the world.

Compliers create comprehensive articles in Vaniquotes on the basis of themes, personalities and Srila Prabhupada's use of language. These compilations create a resource enabling us to access the teachings of Srila Prabhupada in many different ways.

When the discovery and exploration process of the compilers is completed on a topic the research will be distilled into a "Vanibook." Vanibooks are representative compendiums on a particular topic covered by the teachings of Srila Prabhupada. An example of a Vanibook would be "Nectar of the Holy Name" compiled by Subananda Prabhu many years ago. Subananda Prabhu wrote a letter to Srila Prabhupada describing the concept of Vanipedia, the creation of an encyclopedia of his teachings and Srila Prabhupada blessed this project:

My dear Subhananda Prabhu, Please accept my humble obeisances. I have been instructed by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada to reply your letter dated June 7th, 1977. His Divine Grace was very pleased to hear your proposal for systematically amassing a subject by subject encyclopedic compilation of all of Srila Prabhupada's teachings and instructions as found in his books. Srila Prabhupada said that he knows that you are a scholarly devotee and are just fit for doing this job. He said, "It is a very welcome suggestion."

Vanisource is the repository of all the teachings of Srila Prabhupada. In Vanisource you can read Srila Prabhupada's books, read the transcriptions of all of his classes, conversations, morning walks, press conferences, etc, and read his letters.

Vanimedia is a repository for all the audio and video recordings of Srila Prabhupada plus the still images of Srila Prabhupada.

Vanictionary is a dictionary of the terms and personalities found in the teachings of Srila Prabhupada.

How the Manual is arranged

• This manual for Vanipedia is divided into two sections, the first section is for users of the website and the second section gives the details of how to contribute to Vanipedia by compiling articles.

• By using the site and understanding it's vision we hope you will appreciate the potential offering Vanipedia can make and therefore become inspired to become a vaniservant and take an active part in producing this on-line encyclopedia of the teachings of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

Using the Vanipedia Web Site

Introduction

The Vanipedia website uses the MediaWiki software platform so the site functions in a very similar way to the popular wikipedia.org website. The difference is that the collaborative effort involved in producing the content for Vanipedia.org is research into the teachings of Srila Prabhupada and the articles in Vaniquotes are compilations of quotes from the teachings of Srila Prabhupada.

Vanipedia

• The name of the site and the central portal into other petals of the site

Vanisource

• Read Srila Prabhupada's Books, Classes, Conversations and Letters On-Line

Vaniquotes

• Explore Compilations of the Teachings of Srila Prabhupada

Vanimedia

• Experience Srila Prabhupada Personally through Audio and Video Presentations
  • This Petal of the site is not opened as yet so there is no help manual provided

Vanictionary

• Meanings of Sanskrit Words and Descriptions of Personalities
  • This Petal of the site is not opened as yet so there is no help manual provided

Vanibooks

• Representative Compendiums of Prabhupada's Teachings on Important Topics
  • This Petal of the site is not opened as yet so there is no help manual provided

Vaniversity

• On-Line University Offering Courses in the Subject Matter taught By Srila Prabhupada
  • This Petal of the site is not opened as yet so there is no help manual provided

Creating Compilations in Vaniquotes

Introduction

• We are finding the process of exploring the teachings of Srila Prabhupada to be very dynamic and inspiring and would like as many devotees as possible to share in this wonderful experience. It is a huge task, to compile a representative encyclopedia of the teachings of Srila Prabhupada, and we need your help.

Requirements for Compilers

• An attraction to see the teachings of His Divine A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada accessible by the naturally occurring themes and to have these teachings made more easily accessible and understood by the followers of Srila Prabhupada and the people in general.
• A broadband Internet connection
• Access to the Bhaktivedanta Archives Vedabase 2003 computer program (if you do not have access to this and are interested in compiling please contact us and we can make make it available to you)
• Installed skype communications softare
• Installed Firefox web browser

Exploring Process

• The mapping and creating of the article names and category names

• To discover the topics and sub-topics covered in Srila Prabhupada's teachings we have developed a methodology of performing searches in the Vedabase on themes, personalities and Prabhupada's use of language. These searches provide us with an idea of the breadth and depth of the quotes from Srila Prabhupada on a particular topic.

Discovering Process

• The compiling of actual quotes of Srila Prabhupada into the articles

• Updating "Quote of the Day" & "Sloka of the Day"