For most tools, all media must be housed in a collection. Here, we've compiled all the guides to starting a collection. If you need more details, you should check out the full documentation for each tool. 


Sound, video, data visualization, bibliography, or image collections 

New collections are private by default. Use the Visibility field in the editor to make them public (step 7).

  1. Go to mandala.shanti.virginia.edu
  2. Click Explore
    • A list of tools will open
  3. Click on the tool that corresponds to your media type 
    • Remember, Visuals is for data visualizations and Sources is for bibliographies
    • The tool's homepage will open
  4. Click the Main Menu icon
    • This icon looks like four stripes in the top right corner of the page
    • Menu options will unfold
  5. Click Add Content, then Add + New Collection
    • The "Create Collection" page will load
  6. Enter a title and description in the first two fields
    • A title is required
  7. Check "Group Visibility" to control who can see your collection
    • Set this to Public if you want everyone to see your collection
  8. Select permissions options
    • "Collection Roles and Permissions" sets permissions for people working on the collection
    • "Group User Permission Inheritance" sets whether subgroups have the same permission settings as the collection 
  9. Label your collection under "Subcollections"
  10. If you want to see what your collection will look like, click Preview
    • A preview page for the new collection will load
  11. Save your collection
    • Your new collection will open

Text collections

  1. Log in to Texts
  2. Click the Menu icon
    • This icon looks like four stripes in the top right corner of the page
    • A drop-down menu will unfold
  3. Click Create Collection
    • The "Create Collection" page will open
  4. Type a title for the collection into the first field
  5. Click Browse to add a "featured image"
  6. Provide an overview of the collection in the textbox
  7. Check "Visibility" to control who can see your collection
    • Set this to Public if you want everyone to see your collection
  8. Select permissions options
    • "Collection Roles and Permissions" sets permissions for people working on the collection
    • "Group User Permission Inheritance" sets whether subgroups have the same permission settings as the collection
    • "Group User Inheritance" sets permissions for a subgroup to inherit the group's users
  9. Click Preview at the bottom of the page to review your collection
    • The "Preview" page will open
  10. Click Save at the bottom of the page
    • A message will appear to confirm your new collection