Modern History Project

 "A little learning is a
dangerous thing"

MHP Contributor Guide


Instructions for updating the MHP reference database
-- by: MHP Editor, 2013
MHP hypertext version for non-profit educational use only

>> Click names in text for timelines and related articles

User Login for Editing

You must be logged in to the MHP system before you can update the database. Select "Messages" from the menu to access the login form. Enter your user name and password, then click the 'Login' control. Your browser settings must allow "cookies" in order to login successfully.

Whenever you are logged in, you will see various 'Add' controls on the database display which you can use to enter database information, according to the guidelines below. You will also see an 'Edit' control next to the items you have previously entered which you can use to modify that information, with some exceptions:

  • You cannot edit information that someone else has entered, but you can add your own notes
  • An entity or relationship cannot be deleted if another user has added notes to it
  • All information is subject to verification and editing by one of the site Editors. After review, the record is "locked" to avoid having to review it again.

The site Editor reviews all user-submitted entries to apply corrections and eliminate redundancy. You can also send a message to the Editor to report incorrect information or broken links that you may discover.

See the sections below for information about entering specific information.

Database Overview

The MHP database provides a timeline-oriented index to information about historically significant entities and their relationships, including:

  • Persons who are or were key political, business, financial, religious or academic figures
  • Persons directly related to these key figures in some significant way (family, associates, supporters)
  • Organizations that these influential persons founded, directed or were members of
  • Important events that these persons and organizations instigated or participated in
  • Relationships between these persons, organizations and events over time
  • References to supporting articles, publications and websites

In addition to widely-known information, we encourage the entry of little-known yet important facts about significant relationships. For instance:

  • Membership in influential societies, religious groups, or other "private clubs"
  • Directorships and trusteeships of major corporations and foundations
  • Major financial supporters of political figures
  • Organizational spinoffs and mergers in key industries (media, petrochemicals, defense, etc)

All facts should be backed up with at least one reference somewhere in print or on the web. We don't want to fill up the database with information that is not verifiable (speculation) or information that is historically insignificant (fluff).

Please take a while to explore the current database before adding your contributions. We would like to maintain as much consistency as possible with the naming conventions and so on. If you have any questions about updating the database, then send a message to the Editor.

Entity Records

Entity records are created by using the 'Add' button on the database directory listing. Before creating a new record, verify that the entity does not already exist in the database. The entity form includes the following:

EntityID: A short, readable abbreviation of the entity name, with no spaces or punctuation.

  • For a person always use [lastname][initials] (example: BigwheelJT)
  • For an organization, condense the name (example: MegaCorp)

Name: The full name of the entity, with proper capitalization and punctuation.

  • For a person always use: [lastname], [firstname] [middle] (example: Bigwheel, John T.)
  • For an organization or event, use the full name (example: Megalithic Industries Corp.)
  • Note that the names are used in search engine queries, so correct spelling is important!

Type: The entity type (Person, Organization or Event)

Class: The main social class that the entity belongs to (Political, Academic, etc)

  • If an entity belongs to more than one class, specify the most significant or widely-known
    (example: John Bigwheel is a member of the 'Political' class)
  • Note that politicians are members of the 'Political' class not the 'Government' class

Country: The country that the entity is most closely associated with.

  • Note that this may or may not be the country of origin.
  • The special country name 'Global' may be used for worldwide organizations (example: U.N.)

StartDate: The birth/founding/start date for the person/organization/event

  • Enter the exact date 'yyyy-mm-dd' if known, otherwise 'yyyy-mm' or just 'yyyy'
  • If the start year is not certain, enter an approximate year

EndDate: The death/dissolution/end date for the person/organization/event

  • Use the most accurate date known, as above
  • If the end date is still in the future, enter '9999'
  • If the end year is not certain, enter the approximate year

Accuracy: An indication of the accuracy of the dates entered

  • If either the start or end year is unknown, then select 'Uncertain'
  • If the both start and end years are correct, then select 'Approximate'
  • If the both complete dates (yyyy-mm-dd) are correct, then select 'Exact'
  • Whenever the future End date of 9999 is used, the accuracy is determined by the Start date alone.

To insert or update an entity record, you need to specify ALL of the parameter values. It's helpful to have your reference source open in a separate window to cut-and-paste names, dates, links, etc.

Entity Notes

Entity notes are created by using the 'Add' control at the bottom of the note list.

An entity note is a comment about the entity in general, along with a link to reference information. Information about activities that occured during a specific relationship in the entity history should generally be recorded as a Relationship note instead (see below).

Entity notes might include links to biography pages, organizational websites, or other general information about the entity.

The optional "date" field can be used to record the date of a specific activity or publication.

The optional "keyword" field can be used to provide additional keywords for search queries. The entity name is always used as a keyword by default.

For example:

  • Note: One of the most infamous tyrants in history. Here's an excellent biography.
  • Link label: Biography of Adolph Hitler
  • Link URL: http://www.biography.com/hitler.html
  • Note: Major petroleum monopoly, dominant during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
  • Link label: History of the Standard Oil Company
  • Link URL: http://www.trustbusters.com/history.html
  • Note: Article exposing XYZ Corp as a front for organized crime
  • Date: 1999-06
  • Keywords: "organized crime"
  • Link label: Expose of the XYZ Corp
  • Link URL: http://www.bigjournal.com/articles/1999/xyzcorp.html

When the notes are displayed, the comment text is listed first followed by the link label which directs the viewer to the specified web page. The notes are sorted into date order, if dates are supplied.

Relationship Records

Relationship records are created by using the 'Add Relation' control on the entity display page.

Relationships are defined in the following format:

[Entity1] is/was a [Relation] of [Entity2] from [StartDate] to [EndDate]

Before a new relationship record can be created, both entity records must already exist in the database and the start/end dates of the two entities must overlap. The type of relationship that can be specified between the entities depends on the entity types involved (example: Person is Employee of Organization, Person is Son of Person).

The relationship form is presented in sections. Enter each parameter value, then click 'Insert' to continue to the next section. Use the "back" function on your browser if needed to back up to a previous step, or click 'Cancel' to cancel and start over.

The start/end dates for relationships follow the same accuracy rules listed above for entities.

The optional "date" field can be used if needed to indicate dates of activities that occur during the life of the relationship. Examples: Publications, promotions, legislation, battles in a war.

The optional "keyword" field can be used to provide additional keywords for search queries. Both entity names are included by default.

Defining Relationships between two Persons:

  • Smith, Elizabeth was a Spouse of Bigwheel, John from 1932-05-11 to 1984-10-13
  • Jones, Bob was an Associate of Bigwheel, John from 1962 to 1969

Normally, the more significant person should be the second entity in the relation. In the example, top-level entity John Bigwheel is the focus rather than Elizabeth Smith.

Most "associate" realtionships can be inferred by concurrent membership in the same organization (university, corporation, government, etc) and don't need to be defined. However, the relationship can be explicitly defined if needed in order to provide reference notes.

Defining Relationships between a Person and Descendents:

Decendents of a person should be recorded via a 'Son' or 'Daughter' relationship to one parent only (normally the father). The start and end dates should both be the birthdate of the descendent. To avoid redundant data, other family inter-relationships (brother, sister, cousin, etc) are not supported since they can be inferred from the parent/child information.

  • Bigwheel, John Jr. was a Son of Bigwheel, John from 1934-03-15
  • Bigwheel, Susan was a Daughter of Bigwheel, John from 1940-04-23
  • Bigwheel, Michael was a Son of Bigwheel, John from 1943-11-08
  • (The various brother-sister relations can now be inferred)

Defining Relationships between Persons and Organizations:

  • Bigwheel, John was a Student of Harvard Univ from 1921 to 1924
  • Bigwheel, John was a Director of Mega Corp from 1959 to 1972
  • Bigwheel, John was a Member of U.S. House of Representatives from 1973-01 to 1978-12
  • Mega Foundation was a Supporter of Bigwheel, John from 1972 to 1978
  • Bigwheel, John Jr. was an Owner of Mega Corp from 1980 to present

Defining Relationships between Persons and Events:

  • Bigwheel, John was a Delegate to Major Conference from 1975-01 to 1975-02
  • Badguy, Billy was a Player in Bigwheel Assassination in 1980
  • Friday, Joe was a Player in Bigwheel Assassination in 1980

Some events can simply be recorded as a Relationship note (1980: John Bigwheel shot and killed in Chicago by Joe Badguy). However, as in the example, such an event could be defined as a separate entity if needed to record the relationships of a number of different "players" or participants.

