How to Post a Model in the Model Library
Thank you for considering a contribution to the GoldSim Model Library! Your contribution will benefit the modeling community with a unique and valuable model example. It will also benefit your modeling career by further establishing your name as a resource for other modelers in the community.
When you post a new model to the Model Library, you need to accomplish two things: 1. Write a brief article with a title, description, references, and screen capture images (optional), and 2. Upload your model. These two things comprise a basic model library article.
To contribute a model to the Model Library, please follow the instructions below:
Prepare Your Model for Publication
The goal is to prepare a fully functional GoldSim model along with a player version of the model, including any supporting files required for your model to run (i.e. spreadsheet files, external files). These files will then be made available to the public for download and use.
It is best that you consider good design practices when developing and documenting your GoldSim models. Try to organize your model so that major themes are organized into categories. An example is shown with the following categories:
- Input data
- Functions
- Results
- User interfaces (dashboards)
If your model includes supporting files such as spreadsheets and external files, document what these files are and how they are used in the model. One way to document supporting files is to write a summary inside the GoldSim model using text editor components.
In the main page of the GoldSim model, provide a summary of the model or a link to a page that provides a basic summary. The summary should include the purpose of the model, the model assumptions, criteria, basic methods used, and a short description of the results. This model summary can be used for the summary in the wiki model article as well.
Go through the model and make sure it would be understandable to other users that have not seen your model before. Descriptions within the model elements are always helpful and sometimes additional commentary outside the element is helpful. Use the graphical editor in GoldSim to draw a basic schematic drawing of the system you are modeling if you think this will add value to the documentation.
Wait until all editing is complete before creating the Player version of the model to ensure the models are identical.
If you have support files that support your GoldSim model, zip the files into a single file (one for the fully functioning model and another for the player model).
Sign into the GoldSim Wiki and Create a New Page
Browse to
the GoldSim Wiki and sign in.
In order to register for an account or upload model files to the GoldSim Wiki, you must be a Certified User. If you do not have this status yet, email us at
support@goldsim.com and we can help you with the application process. You can create a new account by first clicking on the
Login button then follow instructions to create a new account. Once you are logged into your account, you should see the Welcome statement say,
You should now see your user name appear where it used to say "Welcome
Guest,...". Now that you are logged in, navigate to the
Model Library, where you can upload a new model. To do this, click on the drop down selector next to your user name and select "Model Library". Currently, the selection should say "
root". Whenever you are searching the model library or uploading your own model, you should always be in the "Model Library" namespace. You should now see a screen with the heading,
Once inside the Model Library, it is recommended that you spend some time perusing the models in the Model Library to see the types of models already uploaded and also to get a feel for how these articles are formatted and organized. On the left side of the page, there is a Navigation box with a list of options, including one to create a new page. Click on "
Create a new page". A new web page will appear with a dialogue box for the page title and the model summary article (see image below).
Fill in the Page Title using a name that adequately and succinctly describes your model. By default, the Page Name (used for linking from other pages) is a modified version of the Page Title (spaces are removed). You can change the Page Name by clicking on "
Specify page name manually... " and specify a custom Page Name. This Page Name will not be visible to users but is just used as a bookmark for linking pages. This is only recommended for article names that are very long.
You are now ready to compose the body content of your wiki article.
Write the Page Content
You can either write your article using WikiMarkup or Visual formatting. Switch to one or the other by clicking the
tab at the top of your editor. Sometimes, it is easier to use the WikiMarkup formatting option during composition because you can enter information consicely and simply. Once you have some information in the editor, you can view the contents by clicking the "
Visual" tab or the "Preview" tab. After the basic structure of your article is developed, it might be easier to edit using the "Visual" formatting mode. For the purposes of this tutorial, it is assumed that it will be written in the WikiMarkup formatting mode. WikiMarkup is a specific language used to write wiki pages on the internet. Certain characters represent formatting displayed on the website. Below is a list of some major formatting types created using WikiMarkup:
- surround text with 3 apostrophes creates bold font
- surround text with 1 apostrophe creates italicized font
- surround text with 5 '=' signs creates =====heading level 4=====
- a single asterisk will create a bullet
For more information about the WikiMarkup syntax, refer to
WikiMarkup documentationTypically, there are 4 sections in the article, which include:
- Table of Contents (and author name and email address)
- Model Description
- Screen Grab Images
- References
Before you begin editing, make sure the "
WikiMarkup" tab is highlighted by clicking on it.
