Examining the Catalogue, Commenting and Updating.
Each tape has a catalogue page which consists of a section of general information followed by a list of contents which can be minute by minute. The catalogue pagefor each tape is accessed in the same way as listening to the tape. Make sure the menus are visible, they are sometimes minimised when the website is squashed into a small space. Click on “Recordings” or “Tape#”, then click on the batch number, then choose a tape reference number. You will then see the relevant catalogue page and if you are logged in you will also find that the player (at the bottom of the page) has the tape loaded ready to play. There is also a form for commenting or updating the catalogue details just below the catalogue entry. See below for more details.
Registering
When you register you will receive an email with your username. When you first login you can set up your password and personal profile. See below.
While this website is owned by the Northumbrian Pipers Society, there is no technical connection between them. You don’t have to be an NPS member to register here. If you are an NPS member you can use the same email address you registered with NPS or a different one on this site, and you can use the same password or a different one. Security experts would advise you to use a different password, but it’s your choice if you want the convenience of having less to remember.
Your User Profile/Changing Passwords
Your profile contains your email address, password, and a small amount of personal information. You can control your own personal information. Some parts of your user profile may be visible to other users when you use the discussion forums. Your email address must be kept up to date or we may be unable to use your catalogue submissions and you may be unable to change your password.
When logged in you can see and edit your profile from a WordPress menu option at the top right of the web page, just under your user name or nickname. Your profile also holds your password – you can change this from the profile page. You can also change your password by clicking on “lost password” when signing in.
Logging in and Logging Out
Unless you are logged in you cannot listen to the recordings or make comments. When logged in you can see your username or nickname at the top of the screen. Click on that to see or edit your profile. Some of this can be seen by other logged in users. You can also log out from this point or from the main menu.
Problems Logging In
Occasionally, not often, Log In has worked but some tapes didn’t seem to be available. This may resolve by simply refresh your browser page. (There is usually an icon of a circular arrow that will refresh a page). It is worth trying this before anything more drastic. If login simply fails and keeps on failing you can use the login procedure to request a password reset. If all else fails contact FCArchive @ Northumbrianpipers. org. uk. If you contact any other NPS address about technical issues they will probably just forward your enquiry to this email address.
Choosing a Recording
Recordings have been loaded in batches. Five batches of recordings were digitised as a (roughly 10%) sample of the tape and casssette archive. Each tape or cassette resulted in several recordings (eg side A, side B, tracks 1,2 or 3,4 etc). To choose a recording select the menu item labelled “Recordings”, then the batch number. This will lead to a page giving recording archive numbers and a brief description of contents. (NB the original labels are often inaccurate). Click on the archive reference number. This will take you to a page where you can see the catalogue information. This is not always complete: please provide any useful comments. The catalogue is updated manually from your comments, by a moderator.
If/as/when more tapes are digitised they will be added in batches. At present we do not have funding to have more of the archived tapes digitised. We can’t tell what is on them until they are digitised – being fragile they have to be professionally dessicated and then immediately digitised – repeated playing is not a good option.
There is currently an alternative menu system (Tape#). This may be quicker if you already know the batch and tape reference, but it is less informative as it does not give the titles.
If you are signed/logged in you will also be able to play the recording and comment on it. Volume and tape speed are variable. Tape speeds other than 1x are only approximate.
Comments for the Catalogue
To make a comment first navigate to the relevant catalogue entry. (See “Choosing a Recording” or “Examining the Catalogue” above). Comments are submitted from a form which is made visible from a drop down screen. A moderator/administrator will then update the catalogue. This may take a week or two depending on time of year and workload.
You will be automatically sent a copy of any comments you make. The system relies on you to keep track of your own work – it cannot very easily tell you how far you got. We recommend saving your copies in a dedicated email folder if you can. In principle the website could be programmed to allow subscribers to examine a list of their own submissions. At present the overhead effort of changes to the programming are lower in priority than uploading recordings and making other improvements.
Security
We do not pass your details to any third party without permission. If you receive any strange emails that appear to be from this site, please check carefully or via the Northumbrian Pipers Society.
Please log out / sign out after using the site, for the sake of security.