User types

Bilara allows several types of user. Each type has can do everything the previous type can, plus something else. The exception to this rule is the Tagger, which is a specialized role.

reviewer

A Reviewer can read texts but cannot write or edit any text. This is intended for proofreaders and other forms of review.

Reviewers can subscribe to specific writers. Then they can leave “remarks” on that writer’s texts. They will be notified of any changes in the text, and the writer can also subscribe to their remarks.

A “remark” is a specific kind of text, unlike any other, in that it is not committed to Github. It therefore leaves no public trace and exists solely in our database. Remarks are like sticky notes pasted in a text, or like annotations in “Track changes” in a word processor. They’re for temporary notes not meant for publication.

tagger

A Tagger can do whatever a Reviewer can do, but in addition they have a special role in creating and editing tags. They can add tags on any root segment, and can manage their tags and definitions on the /tags page (accessible via the main menu).

writer

A Writer is usually a translator. They translate from a root text and/or an existing translation.

Writers can write and edit their own translations, but not the translations of others.

Writers can leave remarks on their own work, or that of others to whom they have subscribed.

Writers can also create and edit “comments”. These are annotations on the text that will appear beside the text when it is published. Comments are displayed in various ways depending on context. They will appear as footnotes in a book.

superuser

A Superuser is a primary translator of a root text. They can do everything a Writer can, and in addition, they can split, merge, and edit root texts.

This has two primary purposes:

• Preparing new root texts. Once a first pass at segmenting texts has been done and they have been added to Bilara, the Superuser works through their translation, correcting the root text as they go.
• Adjusting existing root texts. For texts, such as Pali, which already exist, a Superuser can make small tweaks, for example by ensuring that segmentation is consistent, or adjusting punctuation.

For the record, our policy is to not make any changes to our Pali text. These adjustments refer only to the way the text is divided or, occasionally, punctuation errors and inconsistencies.

Also, on Bilara, a “root“ text is any primary source, not necessarily referring to scripture. So the Blurbs, Site UI, and so on have a root text in English. Superusers can edit these.

administrator

Administrators can do anything they like, including editing any translation.