First, add a title for the article in the main editor window by typing the words of the title then highlighting the text and hitting the H2 button located above the editor. As an example, if you type the words, "Municipal Demand Model" then change the text to a level 2 heading, you should see three '=' signs be added to either side of the text to become: "===Municipal Demand Model===". The three equal signs surrounding the text indicate H2 heading in WikiMarkup language. By clicking on the "
Preview" tab, you can see how this would look after the page is published.
To add a table of contents, click the "
special tags" button that looks like this: {-}. A list of options should appear, including {'TOC}. Click on that option and the characters {'TOC} will appear in your editor. The {'TOC} statement will auto-generate a table of contents for you based on your headings entered into the article. Your article should appear as shown in the image to the right. Alternatively, you could just type the characters "{'TOC}" (without the apostrophe before the T) into the WikiMarkup editor.
Click the
Save button at the top right (above the editor) and the page will appear as it will be published for the world to see. You should see something similar to the image shown below:
Add the model description to your page content by typing the words "Model Description" and then changing the formatting of this text to Heading level 3 by clicking on the "
H3" button above the text editor. Following the Model Description heading, begin typing your model description or copy and paste the text from another editor. After you finish this, click
Save and preview the results. The revised article should look something like this:
Add a Model Download Section
Before adding a link to your model files, you need to first upload the files to the web server. To do this, go to the section at the bottom of the page (below the wiki text editor) and click on the "
Browse" button and find the file you would like to upload. If you have files linked to your GoldSim model (i.e. spreadsheet file), make sure to zip them up into a single file before uploading to the site. Once you find your file and enter it, you need to hit the upload button to save it to the server. Once this is done, the name of your file will show up under the Page Attachments Management section, showing the name, size, and the option to rename or delete the file.
Once you have the file uploaded, the link can be made. Create a new section called, "Download the Model" using Heading level 3 "H3" style. Typically, the following information is included in this section for each model that is uploaded:
- GoldSim Version:
- File size:
- File name:
- Download link:
To add bulleted information, it is best to switch to Visual formatting and click on the "
bullets" button. Fill out the first three by hand then paste the link to the model file by clicking on the
link file button above the text editor.
When you click this button, a new window pops up with a check box titled, "Browse Page Attachments". After checking the box, the filename of the file you uploaded will appear in green. Click on the
name and the file path will automatically appear in the File Path dialog box. You can enter an alternative title for the file in the "Link Title" dialog box if you wish. Do this for a player version and full version of the model.
Click "
OK" and the file link will appear in the text editor for your article. If you click
Preview, you should see your page look similar to the example shown below.
If you would like your model title and link to be included in the "Most recently added models" section of the
Model Library Main Page, email the
GoldSim Technology Group and let GoldSim staff know that you have added a model article.
Add Model Screen Capture Images
It is usually helpful to include a couple of screen capture images of the model and/or result plots to give people a quick idea of what to expect from your model. Adding an image is similar to adding a link to your uploaded model files. The first step is to capture the model screen image using a screen capture software or the "Print Screen" option on your keyboard. If the latter is used, crop the image so that only the window showing relevant information is visible then re-save the image file. Upload a new image to the web server by clicking on the "
Browse" button below the text editor in the "Page Attachments Management" section. After your image is uploaded, the file name will be added to the list of files.
Add a sub-heading (level 3, H3) called, "Model Screen Capture Images". You will then add image file(s) just below this sub-heading.
Go to the location in the text where you would like to add the image file and click the "
Insert Image" button.
A new window will appear with a check box called "Browse Page Attachments". Check that box and the filenames of any images you have uploaded will appear in this window. Select the image you would like to include and hit "OK". The link to your image will appear in the text editor. Your new article section should appear similar to the image below.
Add References
It is helpful to add references so other people can learn more about the methodology implemented in your model and/or see related articles and models. Create this section by writing the name of the section, "See Also" with the H3 formatting applied.
To add a link to related wiki articles, click on the "
insert wiki link" button.
To add a link to another website, click on the "
insert internet link" button
For More Information
For more information about how to edit the Wiki, please refer to:
