Synergy between the TechNet Wiki and TechNet Gallery

  • Article

I have been extremely busy lately and it is great to take some time to post on our favorite blog :)

In this post, I’d like to talk discuss community synergy by using both TechNet Wiki and the TechNet Gallery for content delivery.

The Wiki is the best place to post and collaborate on technology articles. The Gallery is the best place to post complete and non-trivial code solutions. With the goal being to deliver the best content to the community at large and in order to maximize the potential audience and utility of a specific topic that includes more than a short code example, using both the Wiki and Gallery for content delivery is a true community win!

Scenario: Wiki usage that leads to Gallery usage

An IT Pro is looking for an example to solve a specific scenario. After turning to Bing, she has been directed to a Wiki article that describes her scenario in detail. The Wiki article includes code snippets throughout the article that describe how each line of code solves the problem at hand. Satisfied that the presented solution and accompanied code snippets in the Wiki article will solve the scenario, the IT Pro wishes for a complete script and discovers a link to the TechNet Gallery. The IT Pro visits the Gallery, is presented with specific usage instructions and downloads the script. The IT Pro is happy that she now has a complete understanding of the problem along with a script to address their scenario.

Specifically related to cross traffic generation, this same scenario also applies inversely where folks who browse the Gallery for code find themselves on the Wiki.

Benefits of using both the Wiki and Gallery for content delivery

Here are some benefits to using both the Wiki and Gallery for content delivery:

  • A clean way to present both article content and code content
    If your solution includes a lot of code and/or multiple code files, the Gallery is the best place to post this content. This allows the content posted in the Wiki to address core concepts and explain code snippets while keeping the readability and concept comprehension of the Wiki content high (i.e. not posting a wall of code that may be difficult to read)

  • Maximize opportunities for community content contribution and interaction
    The Wiki allows for others to contribute additions to comment on content. Although the Gallery allows for one author per contribution, between the Wiki comments section and the Gallery Q/A, there are two opportunities for the community to provide feedback to improve your article content and code examples. In addition, the Q/A functionality on the Gallery provides email alerts when a question is asked by the community and the Wiki provides email alerts when the community posts are edited. All of these are great ways to remain engaged with the community.

  • Generate more traffic for your content and promote multiple community platforms
    Using both the Wiki and Gallery to post your content allows a wider audience to consume and contribute to your work and you’ll increase the probability that more members of the community will see and use your content. At the same time, you’ll also be promoting the usage of both the Wiki and Gallery which is positive for everyone.

  • MSDN/TechNet Profile – Achievements
    Many activities on the Wiki and Gallery count towards earning achievements within the profile recognition system. Posting/editing a Wiki article, Wiki Page Views, Gallery downloads and commenting on a Wiki/Gallery post over time can lead to obtaining many different profile achievements. Please see “How do I earn achievements” for more information regarding achievement criteria.

On a personal note, I prefer to use the Wiki instead of my blog to deliver technology article content. In some cases, I’ll cross post on the Wiki and my blog, however I find the most value in posting on the Wiki due to community contribution possibilities and interaction with the community. When I have code to share, my preference is to use the Gallery. By using both the Wiki and Gallery to deliver content, the community wins.

The next time you have an article with code to share with the community, consider using both the TechNet Wiki and the TechNet Gallery.

Yours in the community,

Craig