ABCD
1
2
Telar Demo Content
3
This sheet contains the two stories included in Telar's built-in demo content. Browse the tabs to see how a Telar project is structured — one story has all content written directly in the spreadsheet cells; the other uses external Markdown files for richer panel content. Objects are a mix of self-hosted images and IIIF manifests from external institutions.

To build your own site, start from the blank template at https://telar.org/docs
4
5
About This Sheet
6
This sheet is a read-only demo. Each tab shows a different part of the demo project:
• project: The two demo stories
• objects: Six demo objects — self-hosted images and IIIF manifests from Princeton, the Huntington, and the John Carter Brown Library
• allegorical-woman: A 10-step story with all content written directly in the cells
• colonial-landscapes: A 5-step story with panel content stored in external Markdown files
• glossary: Five key Telar terms

Documentation: https://telar.org/docs
7
8
The "Project" Tab
9
Lists all stories that will appear on your site's home page.
10
orderNumber (1 2 3...) — order in which stories appear
11
story_idOptional semantic identifier (e.g. allegorical-woman). Tab name must match story_id exactly. If empty system uses story-{order} format (e.g. story-1)
12
titleThe story's title
13
subtitleOptional subtitle (can leave blank)
14
bylineOptional attribution (supports Markdown links)
15
privateSet to "yes" to require a key to access this story (configure the key in _config.yml)
16
17
The "Objects" Tab
18
Catalogs all images and objects used across the stories. Each row is one object.
19
object_idUnique ID. Use lowercase letters numbers and hyphens only. No spaces. Example: bogota-1614
20
titleDisplay name
21
descriptionBrief description
22
source_urlIIIF manifest URL for external images. Leave empty for self-hosted images (place file in components/images/)
23
creatorArtist or maker name
24
periodDate range or era (e.g. 17th century)
25
yearSpecific year (e.g. 1761)
26
object_typeType of object (e.g. Engraving Painting Map)
27
subjectsComma-separated terms for gallery filtering
28
sourceCurrent holding institution
29
creditAttribution line for display
30
featuredSet to "yes" to feature this object on the homepage
31
thumbnailUsually leave blank — auto-generated
32
33
Story Tabs (allegorical-woman colonial-landscapes)
34
Each story tab defines the steps for that story. Each row is one step.
35
stepStep number (1 2 3...)
36
objectThe object_id from the Objects tab to display
37
xHorizontal position (0 to 1; 0.5 = center)
38
yVertical position (0 to 1; 0.5 = center)
39
zoomZoom level (1.0 = full image; 2.0 = 2x zoom)
40
questionHeading for this step
41
answerBrief 1–2 sentence text visible before clicking Learn more
42
layer1_buttonOptional button text (leave blank for default "Learn more")
43
layer1_contentPanel content: write text directly paste Markdown or enter path to .md file (e.g. colonial-landscapes/context.md). Leave blank if no panel.
44
layer2_buttonOptional button text (leave blank for default "Go deeper")
45
layer2_contentSecond panel content. Leave blank if no second panel.
46
47
Tips & Tricks
48
Ignoring content: Prefix any row or cell with # to have Telar ignore it.
Example: "# TODO: verify this date"

Coordinates: Use x=0.5 y=0.5 zoom=1.0 as a starting point. After your site builds visit any object page and click "Identify coordinates" to find exact positions.

File references: Panel content can be written directly in the cell or stored in a separate .md file in components/texts/stories/ — reference it by path (e.g. colonial-landscapes/context.md). Colonial Landscapes uses this approach; The Allegorical Woman does not.

Line breaks: To add a line break within a cell press Option+Enter (Mac) or Ctrl+Enter (Windows/Linux). Each line becomes a new paragraph.
49
50
About the Demo Stories
51
Telar includes two demo stories:

The Allegorical Woman (allegorical-woman): A 10-step scholarly narrative by historian Natalie Cobo about a 1761 allegorical map produced in Manila. All content — questions answers and panel text — is written directly in the spreadsheet cells. Uses two objects: a IIIF image from Princeton and a self-hosted image.

Colonial Landscapes (colonial-landscapes): A 5-step story exploring a 1614 legal painting of the Bogotá savanna, based on Colonial Landscapes (colonial-landscapes.com). Panel content is stored in separate Markdown files linked from the cells showing how to manage richer content outside the spreadsheet.

Together they demonstrate two different approaches to structuring a Telar project.
52
53
Need Help?
54
Full Documentation: https://telar.org/docs
Report Issues: https://github.com/UCSB-AMPLab/telar/issues
Example Sites: https://ampl.clair.ucsb.edu/telar
55
56
57
Last updated 2026-02-26 for Telar v0.8.1