Writing A WIkiHow Page: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

For someone who has no background in HTML or coding, writing a wiki page may be challenging. Thankfully, WikiHow makes it somewhat less intimidating with its easily accessible interface. It’s relatively easy to use. Features like the ability to insert a picture within a few clicks, as opposed to writing several lines of code, enables the user to move through the wiki creation process with ease.

The main advantage of teaching someone how to do something in person is just that - Being in front of them to demonstrate the step and explain it further if needed. Perhaps the most challenging part of creating a wiki (That isn’t something that’s already written down elsewhere such as a recipe) is figuring out how to get the key points of a topic across within the confinements of a writing space. The easiest way to do this when writing a wiki that is teaching a skill, is for one to put themselves in the shoes of someone who has absolutely no background on the subject. If it is on a topic that is expanding on common knowledge, then the reader can understand what to do right away with no further assistance. However, if it is a skill that requires prior knowledge and understanding of certain terminology then the article must contain the information before the tutorial can take place.

For example, if one wanted to learn “"How To Cut Down A Tree", then the prior information needed would be how to use the tools required, where to cut into the trunk for a clean cut, etc. This would all have to be explained before the reader makes the first cut. Without it, the reader may not know exactly what to do and risk injury or death. Although every topic’s conditions aren’t as extreme, the principle is the same: One must know how to operate the chainsaw before trying to cut into the tree.

Contrary to an in-person demonstration, the WikiHow author can only explain the skill so much and assume the person understands what is written down. In person, if one is lost at any point then they can stop the instructor and ask questions. When reading or creating a wiki, that option isn’t readily available so the explanation must be crystal clear. When doing a physical demonstration the instructor can actually show the “student” how to do the task precisely, while WikiHow enables the use of photos and external YouTube links as a substitute. In the WikiHow article “How To Write A Rap: The Advanced Method”, most of the photos do not directly accompany the article because there is no visual way to teach writing a rap verse or song. The exception is the “Syllables” picture, which demonstrates a method of breaking down each word into separate syllables. The subject of rapping is something that has to be explained thoroughly but is somewhat tough to communicate through text, proposing a challenge for the author.

The “How To Write A Rap” article was written strictly using over 15 years of personal experience. The author never wrote down a proper formula or method to teach it prior to the article. When writing the article, the author broke the process down into four essential parts: “Looking For The Perfect Beat (Borrowed from a song title by one of the founding fathers of hip hop, Afrika Bambaataa)”, “Finding The Pocket”, “Establishing Syllables & Writing”, and “Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!”. The thing is, hip hop is not an art that can be mastered overnight from reading the article once. The steps listed are merely the starter kit for the aspiring emcee. One must put in many hours of work using the four steps and then must continually practice them, just like any other trade, in order to develop the skill to the fullest extent.

Writing a wiki can be both fun and frustrating. Users who do not know HTML will find difficulty in trying to make the page look the way they want it to. Centering text, bolding text, and italicizing text all require lines of code. HTML is sensitive, so if one character is erased then it can offset the whole page and may cause many errors. A frequent error that develops in the wiki creation process is every step appearing as “Step 1”. In order to fix this, one must make sure that there is no spaces between any of the lines of code.

Another frustration one will encounter is facing the admins. When creating a wiki, WikiHow has very strict guidelines and admins that monitor every single detail that is changed on the website. Pictures, for example, are heavily monitored for copyright infringement. One must be cautious of the pictures that are included in the article and make sure the copyright is owned by the author. Within moments of the page going live, the WikiHow admins will message a user if the picture remotely resembles one used in another article or elsewhere, whether intentional or not. After that the author must confirm that the pictures belong to them. The admins are VERY strict about the topics listed on WikiHow as well. Even if the topic is an “advanced” method of a previously established topic, or it is approached in another way to make users see it from a slightly different angle, the admins will not approve of the topic and will not publish the page. After “further investigation” by an admin, the “How To Rap” topic unfortunately could not be published.

WikiHow allows anyone to be an expert on a topic of their choosing, so that can make the experience of creating a page fun. The ability to include images to help convey the message (when they are applicable) makes topics like recipes easy to understand as well. Also, the interface is immersive and allows for virtually anyone to be able to learn it, even if they have little to no experience in HTML coding. Overall, wikis require a little bit of patience but they can be a lot of fun if one gets their page published.

