The wiki community has made a huge impact on how knowledge
is shared today. Between Wikipedia and wikiHow, the vast amounts of experience
and knowledge of hundreds of millions of individuals can be shared on a single
platform. Through the user-based hub, wikiHow uses instructional articles compiled
to create a database of “how-to” guides. These guides go through a review period
by administrators that either approve or deny the publication of an article.
Once the article is published the information is viewable for anyone and can be
appreciated by those looking to complete that specific task.
When looking at the overall experience of sharing a piece of
information among the already immense amount of information shared through today’s
web, one could say the pressure to share something worthwhile will be at the
forefront of the project. To find an idea that is worth sharing or expanding on
is a daunting task. Having to search for an idea that has not been touched upon
is the first step to communicating something worthwhile. Once the idea has been
nailed down, the research comes next. Knowing everything about everything is
impossible, though some believe they can achieve this feat. Performing proper research
through the correlating channels is key to gathering the necessary information
to complete this task. The key is using resources that can be cited properly in
the article being created, such as journals or periodicals that contain data
and scientifically proven theories.
In order to properly communicate an idea through this platform,
the mediums of showing how a task can be completed need to be clearly
displayed. Just using text to convey the necessary steps would not be enough.
Visuals are the next piece of the project that need to be implemented. With photos
to accompany each step of a task, the idea at hand gets a second medium to make
everything clear for the reader. By using personally created content for images,
many complications can be avoided. Images don’t have to be constrained to
photos either, hand-drawn or even digitally rendered images can be used in a
wikiHow article. The images also have to be within a specific size and
resolution in order to be effectively included in the webpage.
Most wikiHow articles are crafted from personal experience.
Using personal knowledge and experience to share on a platform such as this
will add credibility and make the article easier to polish. The development of
an article takes time and more effort to complete so the importance of
personal experience is paramount when creating this guide. If a guide is being
crafted but the author has no experience with the topic, then it would be
highly recommended to perform the task a few times to gain a better perspective
to properly write the article. Experience alone can sometimes write an article
for the author, but the integration of experience and research will build a
foundation that the author can build off of.
The toughest part of creating content in the wikiHow world
is thinking up an idea that has not yet been covered, from the most obvious task
to the most obtuse. Sometimes it doesn’t have to be a brand-new idea at all.
Authors build off of one another’s work all the time in the form of edits as
well as new articles that explore the options and variations of these tasks.
When one user takes on the article of a new and innovative idea, it leaves room
for others to chime in and help define the idea in a more concise way.
Another way the process of making a wikiHow article can be made more effectively can be through the process of collaboration and information sharing. When the perspectives of others can be attained, an author can get a better idea of what works for everyone or mostly everyone. By collaborating on an article with others, many missing parts and absent points are covered and do not slip through the cracks of the process. This process builds off of the premise of the last method mentioned in communicating through the article.
Ultimately, using resources and communicating the topic with
others is a surefire way to hammer out a spot on wikiHow article. With the
valuable input and varying perspectives, almost any task instructional can be chiseled
down to concise and clear steps on how to complete it. Regardless of how
difficult the deliberation of what should be written about, the end product is
a contribution to the community and therefore has value.
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