Instructions for the proposal of new content

Instructions for contributions

Regarding contributions to the Happy Onlife open-source project, we propose the following two possible ways to receive them.

Option 1 – Contributions through GitHub. This is usual process followed by developers in many open-source projects for providing technical contributions in the form of source code. The process would be the following:

1. Contributor clones the hol repository in github

2. Contribution is added to the clone

3. Contributor performs a pull request to the hol repository in github

4. HOL Team evaluates the pull request and eventually accepts it, integrating the modifications and additions into the main branch

Option 2 - Contributions by email. Less expert contributors can download the Happy Onlife project zip from github. HOL team also accepts contributions by email (to [email protected]) in the form of either new/modified files (source code, images, etc) in a ZIP file or a set of diff files with the changes/additions. After HOL team evaluates the changes received, they will be pushed to the github repository on behalf of the contributor. Credits to the contributor will be provided in the commit message.

In both cases, contributions to Happy Onlife open-source project will be credited in the main readme text of the open-source project, the Contributions.txt file and the ‘About’ page inside the game. To this end, please provide a name and a date for attributing the credits.

Instructions for proposing new content

To extend the Happy Onlife game and to keep it up-to-date, you can propose new quizzes, new topics and content in the form of text in any of the available languages, i.e. EN, ES, FR, IT, NL. In addition to the chosen language, we also require the provided text to be submitted in English to ease translation towards all supported languages. Your contribution can provide updates and/or new text for any of the following resources:

1. questions_xx.txt – This file stores the questions and answers
2. power_xx.txt - This file stores the power cards
3. extraneg_xx.txt – This file stores text phrases for negative behaviours that are discouraged by making gamers loose points
4. extrapos_xx.txt – This file stores text phrases for positive behaviours that are encouraged by making gamers gain points
5. extracards_xx.txt – This file stores card descriptions for complementary activities

New quizzes

For example, the English questions and answers are stored in the file questions_en.txt. Quiz questions fall in any of the four categories (i.e. a dimension of children’s online life), namely ‘Play safely!’, ‘Watch out!’, ‘Let’s chat!’ and ‘Stop online bullying!’.

For each quiz question you have to define the text of question that should be no longer than 230 characters and four alternative answers that should be maximum 200 characters long. You may also propose the category relating to the new question that will be validated before publishing. The four alternative answers should be conceived to trigger discussion and one among them should be indicated as the ‘correct answer’. However, sometimes it can be difficult to identify a correct answer and the purpose of the game is not to find ‘the correct answer’ but to open up discussion and dialogue on the proposed topics. The following is an example of a question found inside the file.

QI030N0=How private should you keep your mobile phone number?
AI031N0=Not much, it’s just a number.
AI032N1=Only share with people you know and trust.
AI033N0=Don’t tell it to anyone!
AI034N0=Post it on your Facebook page.

Each line represents either a question or an answer in two fields separated by the = symbol.

• The first field is the ID of the question or answer. IDs of questions always start with a Q and IDs of answers start with an A. The second letter represents the category of the question, where I is for ‘Watch out’, G is for ‘Play safely’, R is for ‘Let’s chat’ and B is for ‘Stop online bullying’. The next two-digit ID enumerates the question inside the category set, e.g. 03 in the example refers to the third question among the others. The next digit is a number representing each quiz item (0 for the question, 1 for the first answer, 2 for the second answer, 3 for the third answer and 4 for the fourth answer). The next letter can be either N for normal quizzes and S for star questions. Star questions should be very important ones (the current proportion is two star questions in ten total questions per category). The last digit is either 0 for wrong answers and 1 for the answer indicated as correct.
• The second field is the text of the question or answer.

New categories and new quiz questions

In addition to ‘Play safely!’, ‘Watch out!’, ‘Let’s chat!’ and ‘Stop online bullying!’, new categories relating to new dimensions of children’s online life can also be proposed. The new category is defined by giving a category name no longer than 25 characters and a category symbol in the form of a png image of size 400 by 350 pixels. Together with the newly proposed category, new quiz questions are required as well as a new power card for the new proposed category. To integrate a new category in the game experience, minimum 10 quiz questions for the new category are required. New categories with less than 10 quiz questions will be validated and put in the Happy Onlife community list for completion.

Powercards summarise golden rules for a safe and responsible online life and are composed of a category title and three key messages (key messages should be no longer than 230 characters). Each line represents either the title or the key message in two fields separated by the = symbol. The following is an example from the file power_en.txt

T01C01=LET’S CHAT!
C01C01=Post mindfully! Think before posting, everything you post on Internet remains forever. Do not write anything you would not say to someone’s face. 
C02C01=Mind your digital reputation! Pay attention to what is said, posted and shared on the web.
C03C01=Beware of scams! Pop-ups

• The first field is the ID of the title or message. IDs of titles always start with a T and IDs of messages start with a C. The next two digits represent the number of the power card elements (i.e. 01 for the title, 01 for the first key message, 02 for the second key message and 03 for the third key message). The next letter in the ID is C and stands for card and finally there is a two digit code associated to each category (i.e. 01 for the ‘Let’s chat!’ category, 02 for ‘Stop online bullying!’ one, etc.)
• The second field is the text of the title or message.

New content for negative and positive behaviours

Negative and positive behaviour resource files are simple text files listing a behaviour message per line (each behaviour message should be no longer than 130 characters). At the end of the sentence you go to the next line by typing RETURN. Examples of negative behaviour from extraneg_en.txt are the following

You share your address in a chat session! Lose 300 points!
You posted a picture of your friend without his/her consent! Lose 200 points!

New activities for Extracards

An organised data structure is also used to define the content of Extra Cards in the file extracards_xx.txt. Extra activities are slogans/ideas for complementary activities that can be easily realised at school, with friends or in the family for promoting digital competence education either in teams with adults or among peers. The following are examples of cards proposing complementary activities from the file extracards_en.txt.

T01C01=EXTRA ACTIVITIES
C01C01=These cards collect ideas for additional activities promoting a constructive vision of online behaviour. 
T02C03=TOOLBOX 
C02C03=A toolbox to be filled together: let’s build it with the tools most suited to our community.
T02C06=ART ATTACK!
C02C06=Through art, express and communicate problems and solutions for a secure life online.

Each line represents either the activity title or the activity description in two fields separated by the = symbol. A new Extracard is defined by giving a title that is long 30 characters, while the text of each activity description should be no longer than 160 characters.

• The first field is the ID of the title or description. IDs of titles always start with a T and IDs of descriptions start with a C. The next two digits (either 01 or 02) represents the code for the cover card (01) or the actual activity card (02), then the letter C stands for card and the final two digits represent the number ID of the activity
• The second field is the text of the title or description.