A how-to manual - Story

You haven't seen a post here in a while (And I know my last little series wasn't too productive...But no need to worry!), but that's about to change!<br><br> Throughout this month, you'll get wikiHow like it is. What it really is, and little things people do along the way. And although I'm not starting at the very beginning, I would like to tell you a little about patrolling and one of the things we recently added to the tool. I love to patrol, and so do other users too. Many of them do it, and some are successful, some aren't. And that's why we have...The Patrol Coach!

The Patrol Coach is there to help new patrollers become better patrollers. The Patrol Coach pops up whenever a user doesn't pass the "Patrol test". It is a variety of random tests a patroller might accidentally miss. If a patroller misses the edit and doesn't pass the test, the Patrol Coach pops up and explains what the user did wrong, and what to do in the future. Pretty cool huh? Well, wikiHow just made something new.

As Krystle announced in this thread --->  http://forums.wikihow.com/discussion/comment/75572/#Comment_75572


"Late in 2011 we launched the Patrol Coach to give people valuable feedback as they're patrolling. The feature that we're launching today will undo someone's patrols based on their performance on the Patrol Coach tests. A new patroller is going to be faced with lots of easy tests when they start out. By "easy" I mean obvious acts of vandalism or spam that a new patroller should rollback. If they fail an easy test, all of their patrols since their last easy test get undone and put back into the queue, and they get an automated talk page note from me explaining that/why this happened. They will continue to be faced with easy tests (approximately every 50 patrols) and have their patrols undone every time they fail until they pass a total of 7 easy tests. From that point on they will get harder tests, but there will be no auto-unpatrolling."

It is a thing that has been with us for a few months now, and I think it's going pretty well.
The Patrol Coach hasn't gotten me with any unpatrol tests...Yet.  =P  Joking, I'm pretty sure I passed all of the tests.  Anyway, the Patrol Coach will not pop up at you after you've passed 50 in the patrol queue.  It's a neat tool, that I believe will benefit us in the long run.  
Congrats to wikiHow, you've made a pretty awesome new thing!

Until tomorrow,

December

5 Year Interviews

This October, we had three people who had wikiHow birthdays. Know how old they are? 5 years! Congrats to them for this major milestone. To honor their wikiBirthdays, I wanted to do a special post for each of them. A little interview (Which they graciously agreed to), and my personal opinion of the three (They are awesome!) Today's interview is for BR.

BR is a five year veteran, an awesome patroller/coacher (for patrolling) and friend!

June: What made you want to join wikiHow, and why have you stuck with it for all of these years?

BR: Nothing really ''made me join'', just like most people I was searching for how to do something, and found my way here, found out how friendly everyone is, and how easy it is to publish nonsense articles, and decided to stick around. So far as ''sticking around'', I enjoy wikiHow, and there is always something new to learn.

June: What changes have you seen wikiHow make? Community Dashboard changes, new tools, wikiHow's overall design scheme, etc..

BR: The dynamics of the site, videos, dynamic elements on pages, and the sheer volume of traffic, not to mention the dramatic increase in article pages. There are always changing personalities, I miss some of the old timers, one who passed away a couple of years ago who mentored me with RC patrolling, some who still drop by from time to time.

June: This month is your five years on wikiHow. What did you gain throughout the time you've been here? What's the difference between the current time, and the time years ago?

BR: I have learned a lot about a wide variety of subjects, and I have learned not to underestimate even the least likely contributor to make a big difference in the quality of the website. I would even say I have learned a bit about navigating the web, although that isn't a particular interest of mine. One of the larger differences is the volume and speed of the website, the number of visitors, the number of edits daily, and the speed of web page downloads and uploads is tremendous with the increase in bandwidth and computer processors, not to mention smart phones, tablets, and other devices (that we provide content to help people use).

June: If you could make changes, improvements or have instructive critisism you'd like to give, what is/are it/they?

BR: I would like to see downsized pages, the dynamic features scrolling around, the side bars in general, and other attachments are great for people wanting the full featured model, but I would like a wikiHow "lite" pageview to speed up loading times and to help my poor old eyes. It would be nice to make some page features optional, especially videos, which are often poor quality anyway. Give a visitor an option of images/no images, videos/no videos, especially with the growing number of visitors using smaller devices. It would be nice to see some serious devotion to coaching, so the above mentioned videos and images could see a general improvement in quality, similar to what wikiPhoto has managed in a limited scope.

And that's the end of BR's interview. Personally speaking, BR is an awesome person who has a pretty awesome sense of humor. On wikiHow, he has patrolled over 500,000 thousand edits and is a wikiHow Admin. He also awarded me the Patrollers Barnstar, and, coming from The patrolling maniac (Good maniac), I was very happy. =)

Here's the BR, an awesome patroller, happy wikiBirthday! =)

December (June)

Recipes - Why Not?

