The "Authors" section provides all the procedures to propose a course, set up the files for it, write different types of files, edit those files and move the files for students to have access to them. These procedures make it possible to create or make changes in course content that is saved in a temporary folder until the work is verified and moved to the permanent folder. This allows any registered author, staff or board member to work on files while minimizing the risk of errors in changes to course content which would be present if direct access were possible with FTP, Telnet or SSH. This approach also avoids placing all the processing and handling of files in the hands of a webmaster. As noted earlier, records are maintained on the location and progress made in all course files, and PEOI's procedures are designed to move files to their intended location.

The procedures on PEOI are specifically intended to deal with the most common changes in course text and questions files. For security purpose, changes take effect after PEOI editors have verified that the modified files have not been inadvertently damaged. Generally speaking, the procedures make sure that files are saved in the format that meets system requirements, but there is no need to jeopardize safety for sake of haste, and verification is an adequate safeguard. Naturally, only a PEOI registered author and faculty member can use these procedures. Each of the procedures contains a schedule showing the progress made in each chapter file (using colour codes) and the ID number of the team member who last worked on that file, and guidelines on how to use the procedure at the bottom of the screen.

The process of creating a course does not start with the writing of the course content but with entering all the necessary information about the course in PEOI’s course data bank. This is done in the “Propose Course” procedure for which the guidelines are presented below. Some of the information is used to create and control the course files structure. Another portion of the information is intended for students in their selection of courses in which to enroll. To put course content into course files, the course files must exist: this is the purpose of the “List chapters” procedure. This procedure also allows to add new chapters or sections to an existing course files structure.

The person who is most likely to propose courses is the dean of the program of study in which the course will be included. The dean may also appoint an author for the course; or authors can choose to participate on the development of a course by choosing tasks in the “My tasks selection” procedure. In either case, the names of all authors must be listed in the "About authors" section of the course and be present in the copyright claim on the page to which they contributed.

Developing course content is performed with procedures designed to handle the different files outlined previously:
- “Edit HTML text”,
- “Edit questions”,
- “Edit cases”,
- “Create questions”,
- “Upload images” and
- “Upload audio”.
Each of these procedures contains guidelines which the author, editor and translator should read carefully. It is important to notify PEOI promptly if a problem occurs so that it can be fixed without delay. The procedure have been modified many times in the recent past, and are likely to be further improved in the future. Each time a change is made, a risk is present that the modification is not fully debugged. All users of the procedures are asked to cooperate in informing about problems and making suggestions for improvement, so that the procedures are as efficient and useful as possible.

Next: Editing text files