"hi frisasu, that view is hilarious. ya, import tools are way limited. but click 'add more' and 'Go..."
After a base has been created, there are three ways to add topics:
- Adding existing individual and related topics through the Add Data menu (base administrators only)
- Adding a list of topics with the Import a List wizard (base administrators only only)
- Adding topics to views within a base (any registered user)
Adding Individual Topics and Related Topics as Views
This method is intended to be used to add existing Freebase topics to your base. If you want to create new topics, you should use the Import a List or Views method.
When you first create your base, Freebase will suggest a number of topics for you to include based on the title of your base. When you want to add new topics, you can also use this same feature to find sets of related topics and have them included in a view. For example, let's say that you wanted to create a base about the band Guns N' Roses.
- Create a new base or navigate to an existing one and and click Edit Base.
- Click Add Data.
- If you are creating a new base, Freebase will suggest topics, and related topics grouped as views, for you to add. For example, the Guns N' Roses topic is suggested as a topic for the new Guns N' Roses base, and sixteen Musical Group Member topics are suggested that will be added as a view.
- If you are adding topics to an existing base, you can enter terms in the Find a topic search box.
- Click Add next to the topics you want to add, and next to related topics. They will all be added to your base, and a new view will be created based on these related topics. In this case, the view Band Members of Guns n' Roses is added.
- Note that after adding your topics, you may need to enter additional facts about them. For example, if you've added a band to the LA Bands base, you may need to enter Los Angeles in the Place Musical Career Began field. If you add topics using the Views method, information about them will automatically be added to the appropriate fields based on the other topics in the list.
Import a List
- Navigate to the base where you want to add the list of topics.
- Click Edit Base.
- Click Add Data.
- Click Import a List.
- Enter the type of topics you are entering. For example, if you were adding a list of topics to the LA Bands base, for example, you would want them all typed as Musical Artist.
- Autocomplete will suggest matches to existing Freebase types. Select the type from the list.
- Enter the titles of the topics you want to add, one on each line.
- Click Continue.
- Freebase will attempt to match your new topics against existing ones. For each topic you're adding you can select match to match it with an existing topic, add new to create a new topic, or skip.
- After you've worked through your list of topics, click Review list for Import.
- Click Import to add the new topics to Freebase. Existing Freebase topics for which you selected match will have the type you selected in step 5 added to them if necessary.
- Enter information for your new topics, or newly typed topics, as necessary by clicking on each topic title.
Adding Topics to an Existing View
Any registered user can add new topics to a base using the views method. In addition, when you add topics to a view, information about them is automatically entered to match the other topics in that view.
- Navigate to the view where you want to add topics.
- Click Add More.
- Enter the name of the topic you want to add. Autocomplete will suggest matches on existing Freebase topics. If the topic you want to add is already in Freebase, select it. Otherwise, click Add a New One.
- Note that the information fields, and the information in them, that were used to create the list are shown in this step. When you add a new topic, it will automatically be typed to match the other items in the list, if necessary and the information fields in your new topic will be populated with the information shown. For example, if you were adding a topic to the view of LA Metal Bands, it would be typed as a Musical Artist, and Los Angeles would be entered in the field Place Musical Career Began and Heavy Metal in the Musical Genre field.
- If an information field is not grayed out, it means that list was created by searching for character matches in that field, rather than a recognized value. For example, if the LA Metal Bands list was created by searching for any entry that contained metal in the Musical Genre field, you will need to enter a recognized value, like Heavy Metal or Thrash Metal, in this field. Start entering a value and autocomplete will suggest a list of options for you to choose from.
- Click Add.
- You can also add a list of topics. After you click Add More, click Go the Import Tool and follow the instructions in Import a List above.
- More information about creating and editing views, and adding topics, can be found in the Using the Filter View topic.