Addendum: Author Management — Version 1.1, Sprint 1
Addendum: Author Management — Version 1.1, Sprint 1
Status: Sprint 1 completedCompletion date: 28 October 2026Release context: Version 1.1 developmentScope: Author profile creation, editing, display and maintenance
1. Purpose and scope
Author Management provides editors with a guided workflow for creating, locating and updating author profiles. It aims to prevent duplicate profiles, maintain consistent author names, and make profile maintenance possible without manually editing template code.
This enhancement belongs to the Version 1.1 development cycle. It does not constitute a formal release of Version 1.1, which remains subject to completion of the other planned sprints and the final integration audit.
The Version 1.0 article-publishing workflow remains unchanged.
2. Existing architecture and design decisions
2.1 Author profile pages
Author profiles are ordinary pages in the Main namespace. Their page titles follow the naming convention:
Author:Canonical_Name
The prefix Author: is part of the page title; it is not a separate MediaWiki namespace.
Profiles are categorised under Category:Authors, which serves as the directory of existing author profiles.
A dedicated Author namespace was considered but deferred. Introducing one would require wider migration and testing of existing pages, semantic properties, queries and links. The existing arrangement was retained to minimise risk and preserve compatibility.
2.2 Separation of responsibilities
The author-management workflow uses the following components:* Form:Author — provides the guided interface for creating and updating profiles.
- Template:AuthorProfile — displays profile information and identifies articles associated with the author.
- Category:Authors — provides the directory of author profiles.
- Editorial Dashboard — provides links and controls for viewing, creating and updating profiles.
- Template:AuthorForm/styles.css — provides the dedicated presentation styling for the form.
Page Forms handles form inputs and saves the template parameters. Template logic and Semantic MediaWiki properties support profile display and article association. CSS controls presentation without requiring the form's structure to be redesigned.
3. Form — fields and behaviour
The form collects the following information:
| Field | Purpose |
| Canonical Name | Constructs the profile page title. Enter the name in English or Latin script, without the Author: prefix. |
| Display Title | Controls the title displayed on the profile page, normally in Malayalam. |
| Displayname | The name shown to readers and used when selecting an author for an article. |
| Bio | The author's biography and relevant professional or academic background. |
| AuthorPhoto | Filename of an image already uploaded to the wiki. |
| AuthorsiteLink | Full URL of the author's website, if available. |
Canonical Name, Display Title and Displayname are separate fields because they serve different purposes. They should not be treated as interchangeable.
3.1 Automatic page-title construction
The form uses this Page Forms instruction:
page name=Author:<AuthorProfile[CanonicalName]>
This constructs the page title from the Canonical Name field and adds the Author: prefix automatically.
For example, entering K. M. Anil as the canonical name produces the page title:
Author:K. M. Anil
Editors must not enter the Author: prefix in the Canonical Name field. The automatic title construction was tested successfully.
3.2 AuthorProfile template parameters
The profile form stores the author's information through Template:AuthorProfile. The key parameters are:* CanonicalName
- DisplayTitle
- Displayname
- Bio
- AuthorPhoto
- AuthorsiteLink
The template also records the semantic properties used for author lookup and profile display, and places the page in Category:Authors.
Maintenance caution: If a field is added, renamed or removed, check both the form and the template. A field visible in the form will not necessarily affect the displayed profile unless the template uses the corresponding parameter.
4. Template — display and article association
Template:AuthorProfile is responsible for rendering the author profile and listing the author's published articles.
Its functions include:# Displaying the profile title using DisplayTitle.
- Displaying the author photograph when supplied.
- Displaying the biography.
- Displaying a website link when supplied.
- Listing articles associated with the author through a Semantic MediaWiki query.
- Recording the profile's semantic properties.
- Adding the profile to Category:Authors.
- Including the author-directory navigation link.
The article list is generated using the semantic relationship:
[[Author::{{FULLPAGENAME}}]]
The query retrieves articles associated with that profile and presents them through Template:ArticleCard. It is configured to show up to ten articles, sorted by publication date in descending order.
This mechanism depends on the author value stored on article pages matching the corresponding author profile. If an author's articles are missing from their profile, check the stored Author value and the semantic query before changing the template.
5. Author selection in Form
The article form selects authors from the existing Category:Authors directory. Its author field uses:
{{{field|Author|input type=dropdown|values from category=Authors|mapping property=Displayname|mandatory}}}
This design prevents editors from entering arbitrary author names as free text and helps avoid spelling variations and duplicate author records.
The field uses Displayname for the names presented to editors. The selected value must continue to resolve to the corresponding author profile used by article templates and semantic queries.
Frozen-component rule: Do not alter Form:Article or Template:Article merely to make routine author-profile changes. They belong to the frozen Version 1.0 publishing workflow. Any proposed change affecting their behaviour must be assessed separately for compatibility and release scope.
6. Editorial Dashboard — author-management controls
The Editorial Dashboard includes an Author Management section with three functions.
6.1 View Author Profiles
Opens Category:Authors, allowing editors to inspect existing profiles before creating a new one.
Editors should check this directory first to avoid duplicate profiles for the same writer.
6.2 Create Author Profile
Uses a Page Forms link to open Form:Author. The form generates the page title from the Canonical Name field.
The creation control uses the no autofocus option. This is intentional: the dashboard should open without automatically moving focus away from its normal starting position and the pending-articles area.
6.3 Update Author Profile
Uses a Page Forms input with autocomplete based on Category:Authors.
The autocomplete is designed to locate profiles through their displayed names. Editors may need to enter the author's Malayalam Displayname or the beginning of that name to find the correct profile. The canonical page title alone may not be the most useful search term in this control.
After selecting the existing profile, the editor can open the form, change the relevant fields and save the update.
The creation and update controls have separate purposes. Do not replace them with a single free-text author-entry mechanism.
7. Form stylesheet
The form's presentation is managed by:
Template:AuthorForm/styles.css
The form includes the stylesheet using:
The stylesheet provides presentation for the form's sections, headings, explanatory text, field labels and input areas. It also includes responsive styling for mobile use.
The principal CSS classes include:* .form-section
- .section-title
- .section-purpose
- .field-block
- .field-label
- .field-help
Maintenance principle: Prefer changes to the dedicated stylesheet when adjusting the Author form's appearance. Avoid adding unrelated rules to Common.css or changing the article stylesheet to solve a form-only problem.
If the form layout is changed, verify both desktop and mobile presentation.
8. Verification completed
The following checks were completed during Sprint 1:
| Check | Result |
| Automatic construction of author page titles | Passed |
| Separate Canonical Name, Display Title and Displayname fields | Passed |
| Creation and updating of author profiles | Passed |
| Profile display and semantic properties | Passed |
| Category:Authors directory and author cards | Passed |
| Existing article bylines and author associations | Passed |
| Author autocomplete and profile selection | Passed |
| Dashboard navigation and create/update controls | Passed |
| Form stylesheet and presentation | Passed |
| Temporary test pages and profiles removed | Confirmed |
Existing author profiles were updated to use the Display Title field. The author-management workflow was tested without identifying visible regressions in the article pages and author cards examined.
9. Decisions, limitations and future maintenance
The following decisions should be retained unless a future change is deliberately approved and tested:# No dedicated Author namespace: Profiles remain in the Main namespace, using the Author: page-title convention. This avoids a wider migration during Version 1.1 development.
- Three distinct name fields: Canonical Name constructs the page title; Display Title controls the profile heading; Displayname is the reader-facing name used for author selection and display.
- No free-text article authors: The article form must continue selecting from existing author profiles.
- CanonicalName remains a template parameter: Although its primary purpose is title construction, it has been retained in Template:AuthorProfile. Do not remove it without checking the form, template and existing pages.
- Keep Version 1.0 publishing components frozen: Routine author maintenance should not require structural changes to Form:Article or Template:Article.
- Avoid duplicate profiles: Always inspect Category:Authors before creating a new author record.
- Protect semantic consistency: Changes to author properties or template parameters must be checked against the article form's author field and the author-profile article query.
- Treat new capabilities as planned changes: Enhancements beyond the completed Sprint 1 scope should be recorded and assessed within the Version 1.1 development plan or a subsequent release, rather than introduced casually into the frozen Version 1.0 workflow.
10. Administrator's quick maintenance checklist
When creating or updating an author profile:* Check Category:Authors for an existing profile.
- Enter the Canonical Name without the Author: prefix.
- Verify the Display Title and Displayname separately.
- Check the biography, photograph filename and website URL, where applicable.
- Save the profile and inspect its displayed heading and details.
- Confirm that the profile appears in Category:Authors.
- Check the author’s article list and at least one relevant article byline.
- If a problem occurs, inspect the form, template parameters and semantic properties before changing frozen article components.
11. Sprint 1 handover
Author Management was completed on 28 October 2026. Its creation, update, display and navigation workflows were tested, and temporary test records were removed.
This addendum documents the implementation and maintenance rationale for future administrators. It supplements the existing Version 1 reference material; it does not replace the frozen Form:Article specification.
Version 1.1 remains under development. The remaining planned sprints, integration checks, audit and release documentation must be completed before Version 1.1 is declared released.