If you're tired of not having any article ideas to write about, why not a recipe? Yes, they're pretty easy to do, but that doesn't mean that the author is lazy either. Is there a certain dish that you love, and you are basically an expert at making it? Perhaps you even have a secret ingredient? Awesome.

So, write a recipe! Recipes are great, and you can even use the same ingredients as in a cookbook- so long as it is in your own writing. :) Want to know what would make doing this even more fun? Invite a friend over on the weekend, and you and he/she can write out the article together, as well as take pictures. Let one person be the chef/baker, and the other the photographer.

Anyway, if there's an awesome recipe you have- go ahead and share it with the world. :)

~ IZ

P.S. - This can also be an easy way to break through that writer's block!

A Lesson on Advanced Wiki Syntax

For those of us that have been editing wikis for a long time, it's easy to use wiki syntax to modify text and organize information. But then again, there are some people that ask themselves, "How can I bold text?" or "How do I make a subsection?". Adapted from wikiHow's own article, this guide will help you know the basics of advanced wiki syntax.

Accentuated text (Boldface and Italics) 

Boldface and italics can help make certain words or phrases stand out in order to provide emphasis on them. Often, editors make the mistake of CAPITALIZING A WORD to illustrate a point. These syntax(es?) are the proper way of emphasizing.

To embolden text, add three apostrophes to the beginning and end of the text.

Example: '''bold text here''' creates bold text here.


To italicize text, add two apostrophes to the beginning and end of the text.
Example: ''italicized text here''' creates italicized text here.


To both embolden and italicize text, add five apostrophes to the beginning and end of text.
Example: '''''bold and italicized text here''''' creates bold and italicized text here.


*Note: Do not make the mistake of using quotation marks (") instead of apostrophes!

Categories

Categories help organize articles by grouping them with other articles of the same topic. This makes it easier for editors to find certain articles and perhaps read similar ones.

To add a category, insert [[Category:Category name]].

Example: [[Category:Arts and Entertainment]] adds the article to the Arts and Entertainment category.

To display a category link, insert [[:Category:Category name]]. Make sure you have the : in place; it won't work without it.

Example: [[:Category:Windows 7]] shows Category:Windows 7.

To display a category link with a display name, insert [[:Category:Category name|display name]].

Example: [[:Category:Music|Music articles can be found here]] shows Music articles can be found here.

Coloured text

Text can be coloured to also emphasize a point. They can also be used in users pages for decoration. In an article, it should be used sparingly to avoid distracting readers.

To add colour to text, type {{your colour here|your text here}}.

Example: {{green|Hello}} shows Hello

Line breaks

Line breaks can be used to separate a piece of text.

To break two lines of text, insert <br> between the text you want to break.

Example: Roses are red<br>Violets are blue shows:

Roses are red

Violets are blue

To leave a space between two lines, insert <br><br>.

Example: This is line #1.<br><br>This is line #2. shows:

This is line #1

This is line #2

Headings

Headings on wikiHow are very important, and when done incorrectly, can cause formatting errors. Many struggle especially when trying to create subsections. You must be in the Advanced Editor to make headings.

To make a heading, type ==Steps== and on a new line, ==Heading title==.

To make a subsection (subheading), type ===Subheading title===. Add four "=" to make a subheading underneath that one.

Internal and external links

Internal links allow readers to browse through other articles by clicking on a hyperlinked text. Adding links to other articles is known as "weaving the web of links". External links link to other websites outside of wikiHow. Make sure you read the External Links policy before adding external links.

To add an internal link, type [[Article title here]].  This doesn't include the "How To" part. To add an internal link with a display name, type [[Article title here|display name here]].

Example: [[Swim]] shows Swim. [[Swim|How to Swim]] shows How to Swim.

To add an external link, type the URL without any brackets. Make sure to include http:// to make it a hyperlink.

To add an external link with a display name, type [URL display name here]. Note that it's the URL, followed by a space, and then the display name.

Example: http://google.ca/ shows http://google.ca/. [http://google.ca/ Google Canada website]] shows Google Canada website.

Bulleted and numbered lists

When adding lists to the steps in Guided Editor, you'll want to be careful because the Guided Editor automatically inserts the # for a new step.

To make a bulleted list, insert a * before the text. Add more *'s to increase the level.

Example:

*Item 1

*Item 2

*Item 3 makes

• Item 1
• Item 2
• Item 3

or

*Item 1

**Item 1.1

***Item 1.1.1 makes

• Item 1
• Item 1.1
• Item 1.1.1

To make a numbered list, insert a # before the text. Add more #'s to increase the level.

