Bloom Clock/Creating and editing plant pages

The Bloom Clock Plant pages (pages that begin with BCP/) are the basic elements of the Bloom Clock's content. These pages are created using a template (bcp3), which when substituted adds 3 other templates to the page (bloom clock plant top), (bloom clock plant middle), and (bloom clock plant bottom). Below are instructions on how to use these templates.

Top template
The top template includes an image, basic descriptions, wikilinks, and shows the most recent logs for the plant. This is the only part of the BCP page that appears on the ../Keys/.

The template appears like this on the page:


 * Scientific name =: enter the Genus and species, or just the Genus (this will be filled in automatically when using the bcp template)
 * Common name =: enter one or more common names (this will be filled in automatically when using the bcp template)
 * main image (do not include the "Image:" prefix) =: this is the image that appears on the left hand side. If no image is entered, the template automatically adds a "no image" icon, a link to commons, and a category.
 * main image caption =:
 * Habit =: A general description of the plant
 * Flower Structure =: Including color, shape, infloresence type, etc.
 * Foliage =: Description of the foliage
 * Stem =:
 * Scent =:
 * Growing Conditions =: Natural habitat and/or growing conditions in cultivation
 * Fruit =:
 * Life Cycle =: Annual, biennial, perennial, etc.
 * Similar Plants=: use links to other BCP pages if this plant is easily confused with another one. For example, Rudbeckia fulgida is often mistaken for Rudbeckia hirta, so you can enter Rudbeckia hirta in this field on the BCP/Rudbeckia fulgida page.
 * version tracking for top template (for robotic use) =: see "updating the templates", below.

Middle template
The middle template provides spaces for extra images, and is where regional data is entered. To record a plant as blooming in a region during a particular month, add the appropriate template next in the field for that region. For example:


 * Southeastern Pennsylvania = bcp/sepa/gp bcpm/sepa/9, bcpm/sepa/10

makes:

Regional data: Southeastern Pennsylvania: September, October

and also categorizes with Category:BCP/Flora of Pennsylvania, Category:BCP/SEPA/GP (cultivated in Pennsylvania), Category:BCP/SEPA/9 (blooming in September in Southeastern Pennsylvania), and Category:BCP/SEPA/10 (blooming in October in Southeastern Pennsylvania)

Bottom template
The bottom template is for collecting data for the dichotomous keys. The data entered in these fields adds categories, which in turn are picked up by the DynamicPageList scripts that provide the lists used for making the keys.

The fields are phrased in a manner that shows what kind of entries are valid. "/" at the beginning of a set of options means that the answer needs to be in the form of a subtemplate (e.g. for flower color, add " " rather than just "white". templates are used in fields where there is more than one possible response, while plain text is used in fields where there should only be one possible response.


 * taxa level (genus, species, variety) =:
 * flower color (/ white, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black) =: use templates, such as, entering as many flower colors as are found in the taxa
 * calendar season (/ winter, spring, summer, fall) =: use templates, such as, entering as many calander seasons as appropriate
 * pollination method (/pollination/ wind, insect, water, self) =: use templates, such as, entering as many methods as appropriate
 * type (/ herbaceous, shrub, tree, vine) =: use templates, such as, entering as many types as appropriate (many plants are encountered as either tree or shrub, etc.)
 * family =: enter the family (first letter capitalised). If no plant in this family has been added yet, the category will be a red link.
 * genus =: enter the genus (first letter capitalised). If no plant in this genus has been added yet, the category will be a red link.
 * armed (yes if armed) =: enter "yes" if the plant has sharp thorns or spines
 * leaf complexity (simple, pinnately compound, palmately compound, trifoliate) =: plain text, using one of the options
 * leaf arrangement (opposite, alternate, whorled, basal only, none) =: plain text, using one of the options
 * leaves absent when flowering (yes if true) =: enter "yes" if the plant produces flowers when leaves are not present
 * lobes (pinnate, palmate, none) =: plain text, using one of the options
 * deciduous/evergreen/semi-evergreen =: plain text, using one of the options
 * petiolate/sessile =: plain text, using one of the options ("petiolate" means the leaf has a stem ("petiole"), "sessile" means the leaves do not have stems)
 * version tracking for middle template (for robotic use) = :see "updating the templates", below.

Updating the templates
Each of the 3 templates has a "version tracking" field as it's last item. This is included to provide automated editors (bots) with something to "grab onto", since the most commonly used bots work best when they are performing "text replacement". The robot will simply look for this string of characters, and replace it with another set of characters to add new fields and other features.

Each template can be updated individually, and should probably only be done once per month or so (though bloom clock plant middle might need more frequent updates if large numbers of new contributors show up). The bottom template will eventually have many more fields, so that some plants can be keyed even when flowers are not present (though the majority of plants can only be accurately identified when their flowers are present).

See Bloom Clock/BCP update discussions for proposals.

Older template versions
Currently, there are about 400 plant profiles using older versions of the bcp3 template. These pages will need to be retemplatized over the next few months, so that the entire project can be robotically updated when the need arises.