Use a plus symbol when linking two separate bracketed sections into one definition.

<117 SOGS>
<+117 And other> gifts <117 as well>

Use the same number but without a plus symbol when the word is translated in a text more than once, whether it is the same English word or a different one.

<94 DPAL> <95 GYIS> <96 LHAM MER> <97 MDZES PA>
<97 Shines> <95 with> <96 brightness>, <97 Shines> <95 with> a <94 glory>

Use the same number but with an ampersand symbol when one word translates into two different, approximately synonymous words:

<20 SANGS RGYAS> <21 DANG>, <22 BYANG CHUB SEMS DPA'> <23 THAMS CAD> <24 LA> <25 PHYAG 'TSAL LO>,
<25 I bow> first <24 to> <23 all> the <20 enlightened beings>, <21 and> <24 to> <&23 every> <22 warrior saint>.

Whenever a Tibetan syllable is translated into the English in an unconventional way, which would allow for a clearer meaning within the context of the sentence or paragraph, it is necessary to distinguish this definition from the traditional definition of the syllable in question. Use an equal symbol after the English word or words to designate these cases. This will indicate to the hypertexting program that a footnote should be displayed which explains that this is not the common definition of this word.

<19 RAB> <20 DKAR> <21 ZHO> <22 GSAR>
<19 mountains> of <22 pure> <20 white> <=21 snow>

The <author ...> tag states when the work was written or spoken. For Sutras, you kind of have to guess. It helps to put the name of the author in as many languages as you have. The date should be something like a year, expressed in BCE or with no suffix, indicating Common Era. You can specify a month and day for things that happened recently and for which the date is known. If there's more than one author, use more than one <author ...> tag.

<author <date 500BCE>
<s sutra>
<t MDO>>

The <sanskrit-to-tibetan ...> tag states who translated the work. If there were multiple translators, use multiple tags. You can put in the date if you have it.

<<sanskrit-to-tibetan <s the abbot Vimala Mitra>
<t RGYA GAR MKHAN PO BI MA LA MI TRA>>
<sanskrit-to-tibetan <p a master Tibetan translator, the venerable Rinchen De>
<t LO TZ'A BA DGE SLONG RIN CHEN SDES>>

The <tibetan-checked ...> tag states who checked the translation into Tibetan. Give a date if there is one, and write multiple tags for multiple translators.

<tibetan-checked <p the master translator and editor Gelo> <t ZHU CHEN GYI LO TZ'A BA DGE BLO>>
<tibetan-checked <p the master translator and editor Namka> <t ZHU CHEN GYI LO TZ'A BA NAM MKHA'>>
<tibetan-checked <e unnamed others>>

The <tibetan-to-english ...> tag indicates who translated it. Basically, this will be Geshe Michael Roach for all the texts we currently have to mark up, but just imagine -- someday if you keep at this, you could be writing your name here as you do your first translation!

<tibetan-to-english <date September 1999>
<t DGE BSHES BLO BSANG CHOS 'DZIN>
<p Geshe Lobsang Chunzin>
<e Geshe Michael Roach>>

The <brieftitle ...> tag indicates the title that people commonly use to refer to the work. You can list more than one of these.

<brieftitle <e The Heart of Wisdom>>
<brieftitle <e The Heart Sutra>>

The <title ...> tag is the formal title. Please specify it in as many languages as possible!

<title <t 'PHAGS PA BCOM LDAN 'DAS MA SHES RAB KYI PHA ROL TU PHYIN PA'I SNYING PO>
<p Pakpa Chomden Dema Sherab kyi Parultu Chenpay Nyingpo>
<e The Lady of Conquest, the Exalted Sutra on the Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom>
<s Arya Bhagavati Prajnya Paramita Hirdayaa.>>

The <index ...> tag indicates the ACIP catalog number, if you happen to know it.

<index KL0021>

The <version ...> tag indicates the master version number of this file, as it appears in the master database of hypertexted files. That is, this number is centrally assigned, so you shouldn't change this yourself.

<version 0>

The <edit ...> tag indicates that an edit was made. Whenever you edit a file, you should add one of these tags. Please always put a date and time on the tag. It's good to put these in every time you work on the project. Don't worry about the fact that this will mean that a lot of tags will accumulate -- that's okay. Please include a comment summarizing what you did. These notes are less important when you're working on a file by yourself, but doing them faithfully and putting in good comments as to what you did will make it much easier in cases where two people may be working together on a file.

<edit <date December 31, 1999 13:21>
<p Yeshe Dangwa>
<e Ted Lemon>
<m acithp-el@diamondmountain.net>
<comment Convert to new hypertext format>>