Example:

#Step 1

#Step 2

#Step 3 makes

1. Step 1
2. Step 2
3. Step 3

or

#Step 1

##Detail

###Another detail makes

1. Step 1
1. Detail
1. Another detail

wikiHow Spammers

Every website has its spammers, and you know? wikiHow is no exception. wikiHow is on the charts and is the 150th most popular site on the 'net. Popular enough to attract its trolls, vandals and unwelcome visitors.

I've gotten bugged by about a million users, however, I try to keep my cool. ;) Here are few tips of my own:

• Assume good faith. It's kind of a wikiHow motto - If a user makes a mistake, you should assume that they meant well, the edit just didn't come out that way.
• Turn any anger into the will to help. I love to help, if they're having trouble with something, it may be annoying to yourself, however, they're still in need of help, and, if you were them, you'd want help, too.
• Always remain calm and never show annoyance. Being cool and calm usually stumps the troll, if they're doing it on purpose. Also, vandals usually vandalize if someone's getting mad. Any response from you, good or bad, is good to them - They just want to be noticed. Take the time to help them - Who knows? You might make a new friend along the way!

That's just a few of my tips, here's an article I wrote about it.

Later today, I'll be posting more tips on dealing with vandals, until then! http://www.wikihow.com

June Days

Interview with *the* New Article Booster

K, so, y'all have probably figured out I am not the most persistant person when keeping up with the blog......
However, this was well worth the wait! This evening, I'll be interviewing our NAB that has been doing it for years! She's been in a regular interview post, too.

Teresa

Teresa is an experienced wikiHow editor, she's been editing the site for over four years, and has boosted over 75,000 articles. (Wow! =O)

Me: Why did you *want* to take the NAB test?

Teresa: I saw it as a progression and they needed the help. I think my first boost was July 3, 2008.

Me: Did you put any thought into it? Like,"Should I do his","Should I wait", etc..

Teresa: No. I have always been a good test taker and the fact that I had to pass a test made me want to do it more. So I asked Jack and he gave me the test. Then I had to bug him in emails to get the results.

Me: What's your favorite part about Boosting?

Teresa: The fact that it's always there. And I know that I don't have to totally change the article THIS time, because I can go back to it. As long as it is in NAB, it will be there to work on. It's like an intense version of Recent Changes. You do easy stuff there, but most won't spend a lot of time on articles. That's PART of the job in NAB and you STILL don't have to do it all at once. Just don't hit the 'Mark as Patrolled'.

Me: And, anything random about Boosting you'd like to add?

Teresa: That if people think they can do it, they should,but they should make an effort to talk to those who have been doing it a long time.

And, that's the interview! In short, she's one of the most dedicated, fun and hard working on wikiHow! Thanks for reading, until next post! http://www.wikihow.com

June Days

Interview with a New Article Booster

As I said in my other post, this week will be NAB week. I'll be sharing interviews, tips, and just talking about how great it is to be on wikiHow. Sit back, relax and enjoy the interview!

Tonight, I'm interviewing Matt, AKA, Illneedasaviour.

Matt has been editing our site for almost a year. He recently became an NAB in May 2012, and he loves it!

Me: Why did you *want* to take the New Article Booster test?

Matt: I wanted to take the test because I wanted to give myself a challenge and test my overall copyediting skills on new and often low-quality articles.

Me: Did you put any thought into it? Like, "Should I do this","Should I wait", etc..

Matt: No, I started right when I met the 300 edits requirement. But I actually had to retake the first part twice before moving on.

Me: What's your favorite part of Boosting?

Matt: Reading all kinds of articles and learning a lot, especially from articles that earn Rising Stars.

Me: One of our other New Article Booster's said you need tough skin and dedication - What's your drive for doing this? Being consistent, you know.

Matt: I think that's true in some ways. In NAB, you often deal with articles that need to be rewritten entirely. If you're not able to handle that much writing, I don't think you're cut out to be a booster. Personally, I look for articles that appeal to me - topics I have a lot of experience in. It makes it much easier to write.

Me: And, anything random about Boosting you'd like to add?

Matt: I think there are a number of ways you can contribute in NAB. Ifyou want a challenge, find an article to copyedit. If you're not up for much writing, find duplicate articles and NFD - two clicks and you're done!

Once you become accepted as a booster, you need to have the deletion policy memorized. Looking at an article, you should be able to classify it as a joke page, advert, or as incomplete in just five seconds. Keep in mind that adding NFD tags when it isn't necessary is definitely *not* allowed. NAB should not be used as a shortcut to increase your edit count.


Very well said, at wikiHow, we have a little saying. "Quality is better than quantity" - Meaning, don't rush, 5 good edits aren't as good as 2 great edits, so always have quantity! That's tonight's interview with a New Article Booster! Hope you enjoyed it, more blogging to come! http://www.wikihow.com

June Days