The Web: Past, Present, Future

The Possibilities Are Endless

Web 2.0 was revolutionary for the technology industry. The computer was initially used as a tool for research, but with the invention of Web 2.0 we were able to use it as a tool to connect. I personally think that Web 2.0 is all about human interaction.

Web 1.0 paved the way for interaction but didn’t actually allow it due to lack of technology. Social networking was a huge part of 2.0’s innovation, and because of that I believe that 2.0 lived up to the hype surrounding it plus it gave us a tool that we still use today. After 2.0 came 3.0, which took information and technology that we were already familiar with and sorting it. In addition to sorting it, we were now able to delve deeper into databases using more specific searches.

The need for a place to store all of our information gathered since the beginning of time was necessary by the 20th century. Web 1.0 was essentially a filing cabinet for thousands of years of information. The only problem was, like books, the information could not be changed. This need sparked the need for the next level of the Web: 2.0.

Web 2.0 provided users with a more interactive Web experience. This was necessary because prior to 2.0, communication was very limited among users. For casual browsers it allowed them to get more enjoyment out of their Web experience. Users were now able to browse around websites instead of visit them and leave like before.

I’m a firm believer in technology so I believe 2.0 was a positive change. Technology is supposed to fulfill a need and that is exactly what 2.0 did. In a short amount of time, users went from using computers as reference tools to fully immersing themselves in the World Wide Web. Around this time, the computer became another source for hobbies as well. Online gaming, shopping, etc. all came about because of Web 2.0’s potential.

I admit, even though I’m a technology advocate I didn’t fully understand the need for Web 3.0 until I researched it more and related it to the one thing I know best: Music. Picture the Web as a brand new guitar. If one with no musical experience picks up a guitar they do not become the next Jimi Hendrix at that very moment. It takes time to learn chords, hand placement, etc.

The Web, as humans learned more about it, became easier to learn and utilize. We’ve become more familiar with our once brand new instrument. First, with 1.0 we were learning our hand placement and basic theory. We knew we had a tool with a ton of potential but we had to get familiar with it first. 2.0 allowed us to become more advanced and we were able to play songs, and with 3.0 we started playing solos. The thing is, like a guitar, the possibilities are endless so while we believe we mastered the Web there is probably a lot more that we don’t know about. I believe that 3.0 is taking us in a great direction. I’m excited to see where it goes next and the sounds we will be able to make, metaphorically speaking.

Function Vs. Interaction

In its early stages, the Web’s initial purpose was to connect people and ideas. While there is no arguing that it accomplished this goal early in its life, the missing link was the ability for people to actually interact with each other. Because of its limited amount of data, it was used as more of a reference tool as opposed to the limitless amount of data available now. Related to that, information was presented in a very basic way but they did not have the opportunity to participate in discussions or engage in interaction.

Web 1.0’s main focus was functionality. Overall, sites were very minimalistic in their appearance. This was the first step in the Web’s evolution so programmers had databases full of information that they needed to put on display. As a result, even though the information was finally available to the public the websites weren’t very “welcoming” and mainly existed to serve the purpose of providing information to visitors. This would change in a few short years with the invention of Web 2.0.

Web 2.0 bridged the gap between users and interaction because pages were no longer just “read-only”. People were now able to contribute to discussions, browse around their favorite websites, and perhaps most importantly add the missing element: Social networking. Forums allowed users to have conversations in a public environment and enabled the trading of ideas. When social networks such as MySpace and Facebook developed, they also changed the course of how users browsed the web. Users were interacting on the Web like never before. Unlike during the Web 1.0 phase, users were not just onlookers to information anymore. Instead, they became contributors to a rapidly evolving online culture.

Web 3.0 changed the way all of the data on the Internet is organized. Instead of having to sort through a ton of Google search results and wait for slow web pages, now users were able to find more accurate results at lightning speeds. The evolution of connection speeds helped accelerate this process because of broadband connections as opposed to dial-up in the early stages of the Web. In addition, users were able to Google specific sentences (not just phrases) to get more detailed results.

In conclusion, the Web has come a long way in a short amount of time. No one knows what the future holds for the Web but one thing is for sure: It is not slowing down. Just like all technology, the next big breakthrough can be discovered in the blink of an eye. In just a few decades, the Web has evolved from strictly functional and archaic to interactive and complex and now, virtually anyone can use the Web and get enjoyment out of it.