Joining in
First you will need to register on the site. Click where it says "Login" on the Top menu bar.
This takes you to a screen where you can Login if you are already registered, or you can register if it is your first visit. Registration is a short simple process where you enter your email address, chosen user name and password. Once complete you can start transcribing.
What to do
We want you to record the location of all the text shown on the map, the names of towns, villages, woods, farms, rivers, springs, mansions, quarries – everything - including all the abbreviations, such as W (well), F.P. (footpath), P.O. (post office), P (pump), etc. The only text that appears on the maps that we don’t need you to record is individual numbers which indicate altitude, distance or area as we don’t need this information, such as;
Finding a location
There are several ways to find a location to work on.
Adding a new place-name (or other text item)
Login to the system and click "Transcribe" on the top menu bar. Then simply click on the map under the first letter of the text. You will then be asked to type in the text exactly as it appears on the map. You can also tell us about any alternative names you call this place, and how you know of them. In addition you can record any memories or make extra comments you have about this place. If you make a mistake during transcription just click on the cross in the right hand corner of the transcription box to cancel. Once you click on “Done” in the transcription box, or hit the carriage return key, a brown marker will be added to the map where you originally clicked, and it will be added to your list of “My Transcriptions”. Please note you cannot edit a marker once you have submitted it.
Confirm other names
To make our work reliable, we need every name to be identically transcribed by two different volunteers, so we need you to also confirm transcriptions by others. All markers needing confirmation show up as green except to people who have already transcribed a name for that marker. Just click on the green marker, and add your reading of the text — and you can also add any memories, alternative names or comments you have. Click on “Done” and the marker will change colour: to Purple if your transcription matches an existing one, to Brown otherwise — the name you transcribed is permanently stored, and when another volunteer transcribes the name and it matches one of the existing transcriptions that version will become the confirmed name.
Profile and Rankings
Once you are logged in, your name will appear at the top of the page. Click on your name to see your profile page, which lists your ten most recent transcriptions and gives you shortcuts to their locations on the map. It lists the total number of transcriptions you have added and the number you have confirmed. Where you are in the overall ranking of volunteers is determined by the lowest of these two numbers as we need you to do roughly equal numbers of initial transcriptions and confirmations. This page also lists our top ten volunteers, so if you start making a big contribution your name will show up here. You can refresh your browser window to update your transcription and confirmation counts as you go, but note you may need to click the "Transcribe" button in the top menu bar again if you return to adding new transcriptions after doing this.
There are a series of Frequently Asked Questions and Answers in the Knowledge Base part of the support site to help you further. If you cannot find the answer to your GB1900 question, please either "Submit a ticket" using this support site system or contact us on gb1900org -at- gmail.com.
Thank-you for volunteering to help with GB1900.