Defining Relationships between two Events:

  • WW2 Europe was an 'Episode' of World War II
  • WW2 Asia was an 'Episode' of World War II

A major event can be subdivided into 'Episodes' in order to make it easier to record the notes and relationships. The duration of each 'episode' should fall within the timeframe of the larger event. To improve searching, the major event should be recorded as a top-level entity, and the related episodes recorded as mid- or low- level entities.

Defining Relationships between two Organizations:

  • Mega Corp was a Merger of Old Corp A in 1952
  • Mega Corp was a Merger of Old Corp B in 1952
  • XYZ Corp was a Spinoff of Mega Corp in 1968
  • Acme Industries was a Division of Mega Corp from 1980 to present
  • Cayman Holdings was an Affiliate of Mega Corp dates uncertain

Some guidelines for organizational relationships:

  • A "division" is a sub-organization rather than an independent organization.
  • A "merger" is the founding event for the new entity and may be a terminating event for the predecessors.
  • A "spinoff" is the founding event for the new entity, but not necessarily a terminating event for its predecessor.
  • An "affiliate" is an independent organization related through business dealings.

It's not essential to record every detail of these corporate histories, which can become rather convoluted. The goal is to show the major relationships, and provide links to other reference sources for the specific details.

Relationship Notes

Relationship notes are created by using the 'Add' control at the bottom of the note list.

A Relationship note is a comment regarding a particular relationship or an activity that occurred during the period of the relationship.

Relationship notes might include links to articles about specific activities, publications, or other reference material. If the note is about a specific activity or publication, you can also include the date. For example:

  • Note: Mega Foundation has been a major financial supporter of the John Bigwheel campaigns.
  • Link label: Bigwheel Greased with Foundation Money?
  • Link URL: http://www.citytribune.com/articles/bigwheel.html
  • Note: Hitler publishes "Mein Kampf", a blueprint for his political program
  • Date: 1932
  • Link label: Mein Kampf online
  • Link URL: http://www.famousbooks.org/meinkampf.html

As with entity notes, the comment text is listed first, followed by the link label which directs the viewer to the specified web page.

Tips for Database Updating

Tip: Start at the Message board
Always login and check your messages first. If you have any questions, send a message to the Editor.

Tip: Open your reference sources in separate tabs or windows.
This allows you to copy-and-paste information such as website links into the MHP database update forms. Always verify that the links are entered correctly.

Tip: Create a new entity with minimal information, then use the search links to find more.
You can add a new entity (person, org, event) to the database with just the name, class and approximate dates, then use the search links on the entity display to easily browse for additional material. Click the search link, find the information, then return to the entity display to add relationships, dates, notes, and links.

Tip: Verify the entity dates, create the relationships, then use the search links to add the notes.
Verify and update the entity dates first, then add the relationships. Use the search links for each relationship to zero in on information specific to that relationship. Most notes should apply to relationships rather than the entity in general.

Tip: Open multiple windows for database update.
You can use separate browser windows (or tabs) for database updates, which can be very handy. Example: You want to add a relationship to an entity, but the second entity record does not yet exist. Open another window, create the missing entity, then finish adding the relationship.

Tip: Keep the notes short, add links only to the best available information.
The MHP database is a structured index to quality reference information. If you spend a few minutes to locate really good sources and articles, then the next user will be able to find them immediately. Links to "original" sources/sites are preferred. Avoid links to flaky sites, free webservers, etc.

Tip: If you want to expand the information, submit an essay
The database notes are not intended to tell the "whole story", but you can write an essay which includes references to multiple entities. Copy and send the finished text in a message to the Editor.

Tip: Don't be surprised if the site Editor changes your material.
The goal is to provide a useful resource, and all input is appreciated. However, the Editor may decide to modify, consolidate, or even delete the information you've entered.